My Rodents (many pics!)

I loved snakes since i was little (saw a picture of a housesnake when I was 8, wanted one since then, got her last year).

The thing is I dont like how the feeder mice are produced, so i told myself that if i get a snake i will breed my own mice (or other rodents).

Over the years I tryed like every Rodent you can get here, most I hated...Like the gerbils - I mean they were so dusty and I couldn't get them through weaning. Mice smelled horrible (now I know THAT depens on the food)
Hamster were total assholes (at least the syrian ones).

First rodents I liked where Spiny mice, I have this colony for 4 Years now.
After I got the first Snake (adult Corn) I begann to breed dwarf hamsters, meanwhile had the syrians - never again, ASF that were so shy i didn't want to care for them...

Then the third snake I got was a very unsteady feeder (needed reds) so I bought Mice again, as stated below they dont smell even with 60 in a 6 qm room the guests didn't smell them. The snake now is a geat feeder as long I don't try to feed her frozen from a pet shop - little gourmet.
The housesnake dosen't care- eats everything that fits.

Then I found some ASF where i really liked the color, they arent shy and I like them, real interesting as pets, lets see when the first litter comes. in Febuary I also got a pair of roborovsky dwarf hamsters.
2 days ago I got pygmy mice from a Show (together with a few more snakes).

Well here is the rodent room for fancy mice and dwarf hamster:



ASF & Pygmy



Spinys



The rodents


















(When I make my viviarium wall in the living room the pygmys and ASF get a 120 x 80 x 60 Viv and the spinys will get a large wirecage (1m x 1m and 2m high)

I welcomed you then I found your great photo post. I LOVE your rodent room. You say the spiny mice are nice as pets? I laughed about the Syrians. What do you feed the mice to make them...not smell?

God how I hate the syrians, how can people keep them, they stink, arent social, destroying everything and are agressiv without end.

If you get a good line Spinys are very nice, they can be keept in rather small cages (the one on top would acually be enough) okay need to be Spotcleaned regually or they stink.
The cucial thing is - never run out of water, never run out of food, never run out of protein rich food, never try to put more then 1.1 adult together after keeping them seperated for a while. All that will end with bitten of tails and ears and large fleshwounds.
The behavior is nice and funny and the babys they only get about 2 to 3 kits every 40 days so no need to worry about overflowing with them.

I mix parakeet seed mix, dry noodles, dry cat & dog food, cornflakes (unsugered), dry bread and oate meal together. just avoid normal mice-food or labblocks.


My enemys...

And the Best is.. my spinys are Tame

heavely pregnant female:

SamSimon said:

I mix parakeet seed mix, dry noodles, dry cat & dog food, cornflakes (unsugered), dry bread and oate meal together. just avoid normal mice-food or labblocks.

Click to expand...

I wish they'd let us feed the rodents at work a blend like this. We've got two male mice in the isolation room that stink up the whole back of the store.

I mix about 50kg ready for use, that lasts about 2 Months (or one if I have to many fancys )

That is a nice female spiny. So how do you kill them? I really hate that part. I tried breeding mice. Freezing the pinkies was easy. I hated doing in the older ones.

I am a labratory-assistent so in training we learned neck discolating too. But I just hate it to do it with the hands. (Right now I'm working with quality control for car catalysts, dont ask me how i ended up there XD)

I just took a Soda Stream, attached a tube that goes to a little container (make a second hole in the lid so it can't blow). Press the button. Since you replace the air with 100% CO2 its only 2 to 3 seconds. The container shouldn't be to large and you should not put to many mice in there (for me 3 adults are max.).
For pinkys freezing is faster.
The Big Corns get mostly live, they dont take it every time i offer so i dont want to waste it. (But even if, my cats likes 'organic'-rodents too.)

Nice little collection of rodents you have. I got my ASF in Feb. and already am getting overrun. They breed like incredibly fast.But mine are shy and will bite the heck out of me if I put my hand in, I have to use tongs(carefully but they bite those too).
I am thinking about getting some dwarf hamsters and gerbils.I have never seen spiny or pygmy mice here but my dh is super allergic to mice so thats why I started the ASF's.
I keep all them in the basement..I do hate the way most rodents are treated. Mine get lots of room, toys and good food(lots of fresh veggies).Even if they arent pets.

Thats a good attitude towards feeders

The dwarf hamsters are pretty easy to breed but they are way slower in producing litters.

For the ASFs I can touch mine, but I am very careful. I think I'll use thongs too. I'm planning on reducing the litters to 6 pups right in the beginning. So I won't get overflown with them :smash:

I met a vendor at a reptile show once that had tame ASFs. They were really cool. They were super-tame and friendly, like regular rats.

I may have to work on one of my ASF see what happens.They are pretty wild though.
I got them from a nasty place with about a hundred to a tub that smelled horrible. No toys, no nothing just over crowded tubs..It was pretty sad but I guess the norm for rodent breeders.

I really hope I get the ASFs as Tame as my spinys, they weren't tame from the beginning, I could not get them tame by handeling, but by breeding, only hold back the tamest ones.

The funny thing is, I got the ASF at an pet shop, as the shop assistent heard my question about the price she got real mad and as i said i wanted a pair - oh man XD She used real thick gloves and alwys said don't go to near they are jumping XDDD but this two are acually tames as the 2 females I bought years ago and were sold as 'tame' pets. I suspect the ones at the shop there just didn't like her soap or something like that.

The pygmy mice have a litter of 3 little pink tic tacs in the nest

Since the damn dwarf hamsters were eating the litters (first time I had a problem like that - lost 4 litters in 3 Months) I seperated all Females. I hadn't had enough boxes to do so, soooo I just put all females mice that hadn't drop a litter yet together, here are almost all my mice XD (missing 6 + 2 litters of 10 each)

You know what I would like to have? One of those giant rats that they use to sniff out mines. I love those.

pouched rat? Actually a normal rat is already to big for me Oo I like my rodens small and cute.