Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I added it all up and it is costing me $720 a year to feed my snakes. That's $60 a month. How much less does it cost to start a breeding colony? How many would I need to feed 5 snakes weekly? I think I will be switching from every 4 days to every 7. Which seems a little low for my ratsnakes which are 2' and my mbk which is probably around 1'. Think they will be fine on a 7 day feeding schedule?
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"

I have been out of school for WAY too long! It took me like 10 minutes to figure all of this out.... If I were to go to rodentpro and order a bag of weanlings (50pb) fuzzies(100pb) and large mice(25pb) the total cost with shipping would be $84
this arrangement would last Hope 6 months, Peaches, Chunk, and Onyx would share 1 bag and it would last 5 months, and Wilson's bag would last him 3 months.

The only problem with this is that I don't know for sure who would eat f/t. Hope always gets stunned/fresh killed and eats instantly so she should be fine. Peaches, Chunk, and Onyx have all had fresh killed at least once with no problem so they SHOULD be good. But Wilson has never take anything that was not running around. He has refused EVERY f/k or stunned mouse ever offered. The last time he had a f/k mouse he pushed it onto the heat pad overnight and the room smelled like someone had been chopped up and hidden in the walls for years. So I think he can have his live.

Now the problem is this. Taking into concideration that by the time these bags are gone they will all have moved to different sizes or at least more at one feeding....The bags will not last QUITE as long as estimated but still close. Will a bag stay fresh for around 5-6 months? I think I did all of my math pretty well. Any suggestions?
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"

>>I have been out of school for WAY too long! It took me like 10 minutes to figure all of this out.... If I were to go to rodentpro and order a bag of weanlings (50pb) fuzzies(100pb) and large mice(25pb) the total cost with shipping would be $84
>>this arrangement would last Hope 6 months, Peaches, Chunk, and Onyx would share 1 bag and it would last 5 months, and Wilson's bag would last him 3 months.
>>
>>The only problem with this is that I don't know for sure who would eat f/t. Hope always gets stunned/fresh killed and eats instantly so she should be fine. Peaches, Chunk, and Onyx have all had fresh killed at least once with no problem so they SHOULD be good. But Wilson has never take anything that was not running around. He has refused EVERY f/k or stunned mouse ever offered. The last time he had a f/k mouse he pushed it onto the heat pad overnight and the room smelled like someone had been chopped up and hidden in the walls for years. So I think he can have his live.
>>
>>Now the problem is this. Taking into concideration that by the time these bags are gone they will all have moved to different sizes or at least more at one feeding....The bags will not last QUITE as long as estimated but still close. Will a bag stay fresh for around 5-6 months? I think I did all of my math pretty well. Any suggestions?
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Yes, the mice will last that long in the freezer.
As far as worrying about them moving up to the next size before you are out of a particular size as you mentioned, you can just double up so that isn't really a problem.
any of them that are eating pre-killed shouldn't have a problem with f/t.
If they are hesitant just put the snake and the mouse in a gladware or tupperware container and place that back in their enclosure. This way they can't avoid the prey item. It will be there in their face.
If they are still hesitant, do the gladware trick with a small fresh-killed prey item and then follow that up with a f/t.
The same trick should work with the one that refuses pre-killed.

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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

_____

Thanks Jimmy. Last night after writing that I remembered that I had 2 frozen pinks in the freezer from Butters (my butter that died) and I thawed them to see who would eat. Onyx ate his instantly and so did Chunk. I am posative that Hope will eat them and Chunk is more of a picky eater than Peaches so she should be fine too. Wilson is the only problem..... He is shy so I don't think tease feeding will work. I will try the locking him up thing but am not very hopefull. It isn't a big deal feeding 1 snake live I am still saving about $500. Thanks for all of the advice.
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"

...mice will last 5-6 months in the freezer, as long as you keep the bags properly sealed. Much longer than that and they start to get freezer-burnt.

-Kat
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This Space For Rent

well im definetly not the one to ask about the math but as of today i have 8 snakes.as of last week i have 600 various sizes of f/t mice this should last me about 5-6 mos for what ive got. but when my corn lays her eggs and they hatch i have to take food away from what ive got now to feed them so ill definetly have to order more pinks. i did over compensate by one bag of big pinks for this reason, but here is where it gets tricky for me..... how many of my own babies do i plan on keepimg? im guessing at atleast four 3 females and one male but maybe 2. the only reason im keeping any males is that mine is at least 6 years old and by the time i were to breed any of this years babies my male would be 9-10 and my female 10-11 so i must keep some this year for future breedings which i enjoy doing. i make enough each year to cover the cost of keeping them.i also trade with some people for cages or other animals, but will no longer need any cages do to me building a rack sytem soon for the majority and ease. to your question regarding breeding rodentsi was told from a very good breeder that i have been dealing with(dnk reptiles) that you shouldnt need to raise rodents until about 60 snakes just do to the time,effort and money it takes to raise them. check the rodent forums for advice but just get yours eating f/t and you will be better off.
adam sorry for the long post
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0.1.0 normal corn het hypo,anery
1.0.0 snow corn het hypo,anery,amel
1.0.0 amel corn unknown hets(4ft 8inch long)
1.0 sinacorn
0.0.2 snapping turtles
0.0.1 3 lined mud turtle
1.1 kenyan sand boas
coming soon
0.1 mbk
0.1 albino nelsons