• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Seriously Thinking Of Breeding My own Rats/Mice

SnakeKiss247

SnakeKiss247

New member
I just bought 8 rat pups for Monica (our new BP) today and it cost me, even with my discount, $19.19. With buying rats and mice for Ari and Buddy (our two corns), I am thinking of the cheapest way to feed them. I am not apposed to buying rodents, but if I can save a buck and raise my own, I will. Just wonder how long it will take a rat or mice to grow to an adult size for a bp or a Corn? If it is going to take it months to grow to the proper size to feed them, then for me, I don't think it's worth it. With the amount I would spend on food and bedding, I might as well just buy the F/T. I am still going to find out about ordering online, but I want to see what is cheapest. Is it more economical to grow my own feeders? Not really worried about feeding the rodents, just how long it takes them to reach the proper size to feed the snakes...

Do you people that raise your own rodents get your initial ones at the pet store? And, if you do, what do you buy to start off your colony, Two females and one male or what? Is there any special type rat or mice you buy? I know these may sound like stupid questions, but I have never raised any feeder rodents before. We don't sell any male rats or mice at our store so I would need to find a couple of males. I don't know what the other pet store has, but I will check that out tomorrow before work.
 
Good luck - I hope you have success.

I thought about breeding mice for my small collection, but the smell, cost of Aspen from constantly cleaning, and the lack of breeding from stubborn mice was more hassle than just buying.

The larger snake collections do warrant breeding feeders, though, if you have the space and time.
 
Nothing wrong with raising your own. As mentioned the smell can be overwelming. If you have the time raising your own can really pay off. And many people start with mice from pet stores. I started with mice from a breeder that I knew. If you have never bred mice I would start with 1 set of mice. Maybe a 1.3 and get them breeding regularly before upgrading to multiple colonies. This way you get use to the smell and care. I would either use a 10 gallon tank or get a lab cage.
Good luck.
 
Buying frozen thawed at an expo or from an online supplier is the cheapest way to go. If money is your reason for wanting to breed don't breed. Breeding rodents takes time and care and money.

Also, are you willing to euthenize the rat pups/adults and freeze them? It's the most effective way to build up a stock of the size of rodents your snake will need.

As far as time goes.. rodents don't take too long to mature, but they do sometimes take awhile to get breeding. A few months before your first litter is not uncommon.

If you want to try it out, go ahead. Some people have success with breeding their own rodents and end up also getting into kind of a hobby with the colors and patterns that rodents can have. Personally it is not for me. If the start up costs aren't a big deal (cage, food, supplies, animals) then you might as well at least try it. You can always feed off your rodents at any point you decide to call it quits.

That said, the most economical way to feed a snake collection is definitely frozen thawed. Do google searches for "Big Cheese", "Mouse Factory" .. and.. I'm sure there are much more. I use Mouse Factory and always have great healthy specimens.
 
I agree with you on most of what your saying Jess. The cost of rodents vary from person to person. There are so many variables. Gas to go get mice, cost of mice, and # of mice all play a factor. Raising mice is not expensive to maintain. The cost of start up isn't to much either. Like you mentioned time is the biggest cost. I just cut back on my colonies, I have 10 mice, 6 rat colony and 2 asf colonies it cost roughly 45 a month this past month to raise them. Now I also sell to my local people that have reptiles. So I usually break out ahead and often the rodents buy pizza. So cost is really what ever you make it. With 25 reptiles it cost less for me to raise my own than order my rodents.
 
My .02 is they smell, they smell and they smell. Really for 2 corns and 1 bp, I think it would cost more to raise them. Mice and rats are incredible breeders, I also found my supply out weighed my demand. Even with freezing for future, I always had plenty and more. The smell really isn't bad, but it does take daily attention to feeding, water and cleaning. Once you get a good colony established you don't want to break it up.
Then there is the rats are too cute and smart to kill myself, it just was too hard.
 
You are probably right... If I had a ton of snakes like some of the people on here, it probably be worth my while to breed mice and rats... It's a lot of work cleaning cages etc. At least for now, I get a discount where I work so I purchase some F/T feeder rodents every week when the new shipment comes in. I am trying to stock up so that at least I have a couple of months worth in the freezer.
 
Just a thought- in my experience, getting your feeder rodents from a local breeder is often much more affordable. It is a great way to build relationships (often friendships) with people in your area that share the same interests as well! I used to get all my rodents that way, and since I was a consistent customer, a fellow breeder and a friend, I often got deep discounts as well... If on the rare occasion that one breeder didn't have the size I needed, they always knew someone who did! And when they had extras or discounts, they called to let me know... It was also a great opportunity to "geek out" every so often with other people who were just as "obsessed" with corns as I am!
One drawback was that I typically had to euthanize the animals myself, which wasn't bad except sometimes with the rat pups as stated above... (mice are evil little creatures!)
I found the breeders through these forums, too...
Anyways, hope that helps! :)
 
I think I will stick with purchasing them F/T for now at the store I work for. I get a discount so that helps. Right now I am purchasing a few at a time every week we get a shipment in so I am slowly building up my stash for the snakes.
 
It's kind of my other hobby. But it's not for everyone, and having just a few snakes would not make it worthwhile unless the ones you buy are so expensive that it is worth your time to raise them. I think it is more time than money as far as costs involved. I don't have enough colonies to become a local supplier for others but it is worth my while to raise my own to me, and I am kind of a genetics geek so I have fun with the different coats/colors too. I have a few tanks of mice in the house and it doesn't stink, if I had more than that it probably would, though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top