How much do mouse colonies save you?

So I am now up to 4 baby snakes, and 2 will only eat live.

Live pinkies cost a lot from pet stores, and I am wondering how much it would save me to breed my own mice. I fell like it might be a lot of extra work and cleaning, but would it be worth it? Does it save a lot of money? I have been thinking about it and wondering whether the saw dust, hides, etc for the mouse cage would really just equal out to the buying of pinkies. I don't know, any advice? =/

Ali

Here is some things you should consider. Do you have time to clean and maintain a colony(daily food water ect... ). How much do you truly pay for pinkies? For instance; I would have to drive 45 minutes to the nearest shop to get pinkies. Then pay for them and drive 45 minutes back. So the almost 1/2 tank of gas costs me 15-20 bucks. Not to include the $1 per pinkie. so pinkies would cost me a huge amount. Now to maintain one colony for me it would cost me about $20 a month. This does not enclude the time, which I find actually kind of fun, to maintain them. Now getting started isn't all that hard. It can cost a little in intial setup. It also gives me peace of mind. I know where my food comes from and how it is kept, what it eats, and I can choose the perfect size for the snakes.
Now saying all that, It might be more affordable to try to get the little buggers on f/t. You could order in bulk and the cost overall is reduced. However, your snakes maybe stubborn feeders (like my LB is) and will only eat live. If you have a local Herp. club often someone in the club raises rodents and might be able to get you some a little cheaper. Or, like I have, go in together with another Herp. person and raise rodents together for both of your collections. It cuts the cost and you get a babysitter for when you go out of town.

Thank you for all that info =) much appreciated. Believe my I have tried to get my 2 on f/t thankfully the other 2 are happily eating it. They are very stubborn, unfortunately.

It just seems to be getting expensive because at the pet stores here the pinkies are $2 and thats once a week times 2 snakes until they grow a little then it will cost even more for live fuzzies. I don't know I was just wondering if it is more economical. I am able to put the time and effort into mouse care, I am just wondering if it will save me enough money to be worth it in the end. Plus their urine smells terrible. Anyway thank you =) I will try to do some more research.

Ali

That is another thing. Smell. Male mice can stink. If you keep real good/clean cages you should be okay. If all 4 snakes eat once a week 2 bucks a meal= 8 bucks a week. Times 4 weeks in a month(usually) $32 dollars a month.You stated you have the time. You could probably do better raising your own (once they get established). Establishing a good working colony can get tricky for some. I haven't had a whole lot of issues. But I also got my mice from a breeder. Do some research on mouse keeping, keep asking questions here. There are a lot of good mouse breeders on the site, that would be happy to help with information and situations that they have experienced.--

How many mice do you keep in a colony? I don't think I would need many at all.

One large colony would get the job done. Maybe a 1:4 or 1:5. If your just going for pinkie production. A Twenty long with lid, good wheel, a dish of good food, and a water bottle would work well. A well established colony will produce pinkies every 2-3 weeks. Pending on your needs at the time, you may have to freeze a few (for the ones that will eat frozen). Also sometimes there is gaps between births. You always need a back up plan. You may find yourself buying a few here and there.

I have 2 colonies (10 total and 2 planned) of pinkie production only. They give birth about once every 10 days or so. They are set up at a 1:10 ratio. (This set up is for the eggs I have this year 36 and counting).

Food is important. Read as much as you can. I use block food and throw in scraps. Rice, dog food with "no dyes" in it, mine love sunflower seeds but watch out they have tons of fat. Also as the pinkies grow to weanlings I add some bird seed. Mice are not picky on what they eat, but a good diet insures your snake gets good, quality mice to eat.

thank you thank you thank you =) bah i love this forum

Buzzard has some good advice. Sent some rep points your way.

Thank you very much...

I have just over 30 corn snakes. I have currently 5 colonies of mice, soon to be culled down to 4 colonies. It saves me tons to raise my own mice as I can cull according to sizes I currently am running low on. This was a cull I did last night.

Mass mouse murder!!!

Another thing to consider is this.... can you handle culling the mice yourself? I've been finding it somewhat difficult to kill the babies in my colony, they're just so cute and innocent.... :awcrap: It's something to think about anyway. Everyone has offered some good advice to you, good luck with your decision.

Em, Your funny but not alone. My wife had to have the "pretty colony". Now it has been crazy, She won't let me cull from this colony, pets only. I get blk/wht (we call them cow mice), also brn/wht, silver/wht, Choc/wht.... But it keeps her intrested and she helps me out on cleaning day, just so she can check her colony....lol


But your right, make sure you can stomach the culling of the mice you raise. Most people I know do the white mice. They seem "less likely" to get attached.

LOL thanks. I don't blame your wife at all. Those babies can be very "persuasive".

Soft Fur Rats

I would encourage you to it least look at soft furred rats vrs mice. Now the pinks are just a bit bigger, but you have 0 smell with these guys, tons better than mice. Just a thought, you can look them up on google. They have started being bred mainly for ball pythons, as they are the natural food item in Africa for the balls, but they sure do make nice "mouse" colonies.

Blichtenhan, Yes they are cool.They look like baby opossums. I have a colonies of them myself. I just got them not 3-4 weeks ago so I am still experimenting with them. They aren't as smelly, but they do make a mess of their cage. Judgement is still out... Until mine start producing...

Oh make sure you local laws allow them...I know KY ASF's are illegal