pros and cons of breeding mice?

i have 8 eggs that look like they will hatch within the next month, as well as four adults and a bearded dragon who is over 2 ft long and eats a pinky a week. my roomate hates the smell that comes with live mice so we feed f/t. she will be out of town until sep so i was considering starting a colony for a little over a month in the hopes of stalk pilling some pinkies. can anyone think of a reason why this would be a bad idea? also i'm planning to get another 2 snakes between now and x-mass.
ideas?

I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea, but the mice may not even have a set of babies in 1-2 months. I've seen in the feeder forums a couple times that it can take awhile for them to settle in? Maybe this is only an issue with younger mice and adults will start breeding right away, but I'm not sure. I guess it's worth a try!

Have you considered other types of rodents? I think I want to try a small rat colony, I have had rats as pets in the past and they don't smell 1/10th as bad as mice do (in my opinion). ASF's could also be a good choice, they are a little smaller then normal rats and have a low odor that your roommate may be able to tolerate? Also, not sure if you have the freezer space/have considered it, but if you use a lot of mice buying online in bulk is usually much cheaper when using large quantities.

Good luck!!

Not a good idea.... Like mentioned above it does take them a month or two to settle in. You would be lucky to a litter in before she returned. Stick with f/t for now. The smell of mice and rats would also linger for a while so even if you did get them and remove them, it would still smell, at leasat for a while.

I find they take 30 days to adjust to the change THEN they start breeding so if you can only have them one month it is not worth it. You would get your first pinkies the first week or two of September maybe later.

I hated mice and forgot most of what I knew about them, BUT, you should NOT be feeding the beardy mice nearly that often. They eat greens and insects, mainly greens when adults, and mice are extremely fatty for most lizards that aren't tegus.



Personally, I breed rats. Easier, smell less, produce more, get along better. I tried ASFs, but they wouldn't grow, wouldn't breed, and kept killing and eating each other.

I also thought that breeding mice was a great idea before our babies hatched. So, as soon as the eggs were layed (THREE AND A HALF MONTHS AGO) I bought myself a male and 3 females. I had one litter from one female, but she ate all the babies. That same female finally produced a litter just three days ago, and a few of those pinks are in the freezer. The other 2 females have not even gotten pregnant yet. I have been buying f/t pinkies for the babies and they eat them just fine, even as a first meal.

Also, mice STINK. I have a handful of pet only mice, and odor control is an ongoing battle.