Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thanks for the advice. Both females ate three live fuzzy mice yesterday. Probably could have eaten more, but I cut them off at three. After they feed a couple more times in the day, I will let them get a little hungrier, and try them on a fresh kill. After that, we'll move on to F/T. Although I received the answere that I thought I would, I guess I needed to hear it. I knew that's what the problem was, I suppose I was the one being stubborn after all. In my defense,... the mouse breeder is an hour drive. That, in and of itself was the problem all along. I still don't quite get why the male dosen't care, and the females do. He would probably eat my nose if it smelled like a rat! Next question,...

Can someone tell me how to keep young rodents alive when they have been seperated from mom while their eyes are still closed? Since my dealer lives so far away, and this is the size I need, I would like to be able to buy a couple dozen at a time, and keep them going. The mouse lady won't part with momma mouse. So I will have to either find a way to feed them, or make lot's of trips! Raising my own is out of the question. Been there, done that, no thanks. Thanks,
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amongst themseleves".

In my opinion, you can't really stock up on live fuzzies with out having a mother mouse to keep them fed. I've hand fed rescued baby squirrels before, and they require feeding every couple of hours at some stages of development. I usually make a weekly run to the store where I pick up my live fuzzies -I have 1 picky Leopard rat snake and that's all he's eaten for 4 years. I've had fuzzies live about 3 days (then I feed them to one of my snakes that will eat anything to put them out of their misery). This is another reason to get snakes switched to frozen thawed. Convenience! If it makes you feel any better, the pair of BRBs I got last summer only ate live when I purchased them and I got them switched over in about 3 months. Unfortunately in that time, I had mites appear in my snake collection which I'm pretty sure came from the live feeders I was picking up from a mite infested (as I found out later) pet store. They keep their rodents in a room next to their reptiles and those bugs will travel... I've raised mice too, but I'd rather spend my time caring for my snakes and not worrying about the mice.

Lora

Get them on f/t, I believe that is the only way. I'm no expert, but fuzzies are still reliant on mama's milk. In truth, you could be feeding lg. hoppers. I was leary of feeding lg. prey items, but the experienced ones here suggested I go with bigger prey items. Mine are 4 months old and eating weanling mice, no problem. Just a thought for you. Goodluck, Clint

T,.
...Clints is right. Little BRBs can eat much larger meals than you would think. I have even fed adult mice to newborn baby BRBs as their very first meal. Feeding them too large a meal can lead to regurgitation but hopper mice are the ideal size for baby BRBs. I actually get a much stronger feeding response feeding hoppers than I do with fuzzy mice. If you were to buy just weaned mice from your mouse supplier you could keep them alive for as long as you want. It is hard to imagine that anyone is an hour away from the nearest mouse breeder. Where are you located?
Jeff

>>Thanks for the advice. Both females ate three live fuzzy mice yesterday. Probably could have eaten more, but I cut them off at three. After they feed a couple more times in the day, I will let them get a little hungrier, and try them on a fresh kill. After that, we'll move on to F/T. Although I received the answere that I thought I would, I guess I needed to hear it. I knew that's what the problem was, I suppose I was the one being stubborn after all. In my defense,... the mouse breeder is an hour drive. That, in and of itself was the problem all along. I still don't quite get why the male dosen't care, and the females do. He would probably eat my nose if it smelled like a rat! Next question,...
>>
>>Can someone tell me how to keep young rodents alive when they have been seperated from mom while their eyes are still closed? Since my dealer lives so far away, and this is the size I need, I would like to be able to buy a couple dozen at a time, and keep them going. The mouse lady won't part with momma mouse. So I will have to either find a way to feed them, or make lot's of trips! Raising my own is out of the question. Been there, done that, no thanks. Thanks,
>>T.
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>>"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amongst themseleves".