# Mice Breeding temperature?



## nocturnalchunk (Oct 23, 2010)

Hi guys im kinda new to this.. (please be gentle)

Right im starting to breeding mice for food and was wondering do they have to be kept at a certain temperature to breed? i know there quite hardy little guys and as long as they have plenty of bedding will stand up to some pretty low temps.
but if it drops to low will they stop producing? or will they keep going even if its cold?

Cheers


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## ChuckMorris (Nov 7, 2010)

Just room temp, they're warm blooded so they manage to cope at most temps. I used to keep mine in an un heated shed and they did just fine


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## nocturnalchunk (Oct 23, 2010)

thanks chuck

im looking at putting them in my garage so i was just a bit worried that the low temp over the winter might have slowed them down a bit.

ive started off with 3 does and 1 buck but i will have a rack system in place soon and hopefully then i will have a mouse empire


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## ChuckMorris (Nov 7, 2010)

Best of luck to you, are you using lab or fancy mice? 

If you feel they aren't multiplying as fast as they should you could always provide a heat mat, it just depends how cold your garage gets


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## nocturnalchunk (Oct 23, 2010)

They are fancy mice I bought from *Repidge*

I did think of a heat mat but as i dont have all that much experience with them i was worried the mice might overheat? 

the garage is bloody cold some times, and in feburary the thermometer in there said -8 :gasp:

still i have always assumed that if mice were surviving in the wild they would probably be ok in a garage...


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## ChuckMorris (Nov 7, 2010)

Mice sleep through the winter in the wild (except the ones that live in houses) so with temps like -8 i would say you do need a heat mat or something. I would say just put it on for a few hours at a time at one end of their container, if they get too hot they will move


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## Repidge (Jun 17, 2010)

hey dude, the stack-a-racks are just about done now. just need to attatch the mesh. got a heat mat you could have too, its bout 27" so it will be able to fit under 2 tubs at the same time. just put it underneath towards the back. ill give you a crash course when i drop your racks off. hope the mice are doin good, gimie a shout if you need any more :2thumb:


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## oakelm (Jan 14, 2009)

My mice are in a shed in the garden not great insulation of anything, water bottles never freeze but definately cold in there, so just outside temp minus wind chill. The bottles on the cages on the bottom of the shed did used to freeze but use that bit as storage now . The mice consume more food in the cold conditions and I give them barley straw in the winter to nest in. Keep them in groups to keep each other warm so no lone males in this weather. And they carry on regardless through the winter, never had my mice stop breeding in winter on me.


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## nocturnalchunk (Oct 23, 2010)

Cool thanks for all the responses peeps.

Thanks repidge I will pop over today to borrow the mat and check on my stack-a-racks

Mint


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## nocturnalchunk (Oct 23, 2010)

picked up the heat mat (thanks Repidge) and the little furry dudes love it 

also noticed that one of my females has long hair..... im so gonna try and breed a crap load of those


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