should i breed mice and how

[idontknow]

hey there i have 4 snakes or 5( my friends keeps one most of the time) i have 3 yearlings and 1 ummm hatchings and a adult bp. the hatching and one of the yearlings(slow start feeder) eat large pinks the other 2 yearling's eat big fuzzies(eyes slightly open) and the bp is full grown. i pay about 1.25 for pinks and fuzzies and i pay about 4$ for medium rats. thats a lot of cash and because the kids are growing i need to upgrade every now and then on food size. i was thinking of buying a male and a female mice and breed them and freeze a few pinks let some more grow freeze them as fuzzies and then let about 1 or 2 get full grown for the bp and freeze that one, and do it again and then freeze then parents. so i was wondering how do you bread mice how long does it take them to do the birds & the bees, just the whole run down on it. thanks.

-the kemist:flames:

 

[SquamishSerpents]

well breeding feeders sonds all fine and dandy at first... but paying for frozen mice compared to paying for the bedding, food, etc for the breeder mice would be WAY more expensive. you can't just get a male and a female mouse and throw them together and expect babies. usually it takes a number of pairs to even get a pair that will breed. and keeping that in mind, you'd have to buy living quarters for not just 1 pair of mice, but many. which also means your costs of bedding/food, etc goes way up. with your small number of snakes (4-5 like you said) breeding mice hardly seems worth it for the cost. for some people that have 20, 30, 40+ snakes, sure it might be a benefit, but maybe not for you.

that's just my opinion though. i've never done it or tried to do it, but i do work at a pet store and i do know lots that have tried, and have eventually given up. maybe someone on this forum has better experiences?

 

[idontknow]

thanks i was just googling and yea i change my mind.... lol ill stick with my 1.25 pinks ......

 

[Flagg]

It can be done fairly cheaply on a small scale, but with 5 or so snakes you will need more than just 1 pair. You will also need several tanks/tubs to keep them in as well as grow out tubs, etc.

Plus, while is seems to be okay to freeze pinkies as they die quickly, you should NOT use a freezer to kill anything furred, so you will need some other humane form of euthanasia like a co2 chamber, or learn to do a proper cervical dislocation.

Once they start actually breeding, which can take a couple months to get started, gestation is about 3 weeks and they can get pregnant immediately after giving birth if you leave the male with them.

 

[darkmorning1]

i have tried this having 4 snakes and counting, not only did it cost way more on bedding ($20),caging ($30),water bottles and fed (just too much) and everything else it turned out... live mice can kill me! by the like 2 week i had them i couldn't breath, So i buy the little fur balls frozen online. you can by a whole year worth just about for around $100

 

[patm1313]

From what I've heard, getting extra mice is a problem if you can't sell them off. Fist, consider how many times your snakes eat each every 2-3 weeks. If you think about it, you could get one male and one female, breed them each week, and get anywhere from about 3 to 15 pinky offspring in a little more then 2 weeks. If your snakes eat that much, then breeding mice for them may be a good idea.

My suggestion is to get two mice as pets, one male and one female. Keep them as pets, and when you think you'll need more mice, breed them about 2 weeks in advance. Remember that you need to add on to that if you need them to grow up to feed the larger BP. You can expect a mouse to become an adult in a little over 3 weeks.

Here's it short:

Gestation (pregnency) period: 21 days + 28 days to full adulthood = 49 days (7 weeks from breeding to full adult mice offspring) You can shorten the "days to full adulthood" to however old you need the mice to be when you feed them to your snakes.

A few extra offspring is okay, as you can freeze them and rethaw to feed your snakes when the number of offspring produced goes down.

P.S. If you really want to breed, but you feel you may get to much extra, then consider this. Many of my local petstores buy feeders from local breeders. Go to a local stroe and ask them if they'll buy your mice. Even better would be to write to the store owner. You should offer them a reasonable price. Remember that you're not doing this for a profit, only to get rid of the extra mice.

 

[patm1313]

thanks i was just googling and yea i change my mind.... lol ill stick with my 1.25 pinks ......

With five snakes you should definetley consider buying in bulk online.

 

[batwrangler]

From what I've heard, getting extra mice is a problem if you can't sell them off. Fist, consider how many times your snakes eat each every 2-3 weeks. If you think about it, you could get one male and one female, breed them each week, and get anywhere from about 3 to 15 pinky offspring in a little more then 2 weeks. If your snakes eat that much, then breeding mice for them may be a good idea.

My suggestion is to get two mice as pets, one male and one female. Keep them as pets, and when you think you'll need more mice, breed them about 2 weeks in advance. Remember that you need to add on to that if you need them to grow up to feed the larger BP. You can expect a mouse to become an adult in a little over 3 weeks.

Here's it short:

Gestation (pregnency) period: 21 days + 28 days to full adulthood = 49 days

You have some weird calendars or mutant mice where you live.

21 days = three weeks.

Once a female mouse is pregnant, she can't be bred again until after she delivers her litter three weeks later.

So, if you want to be feeding pinkies, you have to breed the female at least three weeks in advance. If you want to feed older mice, you need more than three weeks.

Also, 28 days is when mice become sexually mature (the ones you want to be productive tend to take longer; the ones you don't, tend to start sooner: complain to Mr. Murphy), not when they usually reach their full adult size.

It would take at least three female mice producing regularly (and mice don't always breed on schedule) for a regular supply of feeders of any particular age.

 

[patm1313]

You have some weird calendars or mutant mice where you live.

21 days = three weeks.

Once a female mouse is pregnant, she can't be bred again until after she delivers her litter three weeks later.

So, if you want to be feeding pinkies, you have to breed the female at least three weeks in advance. If you want to feed older mice, you need more than three weeks.

Also, 28 days is when mice become sexually mature (the ones you want to be productive tend to take longer; the ones you don't, tend to start sooner: complain to Mr. Murphy), not when they usually reach their full adult size.

It would take at least three female mice producing regularly (and mice don't always breed on schedule) for a regular supply of feeders of any particular age.

I said a little more then 2 weeks. 28 days is when they become full adults, meaning that they are mature, so yes, you're right. Yep, you're right about them not being able to breed until they have babies, but If he only feeds his snakes once every week, then 1 female will do it, but because he probably feeds them more often, and needs older mice, then he my have to get 2 females.

 

[susang]

I can tell you 1.2 mice will not feed 5 snakes on an even basis. It takes a while for a colony to establish, once established they start breeding. If you need various sizes you have to have a place to keep the weaned ones while they grow. If you accidently take out the dominant male that could throw the colony off.
Effectively raising feeder mice is not as easy as throwing 1.1 mice together.

 

[batwrangler]

I said a little more then 2 weeks. 28 days is when they become full adults, meaning that they are mature, so yes, you're right. Yep, you're right about them not being able to breed until they have babies, but If he only feeds his snakes once every week, then 1 female will do it, but because he probably feeds them more often, and needs older mice, then he my have to get 2 females.

3 weeks isn't a "little more" than two weeks -- it's a whole nother week, plus, female mice aren't automagically going to be in oestrus when you throw the male in, so really, you should allow at least 3.5 weeks (almost twice as long as you recommended) between when you introduce the mice and when you expect to feed the pinkies to your snakes.

 

[diamondlil]

Then you have to factor in the mice that decide to eat the potential snake-food, the ones who produce smaller litters for no apparent reason or stop producing earlier than usual.
The benefits are knowing you're feeding off big fat healthy mice to your snakes, and having a supply of f/k for difficult feeders. I like the mice and enjoy breeding different colours and now have got satins too.
I count the mice as a mini farm project (or just part of the zoo here) so don't really count the costs of raising them against the ones I buy as mousicles.

 

[batwrangler]

Then you have to factor in the mice that decide to eat the potential snake-food, the ones who produce smaller litters for no apparent reason or stop producing earlier than usual.
The benefits are knowing you're feeding off big fat healthy mice to your snakes, and having a supply of f/k for difficult feeders. I like the mice and enjoy breeding different colours and now have got satins too.
I count the mice as a mini farm project (or just part of the zoo here) so don't really count the costs of raising them against the ones I buy as mousicles.

And you're working with nice, hefty, British mice, not the .... er, mousey American ones we have on this side of the pond.

 

[diamondlil]

And you're working with nice, hefty, British mice, not the .... er, mousey American ones we have on this side of the pond.

:rofl:I'm not sure if there's any difference there. I don't get mice online, but the shop I get them from does. Comparing the home-raised ones, my peach fuzzies are about the size of their hoppers, I think it's mainly since I add puppy food for extra protein to the mouse food and the mice are definately healthier since I stopped using sawdust bedding

 

[batwrangler]

:rofl:I'm not sure if there's any difference there. I don't get mice online, but the shop I get them from does. Comparing the home-raised ones, my peach fuzzies are about the size of their hoppers, I think it's mainly since I add puppy food for extra protein to the mouse food and the mice are definately healthier since I stopped using sawdust bedding

I raised fancy mice and rats for years: every so often someone would import British show mice and they were 30-50% bigger than American mice. If you've seen British vs American cocker spaniel dogs, they've a similar difference in types.

 

[toyah]

I raised fancy mice and rats for years: every so often someone would import British show mice and they were 30-50% bigger than American mice. If you've seen British vs American cocker spaniel dogs, they've a similar difference in types.

Our "standard" pet shop strains are indistinguishable from US pet shop strains - but the show mice are completely different, you're right. I can only assume they export the cream of the crop over to the US, not the average mouse