Toothless Mice

[twentyeggs]

Hello, I am just curious about the interest the reptile community would have if stores or even maybe an online source sold toothless mice. One of the big reasons people do not feed live is the danger of bites from mice and rats. However if this danger was removed, would this change your feeding preferences? To keep it short, I was involved in a research study that involved mice with an osteopetrotic mutation. They live and behave just like normal mice, but grow up with small stubs to zero tooth production. I am considering the prospect of bringing some of the mice home and breeding them as feeders for local stores and maybe offer them online if there is any success.

What are your thoughts?

[Jim Smith]

I think that you would find a very willing market, as long as you continue to selectively breed for the least amount of tooth development. There are many snakes that for some reason will not take a frozen thawed mouse or rat. I have a Honduran that absolutely will not eat frozen thawed. I started him on F/T and he did fine for about four years. Then one year after coming out of brumation, he decided that he would not eat them any more. I feed him fresh killed now and even then he's picky if it's been dead for more than 5 or 10 minutes. Let us know what you decide to do, but I think you'd find a ready market.