# breeding shortens life?



## mousery_girl (Nov 13, 2011)

I haven't actually noticed it but how much does it shorten a mouse's life? some of mine under a year are looking pretty haggered after just one litter!


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## Alex (Jan 29, 2012)

I suppose like other things this might depend on the strain of mouse? Probably the only way to know would be to keep all the females from a litter, mate half of them only (by bringing them to the male) and let all of them live in the same cage. That way the 'only' major difference would be having and raising a litter. That would be interesting!

I would be interested to know if, for example, if there is a difference in the number per litter between, say black tans and black dutch, and if that was the case, might individual mousery strains of the same variety have differences between them? I think there is a LOT of data in the show mouse world that would be very very interesting to collect and analyse! I think it would really help breeders too?


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

Depends on the food you give them, how small the litter is, space, hygiene and how safe the mice feel is (e.g hides, toys to reduce stress). These all may have a factor on how well a mouse does with breeding.

Also size etc I find pet mice don't cope as well as show-line mice.

It's possibly down to genetic factors as well, and how the mother was raised; a doe in a large litter might not do as well as a doe from a small one.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

I would agree that this has more to do with the individual mouse and the husbandry aspect than a straight-out amount of lifespan deducted when a mouse has a litter. My does who've had smaller litters bounce back much more quickly than does who've had larger ones, even if they have two or three. Overall, lifespan probably has more to do with the line than with the littering, so long as you avoid back-to-back litters, overly-large litters, that kind of thing.


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