Just want to throw in some counterpoints.



"1. Where are you going to keep them? Mice stink! Even a single pair of mice will stink up your whole house. You will have to keep them in the garage (at least) or preferably some sort of outbuilding. However, the outbuilding must be climate controlled as mice don't breed well if temps get above the mid-70s. They also can't be allowed to get much below the mid 60s."



I have about 40 mice and a dozen rats in my basement. It smells near the cages but not even accross the room. It's all about using a dehumidifier to keep the air dry. And of course keeping the cages clean and dry. Mice generally will choose a corner of the cage to deposit all their waste and will even carry baby waste to that corner. Spot cleaning that corner once a day works wonders on keeping the smell down.





"2. How many mice do you need? A single pair of mice can produce 15-20 pinkies a month, but if you need bigger mice for food, you will have to raise them. That takes more room. Also, what will you do with any overproduction. Just a few cages with 1.4 mice will produce hundreds of mice every month. What will you do with them?"



Ha! I've never (no matter how hard I've tried) ended up with more than a months worth of surplus. They don't take up that much room in the freezer.



"3. How much time do you have? Taking care of mice is a lot more time consuming that taking care of snakes."



I disagree. I spend at least an hour a day working in my snake room and less than 10 minutes in my rodent room.



"4. What will you keep them in? Although you can keep them in aquaria, that is a lot more work. You really need to buy or build proper rodent housing facilities."



I agree with that. Although most of mine are in aquariums.



"5. What will you feed them? Some people are too cheap to feed their mice rodent chow and feed cheap dog food instead. The problem is that dog food produces less babies per bag and makes the mice smell worse."



Too cheap to by rodent chow? C'mon, it's like $8 for 35 lbs.. One bag lasts me over a month.





"Rats require more room, more food, and more money. And they stink more.

>>

>>Once you consider that, compare the cost (time and money) with the cost of ordering frozen mice online. I enjoy breeding mice and have done it on and off for years, but right now, it is simply more cost and time effective to buy frozen rodents."





Rats do require all that you said, but they also produce that much more. Really, rats end up being cheaper because their young are so big you can cull them out earlier than you would a mouse. This helps the female rat produce another litter quicker. Oh, and I don't agree that rats stink more. Actually, I really don't think rats stink. They have a kind of a pleasent musk odor whereas mice just smell like urine.



I've never understood how people can claim that it's cheaper to buy frozen rodents off the internet. When my mouse colony suddenly stopped producing last winter, I was spending over $120 a month to feed my snakes. That's compared to the $10-$15 a month I'm spending now.



But....what works for me may not work for others.
-----
Martin Whalin

My Email



Quotes from guys named Carl:



"Science stops at the frontier of logic. Nature does not, she thrives on ground as yet untrodden by theory."

-Carl Jung



"It is foolish to let singleness of purpose deprive one of the joy and delectation of the many wonderful sights and sounds incidental to the quest."

-Carl Kauffeld

[ Show Entire Thread ]