# Harvest mice?



## RawrIsDinosaurForILoveYou (Apr 11, 2009)

Hi guys, I'm moving soon and I'd like to get some of these to put into the big exo terra we have, can anybody point me towards some good care sheets and let me know where I can source them? I hope to have a medium sized colony, I've heard they breed a lot so, if that was to happen (I would plan it depending on homes) how easy is it to find homes for them? 
Do any of you keep them?
Can you post pictures of set ups?

: victory:


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## Maxwell2009 (Apr 4, 2009)

This is a very good source of information Fancy Mice
You can see set ups on there. Also take a look at my site as i keep them.
Finding homes for babies depends on where you live and how many breeders there are nearby. There are a lot of breeders in my area which made sourcing harvest mice easy, but it makes finding homes for them harder.


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## RawrIsDinosaurForILoveYou (Apr 11, 2009)

mouselover said:


> This is a very good source of information Fancy Mice
> You can see set ups on there. Also take a look at my site as i keep them.
> Finding homes for babies depends on where you live and how many breeders there are nearby. There are a lot of breeders in my area which made sourcing harvest mice easy, but it makes finding homes for them harder.


Unfortuantely I live in the south and from what I've researched so far, breeders are very sparse, I've heard about people sourcing wild caught stock and breeding to release but, I've never been to fond of keeping any wild animals (unless the cats bring something in, we feed it and help it out until its healed).

I will take a look on your site, thankyou


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## Maxwell2009 (Apr 4, 2009)

I know there`s a man in kent who breeds harvest mice. He advertises on here (medway mice). I don`t know if that is near you.

I have 5 babies at the moment. I`ve removed the male as there would be babies every 18 days otherwise, and much as i love them, that sort of breeding is too much for me to cope with.


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## RawrIsDinosaurForILoveYou (Apr 11, 2009)

mouselover said:


> I know there`s a man in kent who breeds harvest mice. He advertises on here (medway mice). I don`t know if that is near you.
> 
> I have 5 babies at the moment. I`ve removed the male as there would be babies every 18 days otherwise, and much as i love them, that sort of breeding is too much for me to cope with.


I'll have a check to see how close he is, I've heard if you take away the male the female might not breed again? I'd probably wand to breed once and then see how it goes, what groups would be best to keep? I don't want there to be too many males because of fighting so, I want to make sure I get the perfect group (or pair and then after they've bred keep some of the offspring) How do they cope with having the older children in the same tank as the new babies?


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## Maxwell2009 (Apr 4, 2009)

Yeah i read the female won`t breed again once the male was removed, either with the same male or a different one. No idea why not as they must breed readily in the wild, and the male plays no part in looking after babies.
I didn`t do the colony breeding as harvest mice don`t live in colonies in the wild. I bought a male and a female. The female bit the male a few times to `put him in his place`, and after that she would just glare at him and he`d run.
I let my doe have one litter but kept the male in in case the first litter was lost, so he mated with her again the day she gave birth. I had no idea if the babies were alive or not as they are silent. It wasn`t until they emerged from the nest at 14 days that i knew there were live babies. I removed the male then. 
I put the babies in a tank of their own the day after they left the nest as mum was biting them. She had her 2nd litter a couple of days later, but they died as they got chilled. I haven`t tried putting the male back as one litter is enough.
Colonies can work but they can also break down suddenly and the mice will kill each other. Male colonies work best apparently, but not having kept them that way i can`t offer any insight into it.
I found keeping as a pair worked but obviously now i have removed the male i have 2 lone mice. I have thought about putting him back as the mice will regulate their breeding, but as homes aren`t easy to find it doesn`t seem a good idea to do that. Both seem ok by themselves and can still see each other. They lived separate lives when together other than when mating, so they weren`t company for each other anyway.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

mouselover said:


> Yeah i read the female won`t breed again once the male was removed, either with the same male or a different one. No idea why not as they must breed readily in the wild, and the male plays no part in looking after babies.
> I didn`t do the colony breeding as harvest mice don`t live in colonies in the wild. I bought a male and a female. The female bit the male a few times to `put him in his place`, and after that she would just glare at him and he`d run.
> I let my doe have one litter but kept the male in in case the first litter was lost, so he mated with her again the day she gave birth. I had no idea if the babies were alive or not as they are silent. It wasn`t until they emerged from the nest at 14 days that i knew there were live babies. I removed the male then.
> I put the babies in a tank of their own the day after they left the nest as mum was biting them. She had her 2nd litter a couple of days later, but they died as they got chilled. I haven`t tried putting the male back as one litter is enough.
> ...


Facinating stuff. I've always been interested in them (which I haven't kept) and voles (which I have- lovely, sweet-natured little beasts). from what you say, females seem to be relatively aggressive- is that why male colonies are better? Are solo animals better still? I'm asking out of curiosity; no plans to get any soon!


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## Maxwell2009 (Apr 4, 2009)

The females are definately in charge, but males do kill each other too. 
I`ve heard of people keeping 7 males together with no probs, but i`ve also heard of 5 males living together for 2 yrs then suddenly killing each other. Other people have kept lone animals with no ill effects, and they can`t be hurt when alone.
It`s all down to what you can cope with. Sometimes babies are killed when they leave the nest. 
They are relatively new to captivity so we are learning all the time what situation suits them best.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

mouselover said:


> The females are definately in charge, but males do kill each other too.
> I`ve heard of people keeping 7 males together with no probs, but i`ve also heard of 5 males living together for 2 yrs then suddenly killing each other. Other people have kept lone animals with no ill effects, and they can`t be hurt when alone.
> It`s all down to what you can cope with. Sometimes babies are killed when they leave the nest.
> They are relatively new to captivity so we are learning all the time what situation suits them best.


Thanks. Solo sounds safest in the long-term, then. :2thumb:


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## Maxwell2009 (Apr 4, 2009)

One is safest.. and it stops you ending up with many more


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## RawrIsDinosaurForILoveYou (Apr 11, 2009)

mouselover said:


> One is safest.. and it stops you ending up with many more


It sounds like it is best to only have one, I'm not 100% set on harvest mice, I've been looking into other small furries too but, I do like the thought of doing the same as you, letting them breed once or twice as a trial and I'd probably see how it goes with putting the male back in afterwards.


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## RawrIsDinosaurForILoveYou (Apr 11, 2009)

Ron Magpie said:


> Facinating stuff. I've always been interested in them (which I haven't kept) and voles (which I have- lovely, sweet-natured little beasts). from what you say, females seem to be relatively aggressive- is that why male colonies are better? Are solo animals better still? I'm asking out of curiosity; no plans to get any soon!


What type of voles are good to keep?


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

Ron Magpie said:


> Facinating stuff. I've always been interested in them (which I haven't kept) and voles (which I have- lovely, sweet-natured little beasts). from what you say, females seem to be relatively aggressive- is that why male colonies are better? Are solo animals better still? I'm asking out of curiosity; no plans to get any soon!


I didn't know you could get Voles to keep  what type did/do you have?


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Can't help with sourcing any but the bible when it comes to harvest mouse husbandry is found here: Harvest Mice - Husbandry Guidelines - Title Page

Penny Rudd is the stud book keeper for harvest mice and pretty much the authority on them!


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

I didn't know Harvest mice weren't sociable with each other, I've only really seen them at Zoos and similar places and they seem to always have them in big colonies (with lots of space to run around), it's nice to learn something new


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## Maxwell2009 (Apr 4, 2009)

I guess that`s the difference. When they have a large space they can move away from each other. Confined to a tank they are forced together, which isn`t always good.


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## plasma234 (Feb 27, 2013)

I like harvest mice, but i like things that can be kept in pairs/groups. For that reason i would go with African Pygmy Dormice. 

Now i just need to find a spot to put them...


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I have a couple of female APDs in an exo terra, but I rarely ever see them. they are nocturnal of course, but they're also very reclusive - at least mine are.

I was thinking about harvest mice when these go, as at least they give you something to watch. Don't know where I got it from, but I thought harvest mice in groups only had 1 dominant pair who bred, the rest wouldn't.


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

I had a colony in a 2 foot aquarium.
They did well and bred readily.
Then all of a sudden they started to die off.

I replaced them with a coloney of wood mice and these have been going great for a couple of year.

Video of my wood mice in a 2 foot aquarium.
https://www.facebook.com/stephen.sh...1031502&set=vb.100002320354375&type=3&theater


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