Mouse Breeding

[TerrorFox]

Does anyone here breed mice just to feed only their snakes? If so, where did you get the mice from? I hear some mice from petstore are sterile from vasectamation, is this true? (I have a male mouse that I want to use to breed) also, How quickly do mice multiply?

[bighillreptiles]

to fast lol never heard of the stores doing that ot mice or rats 1 male and 4 females is what i keep together and get abought 35 to 40 pinkies a mounth

[gonesnakee]

If you plan on attending the TARAS show you will be able to meet many mouse breeders in person & if you talk to them you can arrange to buy a group for breeding. Its easier just to buy the mice from them though IMHO Mark

[TerrorFox]

Yeah Im going to the TARAS show. I'll probbly buy the jungle corn from you there. Im just thinking about breeding mice to feed snakes for free. Seperate the male from the females when no food is needed, kind of thing.

[tai_pan1]

No such thing as feeding snakes for free. I raise both mice and rats for my snakes, and trust me it is not free, and it takes a lot of time. Substrate for their cages, food (even cheap dog food costs $), and at least 20 minutes a day. Add it up and it gets expensive. Warm weather, production falls off. Even when their not producing they need their cages cleaned, fed, and water changed. If your raising them for "convienance", then it's worth it, otherwise you'll find it to be a time consuming chore.

Just my 2 cents.

Mike

[Linds]

I breed all my own rodents. I currently spend ~$50 a month on supplies (food, shavings, 'stall dry'- keeps the smell down). I maintain anywhere from 150 - 250 rats, and two small bins of mice. I don't mind the rats, but the mice suck. They stink something horrible, and are quite high strung little buggers. I only have a few mouse eaters, but I breed them anyways since I'm already maintaining so many rats, it is definitely worth my while. Rodents do take up far more time than reptiles do, I spend 2 hours cleaning them (ever 5 days), but they are provided with large food hoppers and 2L water bottles, so they usually only need to be checked on once during that period. If I need to feed and water in between, it only take me about 5-8 minutes to do so. Not too bad, and definitely well worth it in my situation. Complete quality control, convenience, and I save a load of money... :cool: However, if you only have one snake to feed, it will not be cost-effective, and would only be for quality control and convenience. It may be worth your while just to purchase them from a supplier.

As for pet store mice being sterile, if they had any surgery performed, they would cost a pretty penny :p My aunt had a rat fixed once, and it cost her $250 or something like that. LOL.... even finding a vet that will perform that sort of surgery is tricky.. DEFINITELY not standard practice, and especially not in the retail industry :p