Does anyone raise rodents in the same room/shed/building or whatever you keep your large pythons in? For now I am stopping with just 2 retics and 2 burms and am going to focus more on colubrids especialy a water snake project that I am very intersted in. Well, right now I have in my room a breeding pair of hairless rats and owuld like to build a small rack for mice and rats and would put that out in my shed... I have 3 out of 4 of my large pythons out there, and when my female retic gets bigger and requires more room she will be out there too. If I raise mice and rats out there where they are, would they be in a food mode all the time, or would they sort of get used to it smelling that way and not think anything of it. And by the way I do use the hook to change snap them out of food response every tiem I open the door, except when feeding. Would it realy matter if I did have the rodents out there? Like I said, I am realy focusing on water snakes and rat snakes and stuff so I would be better off raising my own rodents and the hairless rats are perfect for water snakes as they do not digest fur quite as well, but they can get used ot it. Soem don't even have a problem with it at all, but hairless in my opinion is best. Would you guys reccomend me keeping my rodents in the same shed as my retics/burms? I plan on saving this summer and building a new and much better building this year to keep my snakes and other reptiles in, and owuld like everything in my room to be moved out, all except he fish. The rats can stink up the place to and mice are even worse so I will not breed alot of them unless I can put them outside in my building. realy would appreciate some feedback on this. Sorry for being a little redundant and rambling so much.
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Justin
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Question.. I would appreciate opinons very much
Replies (7)
Justin,
I'd advise against it. I keep adult retics and burms, but I don't raise my own rodents. However, when I'm doing a massive thaw-out for feeding and the scent of mice/rat/rabbit is in the air, lets just say I'd prefer not to deal with the larger snakes hands-on. As soon as the scent hits the air they are all over it and are actively seeking out that prey item. I can get away with a gentle tap from a hook to snap the burms out of it, if need be, like you've mentioned. But I've had subadult retics literally take the hook right out of my hands in the past when attempting the same on them - in a feeding response (basically calm, tame retics otherwise). Even though it might seem amusing with a smaller retic, it's definitely LESS than amusing with a 15-20'+ retic. I definitely go out of my way to make sure that all husbandry/cleaning/etc. is done with the retic cages prior to me thawing anything out for that week's feeding session.
I do know some people that breed their own rodents, and I'm aware of the aroma that is inherited by that task. Even though their rodent colonies are kept clean, there's no denying the odor it can cause. Retics have to be the most scent-orientated species I've ever kept (prey and breeding wise) and I can't fathom someone keeping a rodent colony in the same room with adults unless they're just asking for punishment. You'd probably just be creating a monster(s) and a nightmare waiting to happen. I doubt he/she/they would get used to the scent and would probably be in constant feed mode. Good luck with it. But I'd definitely try to find another way 
Joe Yakelis
If you have decent temperatures year round, you can try an outdoor shed.
I sure wish I could do that. I am not about to put a rack of rodents in the house. They stink to much. Just the 3 tanks in my room can smell terrible. Would ya'll happen to have any suggestions? I just need a few. Not to offly many. I am raising rabbits outside so I just need rats for my water snakes and other colubrids. I would say around 20 or 30 mice a month plus buying some would be plenty to produce and fewer rats. I am just asking, because I have not dealt withrats all that much and I do know how retics can be, but would just a very few rodents cause the snakes to be in feeding mode all the time if I had them on the opposite side of the room. I thin I already know the answer but I would like to know from more experienced people. Oh and thanks again for the repsonse.
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Justin
Rats are not nearly as sensitive to temperature extremes and don't tend to fight as much as mice. I seldom find dead rats, unlike mice. If you have an outdoor / shed situation that suits your rabbits, then the rats could probably be set up in the same area as the rabbits are. Just give them lots of substrate to make nests out of if it is cold, and maybe some fans if it is hot, and they will probably do at least as well as the rabbits.
I don't think it would be a good idea to put hte rats and mice outsid. I just have a shelter for my rabbits. I give them a nest box for when it gets cold and the wind blows. I don't have aheat source. Unless you raise some of the other breeds of rabbits they require no addictional heat. It gets to cold here for anything smaller than rabbits. I have dealt with both mice and rats quite a bit, but am no expert is what I meant by the last post. I have a lot of experience with them and breeding both mice and rats, just would not say I'm an expert or anything. I do agree that rats are a lot more of a pleasure to raise than mice. I hate raising mice. They smell terrible and they are just harder to deal with. I have even been thinking of just raising rats and no mice. I could just buy mice form a show I go to, like I'm doing now.
to the last poster, I just mainly need pinkies. Not realy fuzzies either. I could use them but what I am feeding them to is water snakes. They have more sensitive stomachs to fur and pinky mice are great for baby water snakes. The rats I am raising are hairless and when the water snakes graduate from pinky mice, they will go to appropriate sized rats, then to baby rabbits. but this is not the water snake forum so I will not talk about that anymore. I might try it and if the rats cause my only 2 retics to go crazy then I guess I will stop it. My biggest is only 12' and with 2 people it is not a real threat so I think if I am going to ever try it then this summer is the time to do it. I do nto think I will have a problem out of my 2 burms though. They are a little bit easier to handle, you know. Well, thanks for all your replies. I realy appreciate them.
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Justin
Do you need 20-30 adult mice a month, or more fuzzies, hoppers, etc.? I raise my own mice for my colubrids, and I have a pair of superdwarf retics on the other end of the garage that don't go crazy from the smell. A couple of cages of mice ought to do it if you only need that many, though a few more may be necessary if you have to raise a lot up to adulthood. As long as you keep the cages clean, I wouldn't think that it would be too much of a problem.
Mice and Rat cages only stink when they are filthy. Not just messy, but they have to be pretty bad to stink as bad as you can't keep them in the same room you are in. I keep and breed mice and rats in my bedroom also but there is no smell. Just clean the cage once or twice a week and everythings good.
