Gerbils ... High initial cost, can only keep 1 male to 1 female, female may have already bonded to a different male and kill the new one, chew like crazy and will chew through any plastic cage, retain sperm so they can only have 1 litter every 5 weeks. Pros ... equivalent sized babies to mice ... usually good parents.
Hamsters ... like to bite, only dwarfs work well in colonies, only dwarfs have small pinks. Pros ... pretty easy to obtain, low cost (except long haired/teddy bears), about same litter rate as mice but lower average count of pinks.
Mice ... need to be settled in a colony to breed well, need to keep temps in the 70's, need at least 10 hrs of light to breed well, find any excuse to kill off cage mates or litters, only good for about 6 months of breeding (females). Pros ... low initial cost, breed well once established, easy to trade or sell off extras.
Food ... While a rodent block is designed to be used for rodents they can be hard to obtain. Bought in large quantities can be cost effective ... its usually shipping that is the highest cost. High quality dog foods make a good substitute but can be up to $40 for a 50 lb bag. Low quality dog foods are usually really high in protein (25-30%) and have high corn content. High protein causes as many problems as too low protein, plus corn cant be effectively processed, so it usually leads to alot of feces.
Home made diets can be good ... however compare the cost of 50 lbs of home made to the cost of 50 lbs of rodent block, you will usually find the rodent block to be cheaper (even with having it shipped in). Rats and mice are omnivores, not herbivores, and require some animal content to maintain health, homemade diets seldom include this. Nuts have an extremely high fat content but are a favorite ... rodents will pick through their food to find the "choice tidbits", leaving the rest as waste.
Soybeans are commonly used to increase protein content in rodent block. While I have never fed rodents whole soybeans, common sense says it would help.
JM nailed the differences between mice and rat breeding.
Bryan
Hamsters ... like to bite, only dwarfs work well in colonies, only dwarfs have small pinks. Pros ... pretty easy to obtain, low cost (except long haired/teddy bears), about same litter rate as mice but lower average count of pinks.
Mice ... need to be settled in a colony to breed well, need to keep temps in the 70's, need at least 10 hrs of light to breed well, find any excuse to kill off cage mates or litters, only good for about 6 months of breeding (females). Pros ... low initial cost, breed well once established, easy to trade or sell off extras.
Food ... While a rodent block is designed to be used for rodents they can be hard to obtain. Bought in large quantities can be cost effective ... its usually shipping that is the highest cost. High quality dog foods make a good substitute but can be up to $40 for a 50 lb bag. Low quality dog foods are usually really high in protein (25-30%) and have high corn content. High protein causes as many problems as too low protein, plus corn cant be effectively processed, so it usually leads to alot of feces.
Home made diets can be good ... however compare the cost of 50 lbs of home made to the cost of 50 lbs of rodent block, you will usually find the rodent block to be cheaper (even with having it shipped in). Rats and mice are omnivores, not herbivores, and require some animal content to maintain health, homemade diets seldom include this. Nuts have an extremely high fat content but are a favorite ... rodents will pick through their food to find the "choice tidbits", leaving the rest as waste.
Soybeans are commonly used to increase protein content in rodent block. While I have never fed rodents whole soybeans, common sense says it would help.
JM nailed the differences between mice and rat breeding.
Bryan
