Getting started?

Alright...I'm curious here. How does one go about getting started in breeding mice for feeders? Is it a difficult or time consuming process? Is it an expensive process? Do the benefits outweigh the cost? And finally...is it a worthwhile proposition for a single snake owner?

The reason I ask, aside from the obvious idle curiosity, is that I think it might be something that my daughter might enjoy participating in, as well, right alongside raising our snake together.

Anyone have any comments and/or suggestions on this prospect? Should I give it up and just buy "take-out" for the time being?

I appreciate andy and all responses.

It's your choice, mice are inexpensive to breed.
Mice breed faster.
It's not difficult.
But I don't think you should do it if you have ONE snake, on the otherhand, you have a daughter, which is a different matter.

I think you should, your daughter would benefit from it.

I haven't bred mice myself, but I have studied them.

i had mice for three months: they were terribly mean, they didnt have babies, they always fought with each other and my hand, and they only ate half the food i gave them (the other half was thrown all over the smelly cage)

i just bought rats last week. they require more space, poop a lot more, but are really nice and playful. they are also very intelligent (which can be either a good or bad thing) they dont fight with each other. i just hope they start producing soon.

another thing, mice pinks are small enough for hatchlings. rat pups are not. which can also be a good or bad thing depending on the snakes you have to feed. good luck either way, its a fun and enjoyable experience as long as you dont have a problem with dying rodent babies.

I just started a colony of one male and 2 females. We've had them about a month or so, and right now it looks like 1 female may be preggers. I see it as a cost savings for my baby, because she is on large pinks almost ready for fuzzy's. I also have an adult corn that eats small rats. I personally see it as a cost savings for me because I can hopefully raise enough pinks and fuzzy's to last the next year for the baby, and then all I have to buy are the f/t small rats for Tiaga.. Just my opinion. Besides my girls like having more critters(even though I'm DEATHLY afriad of the mice I let them keep them).LOL

So, what would be a basic recommended setup to get started breeding mice?

Would a small, plastic "aquarium" thing like they sell at the petstore work, with some aspen bedding, small food dish, water dish, hidey-hole? 2 females and a male to start with? I might do this, as I think my daughter would really enjoy keeping the mice. I just have to be careful with the removal and feeding of the babies to the snake. I already feed when she's not around to avoid the painful questions...

I tie flies, and she is under the impression that the myriad of animal skins, furs and feathers in my collection all died from old age .

The basics for starting a colony: For one snake you will have too much food with more than 2 female mice. So stick with 1 male and 2 females. A ten gallon aquarium with a screen lid is great. Or a store bought cage would be fine too, but most cages for mice are really too small.

Two or three hides, which can be anything at all really. You can buy them from the petstore or be creative and use cardboard boxes you have laying around the house. Cereal boxes, frozen dinner boxes, etc. For mice, I use some kind of paper bedding, like Carefresh or Soft Sorb. Mix it with hay or rabbit food pellets. This really cuts down on the smell. Use a water bottle, not a bowl. Mice will pee, poop, and drop food into a bowl. They aren't the neatest creatures! Also put a few toilet roll tubes in there too. They love to tear them up and hide in them. Make sure you provide wood for them to chew on. The store-bought wood treats are fine.

For food, its better for them to eat a block type food instead of a seed mix. They're like little kids, if you give them a mix, they will pick out all the "good" stuff and not eat the healthy things. You can buy block food at most petstores. Mazuri is the best kind.

When your females have babies, don't separate them out. Just leave the mom and babies in the cage. The dad won't bother them at all, in fact, he may even sit on them and keep them warm when the mom goes out of the nest to eat. If you handle the mice often, they won't bite. I've never had a mouse actually break the skin anyway.

One more thing, don't lie to your daughter about the snakes eating mice. Let her watch the snake eat. Its not too late to teach her the facts of life about predators and such. Here is a good example of that. This guy is a member of this forum, and he lets his 2-year old daughter help him with the mice. She knows that the snake eats the mice. Here she is, separating the babies out.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44520

well...thank you for that link. I feel better about the whole scenario, now. I think raising mice for feeders will be a good project for us. I am all over anything that can bring me and my baby girl closer together, and if she can learn a few things along the way, then it's all the better. Thanks again for that link. I really enjoyed seeing that!