breeding gerbils

[shimbathesnake]

I would like to start breeding some rodents on a small scale to help reduce to cost of feeding my snakes.

Mice and rats smell!

My son's got some pet gerbils :-) they dont smell and also seem to be easy to care for.

Would it be cost effective to start up another tank of mixed sexed gerbils to produce some rodents for my snakes or would it be more trouble then its worth?

Clem

[Linds]

Gerbil are a pain to breed. They are monogomous, hence you cannot run them in colonies like you can rats and mice. They don't have very large litters, and should one die, the other will probably follow from loneliness. Mass production of gerbils isn't easy, which is why they are alot more expensive than mice and rats to feed.

Shouldn't base what you feed your snake on whether the animal smells more than the other, should be what the snake is feeding on already, and what is best.

Rats don't smell if you keep them clean. Mice smell and there isn't much of a way around it - the more you clean the more they smell. A good air purifier can kick the any smell of shavings, etc if you can't stand that smell. Not sure if they are just in North America, but Hamilton Beech makes a great air cleaner called "Tru Air". $30 CDN and ya can't smell anything that's in the same room!