Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Any one breed the mice or rats that you feed to your snake so you don't have to go to the store every week and buy them? If so, how do u do it? Tell your secrets. Thanks

David

alot of people breed their own food.......

and food to sell on top of that.......

I use 300 mice a week more or less..I cannot afford to go out and buy that many....and snakes like live prey....so I would have to have a supplier for live.......it won't work....$$$$$4....over $100 a week....not me.

I also sell alot of mice and supply at least 3 other friends with most of their needs and another guy with alot to resell....

how do we do it........

ALOT OF WORK...........and alot of mess and smell.......LOL.....

there are alot of things you will need to know..too much to write here......

find a good little book....or better yet start online under keyword mouse...there are alot of mouse sites......

then if you have specific questions that you cannot find answers to.....we'll help you out......

(not being mean...just too much to know)......

..........JY
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.....wow....you people....really.....you are exactly like I thought.........

............right?

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I breeded rats for my 2 BP's and what i did is got 2 females and 1 male and put all of them together untill the females had babies then i put the male in his own cage after all the babies got big enough i fed them to the snakes and then froze the others. I gave the 2 female rats about 2 months between litters. I found out that feeding and bedding for the 3 rats costed more in the long run. But if you have more than 2 snakes it might be better for you to raise your own feeders. Also the smell getts crazy from time to time. Hope this helps you out a little.

I don;t breed them *yet*. I think when I start I might build a shed out back to keep them in, though. I don't want those things in the house, they stink. I think they'll be ok in the winter, too - rats are tough.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Is it true that mice and rats should not be housed near each other? Someone said the mice are intimidated and will not breed?

I keep a small colony of mice in my "rat barn" and they breed just fine.
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3.12 Ball Pythons
0.1 Viper Boa
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Looking for 0.2 Phelsuma madagascariensis madagascariensis

I breed my own. It can be alot of work, but for me it's worth it.

A few things you got to think about.First DO NOT breed your females back to back!! I just got a bunch females so I can give the ones I have a rest.It's not good for them. keep the cages clean!This is where the work comes in. I breed my rats(and mice) in a shed outback. I clean the cages every three days. Some people say you can go longer, and I'm sure you could but for me every three days is long enough.Talking about sheds, I love it!! It's alot better the in the house, but...When I first set up the shed I did it in March.By the time may came around I was lossing rats left and right.Then it hit me,when the outside temps were at 90 it was well over 110 in the shed. Now my shed has a small window a/c in it.Just a little $99 one from home depot.

Look around online and you'll find all the info you need.It's very easy, just a little work cleaning and stuff.

Very easy to do.

Started by accident. Had a mouse that my Ball refused...Kept intending to take her back, but she grew on us. VERY friendly mouse. So we got her a mate. We had my Ball, and my stepdaughters 2 Red Tailed Boas to feed, so what the hey.

Other than the excruciatingly LOUD "mouse rape" screaming on a regular basis, it went and goes, very smoothly. Mr. Mouse and Spike are since retired. She got too fat too breed I think, but one of her daughters, and a new female are in a 10 gallon tank with a single male, and breed at decent intervals.

I clean once a week, and use a mix of pine shavings and chlorophyll pine and have no smell to speak of. Mice are reasonably fastidious, and tend to urinate in one corner of the tank only. The tanks are actually in our bedroom, and we never have an odor problem unless I go over the week interval. They have toys, and a hide box they ignore completely, and they tend to give birth in, and raise the babies in, a terra cotta pot that's in there as well. Make SURE you have a wheel for them. They'll go postal without one. They use alfalfa, timothy, and shredded toilet paper to weave a very cool nest for each litter.

The interesting thing about mice is, DON'T remove the male when the babies come. They are exceptionally good fathers. I made that mistake in my first litter, and he got terribly depressed, and the reintroduction was difficult. Rats may be different.

Side note. When I feed them anything other than mouse food, such as cat food or people food other than lettuce, my Ball refuses them. Not sure of the connection.

Hope that helps a bit.