Zoo Crew Mice was founded when I started breeding mice in 2008, 3 years ago. I originally was breeding for the purpose of feeders while enjoying the mice as pets. Back then I didn't know anything about how genetics worked or any fancy practices. Soon enough I joined some online communities and was shocked by the amount of information out there. I quickly realized how little I knew and set out to learn as much as I could about genetics, breeding care, how to improve my mice, and met many great people along the way. I am still learning all the time thanks to my mouse friends and forums I frequent. When I first started I had two dozen mice. That grew to an average of 60 at any given time over the course of two years, when I had a respiratory infection spread through my colony to the point where I decided to cull all my mice, losing all my progress. A year ago I started again from scratch and am working with descendents of those mice today. I am now currently up to an average of 100 total. I thank the other breeders who have contributed mice to ZCM and how they have helped improve my mice overall.
Steven from Hemlock Stud deserves special thanks for providing me with some of my best mice and keeping me company when no one else was willing to talk for hours about mice. ;)
My goals for improving my mice depend on the line I am working with. My better typed mice which came from Hemlock Stud are continuing to be used improving type and size. My brindles are bred for markings, my rexes are bred for tighter curls, etc. I plan on obtaining hairless soon and with them the exclusive plans are to breed for health and nothing else until I'm confident they are robust enough for their variety. Regardless of what variety I am working with I always try and accomodate to improve type along with the color, markings, or coat type that has top priority.
Ethics are the most controversial topic in mouse care. I realize and respect that everyone has their views on how one treats another life, so I say the below from a purely personal standpoint. I don't recommend, or not recommend, any of the practices below. Every breeder is free to make their own choices as to how they care for their animals.
Culling
I do cull my mice. I cull litters, I cull adults. For me the benefit of this is immense and without it my mousery would become overcrowded and I wouldn't be able to well care for them all. Culling litters down not only makes it easier for the mom to healthily feed her children, but makes it so there is more milk to go around to each of the babies. I have seen first hand many times how over 8 babies in a litter is detrimental to a mother and litter and usually ends up with mice being malnourished and dying, or even the mother dying.
Retirement Age & Litters
My bucks get the liberty to continue reproducing as long as I need them, without an age limit. My does however are bred at max 3 litters in their lifetime, starting at 9 weeks, and finished weaning their last litter if necessary before they turn 9 months. They are never bred again until their current litter is weaned and they get a break away from children.
Life in the mousery is pretty stable. Twice a week I clean half the cages, that way everyone is cleaned once a week but I don't do them all at once. Water bottles are refilled cleaning days (or sooner if needed), and everyone is fed each afternoon. Does, unless nursing a litter, always have cagemates. My bucks are kept with "filler" does (ones that would otherwise be culled, and are just keeping the buck company) when they are not paired for breeding.
Most of my mice are kept outside year-round. Last summer I built a rack with 20 cages - here it is recently finished (set up for summer) and then with the bubble wrap/shower curtain setup, for winter:
Along with the rack, I also have converted tubs:
For some of my retired and pet does, I have a 20 gallon tank set up:
A new small rack I built, holding 6 small cages, 1 large:
