Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone 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

Many of us here have in the past or currently do breed mice for their animals. It is kind of fun, but let me give you a few tips.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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.
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Chris Harrison

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.
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>>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.
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Martin Whalin
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>>I've never understood how people can claim that it's cheaper to buy frozen rodents off the internet.

I wholeheartedly agree. It is much cheaper to raise your own rodents. I have in the past and would again if I had the facility to do so properly. I actually enjoy breeding rodents and if you have proper cages (lab cages or similar) cleaning is really quick and easy.

My only point was that for people with small collections or no place to breed them, it may not be the best choice. You save money, but you gain hastles.

I will sometimes breed mice in the winter for a few months to stock up my freezer with pinkies then feed off the colony when it begins to get warm.
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Chris Harrison

damn!

i was thinking about trying it out myself, but after your post i'm reconsidering that thought!

I must say that mice stink but breeding them is worthwhile if you need pinks, fuzzies, or hoppers. Full grown mice and rats take to long to raise. I can buy a months worth of rats from a local reptile dealer (he gets them from a local lab) for under $20 and that will feed all of my larger snakes. raising mice will be good for some people. feel free to try it. i did but i ended up just feeding the mice i'd bought to my snakes after i caught a whiff of them early one morning after i first got pregnant. the smell of mice will gag you any time but when your pregnant its like a death sentence. anyway, good luck with whatever you decide.

>>I must say that mice stink but breeding them is worthwhile if you need pinks, fuzzies, or hoppers. Full grown mice and rats take to long to raise. I can buy a months worth of rats from a local reptile dealer (he gets them from a local lab) for under $20 and that will feed all of my larger snakes. raising mice will be good for some people. feel free to try it. i did but i ended up just feeding the mice i'd bought to my snakes after i caught a whiff of them early one morning after i first got pregnant. the smell of mice will gag you any time but when your pregnant its like a death sentence. anyway, good luck with whatever you decide.
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1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Punisher and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Eastern Yellow Belly racer "Nightcrawler" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.1 California king snake "Bandit and Moonstar" (Coastal phase)
1.0 Prairie king snake "Bishop" (KY locale)
0.1 Black king snake "Domino" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern Milk snake "Cable" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern/Red milk intergrade "Omega Red" (KY locale)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

per container, plenty of food and water, and enough bedding for the females to make nests with. It will probably take a couple of months to get the breeding colony established, but after that, you will have more than enough mice. I have 6 breeding colonies, and they provide plenty of pinks, fuzzies, hoppers and small adults. The large adults take more time to grow, just make sure you have a couple of large enough containers for them, and seperate the males from the females. That way you wont have them breeding as well.
Brian
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1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Punisher and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Eastern Yellow Belly racer "Nightcrawler" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.1 California king snake "Bandit and Moonstar" (Coastal phase)
1.0 Prairie king snake "Bishop" (KY locale)
0.1 Black king snake "Domino" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern Milk snake "Cable" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern/Red milk intergrade "Omega Red" (KY locale)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian