Reptile & Amphibian Forums

recently, i decided to start breeding my own mice. the guy i usually buy from has really cheap prices, but lately he's been really unreliable. i've also been spending a fortune every week at the local pet store. to top it all off, i lost my job last thursday, so needless to say, i've been trying to save money. well, the problem i have now is i think the mice have fleas. i'm not planning on feeding these mice to my snakes, but is it a good idea not to feed the pinkies as well? how can i get rid of the fleas? someone told me a while back that as far as snakes go, you should worry about mites and ticks, but usually not fleas. i think i should also mention i have a cat in the house. another question i have is how do you keep the mice from eating their babies? one of my females had 9 babies last weekend and almost every one of them had their arms eaten off! as far as i know, i'm giving the mice the right food, i.e. dry dog food and bird seed. am i doing anything wrong? should i change something? sorry this is such a long post, but i appreciate any help/ideas!

thanks!
greg

>>recently, i decided to start breeding my own mice. the guy i usually buy from has really cheap prices, but lately he's been really unreliable. i've also been spending a fortune every week at the local pet store. to top it all off, i lost my job last thursday, so needless to say, i've been trying to save money. well, the problem i have now is i think the mice have fleas. i'm not planning on feeding these mice to my snakes, but is it a good idea not to feed the pinkies as well? how can i get rid of the fleas? someone told me a while back that as far as snakes go, you should worry about mites and ticks, but usually not fleas. i think i should also mention i have a cat in the house. another question i have is how do you keep the mice from eating their babies? one of my females had 9 babies last weekend and almost every one of them had their arms eaten off! as far as i know, i'm giving the mice the right food, i.e. dry dog food and bird seed. am i doing anything wrong? should i change something? sorry this is such a long post, but i appreciate any help/ideas!
>>
>>thanks!
>>greg

A ways down the forum there is some of a discussion about fleas...that in this case ended up being lice. Either way. The thing my vet recommended was Ovitrol Plus spray that is very safe and I could spray the cages, the animals etc. Another's vet recommended poultry dust. Another recommned was Black Knight or Provent a mite. (can't remember which.) Ovitrol has a .18% pyrethrins. I wouldn't go higher than that. But I also don't want the vet police on me so I would say, call your vet and see if they will recommend for you. Key will be NOT feeding them off til the toxins wear off .....couple three weeks.
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Sonya

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