View Full Version : More or less economical to breed your own mice?
Pareeeee
05-07-12, 04:09 PM
So I know I've said in the past that I didn't like the idea of feeding live prey, but after giving Boaz a few live mice I realized it doesn't bother me like I thought it would. Also he really seems to prefer the live prey, and I don't blame him, lol.
Anyway, I was wondering, would it be more economical for me to buy a couple cages and breed the mice myself? Or is that more expensive?
I'm not really sure how difficult it is to breed them since I haven't done my research yet. First I want to know if it's even worth it in the long run, money-wise.
Any ideas?
PS: To buy mice individually at my local pet store it costs me somewhere around $3.50 each.
exwizard
05-07-12, 04:42 PM
It depends on what scale you want to operate on. I suppose even on a smaller scale, in the long run it is cheaper to breed your own especially when you consider pet store prices. However, if all youre feeding is one snake, you might want to consider finding a rodent breeder in your area. They generally are way cheaper than pet stores.
Bradyloach
05-07-12, 05:28 PM
were abouts do you live in ontario mate!
StudentoReptile
05-07-12, 07:16 PM
If you only have one or two snakes, I would probably say no. If you have a good roomful, then I would say it is definitely worth considering. If done right, breeding even a small group of mice can save you some money.
Snakefood
05-07-12, 07:24 PM
one male, one female in a 20 gal tank will do you, you'll spend about 6-8 $$/mo on food and bedding.
With one snake, it's really up to you though
exwizard
05-07-12, 07:26 PM
Breeding rodents has been rewarding both financially and otherwise. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't change a thing.
Ivalynfyre
05-07-12, 07:28 PM
Sorry for barging in here, but is there a certain number it'd be better(cheaper) to breed your own rats/mice rather than buying them online/at a petstore/etc.
Just curious.
red ink
05-07-12, 07:45 PM
Sorry for barging in here, but is there a certain number it'd be better(cheaper) to breed your own rats/mice rather than buying them online/at a petstore/etc.
Just curious.
Yes what that number is, is a mathematical formula.
As an example
Number of snakes Over the number of feedings per month will equal the number of prey items needed.
Say 10 snakes requiring teo feeds a month equals 20 prey items.
Once we have this number we den need to calculate the cost of a set up.
How fast can a pair of breeder prey items generate the appropriate size prey items for the 20 prey items needed to feed 10 snakes a month V the price of 20 prey items at the stores.
Cost would be for a set up...
Tubs breeder animals (one time cost say $50)
General husbandry cost lets use the example of $40 per month (including power and all neccesary cost to prepare the prey items)
It takes two months for prey items to get up to size so now it's $80 bux before the snakes can coil up on them.
Cost of prey items at the shop for 20 appropriate size prey at $3.50 each = $75
Cost of upkeep $80 so your $5 in the red, not counting labour...
In this case personally, I'd rather buy them than deal with the time and effort of having my own prey items. Apply the sums to your needs and see how it works out for you.
There are also other factors such as prey items dying off or having a surplus, if you have a suplus you can sell them off to re-coup some money back which would lower the cost.
exwizard
05-07-12, 07:55 PM
Our operations actually made money.
Snakefood
05-07-12, 08:43 PM
so does mine, and that's after feeding my 7 snakes
KORBIN5895
05-07-12, 09:08 PM
Mine did too.:(
I would just buy a bin, have a few female in there with one male and they'll just breed on their own. Rodent food is about a huge bag for 6-7$, bedding can be 15$ for a bag that will last a lifetime.
I'm currently attempting to have a small rat colony, and I'm sure it's going to be a lot cheaper than in the petstores. To feed my 9 snakes monthly is almost 40-50$.
StudentoReptile
05-08-12, 07:26 AM
What I did was set-up two cages of two female mice, and rotated one male stud between the two every 2 weeks or so. This ensured that I always had pinkies available for all the smaller snakes. Sure I had a little surplus of fuzzies and hoppers at times, but I would just either give a few to local friends who needed a live one every so often, or outright sell the surplus.
Now I HATE taking care of rodents and once I sold most of my baby colubrids or eventually got them on f/t, I just quit breeding mice. But it can save you a little money. Again, you have to evaluate the number of snakes you have, and the expense of keeping X number of rodents, as well as your own "human" factors": are you up for caring for rodents? Can you take the odor? and are you okay with feeding live to your snakes?
Pareeeee
05-08-12, 07:59 AM
Wow, thanks for all the information.
I only have one snake, so, I guess if I were to do this I would only need one tub with two females and one male, correct?
Boaz is the adult male rosy boa - currently I'm doing one mouse every 7 days, even though I've heard that one mouse every 14 days is sufficient...if he gets too heavy I will back off the feeding schedule.
exwizard
05-08-12, 08:02 AM
Wow, thanks for all the information.
I only have one snake, so, I guess if I were to do this I would only need one tub with two females and one male, correct?
I would go with at least four females to that one male.
Pareeeee
05-08-12, 08:09 AM
OK thanks. Now I need to decide if this is something I want to do, lol...I have owned many types of rodents in the past, but not mice. Certainly have not tried breeding before...
PS: One thing that makes this forum awesome is that it doesn't usually take long for people to respond with informative answers. Thanks everyone!
exwizard
05-08-12, 08:18 AM
Anytime. We've bred lots of both mice and rats. If you're willing, rats are better all the way around though but thats up to you.
Pareeeee
05-08-12, 08:29 AM
I like rats. Used to have them as pets. I think if I got more rats I would want to keep them as pets too, lol...they are so affectionate (unlike mice). Boaz can kill as many mice as he wants, however...lol...
Also, he's too small to eat adult rats...so if I got a surplus and they got too big I wouldn't be able to feed them to him...
I wish you the best. I tried to breed mice, but it only lasted 2 weeks. I couldn't take the smell. Even after thoroughly cleaning the cage, it would stink the next day.
I am OCD when it comes to cleanliness, so I just fed off my breeders and was done with it.
But, it can be very rewarding - almost like gardening and growing your own food. There is satisfaction in growing and breeding your own feeder mice.
exwizard
05-08-12, 09:33 AM
and supplying half the metro ;)
I like rats. Used to have them as pets. I think if I got more rats I would want to keep them as pets too, lol...they are so affectionate (unlike mice). Boaz can kill as many mice as he wants, however...lol...
Also, he's too small to eat adult rats...so if I got a surplus and they got too big I wouldn't be able to feed them to him...
You can always keep the breeders as pets, and feed your snake the baby rats. That's what I'm doing pretty much. I find rats are a lot less smelly than mice. I had two pet mice in the past, and when people would come over they were mostly bothered by the smell of the mouse bin over everything else, and I cleaned their cage 2-3 times a week.
I've figured this out over the years; It costs me $1.15 in bedding and food to raise a litter of mice to small adult size. If you estimate a litter of mice at 12, then that's roughly 9.6 cents each.
exwizard
05-08-12, 10:28 AM
Ty Mykee. This illustrates the cost effectiveness most clearly. :)
No problem, boredom over the years has allowed me to do many of these types of experiments. The results of such just need to be coerced out of me.
Pareeeee
05-08-12, 04:16 PM
So instead of over $12 a month on buying individual mice, I would only be spending 40 cents?!
Pareeeee
05-08-12, 04:17 PM
The smell topic worries me...in a small apartment that may make the whole place smell, lol...I've only owned hamsters, rats and guinea pigs before. Guinea pigs being the dirtiest, by far...but they just kinda smell like horses or cows, lol...
exwizard
05-08-12, 04:34 PM
So instead of over $12 a month on buying individual mice, I would only be spending 40 cents?! That is long term averages based on how long your supplies last vs supply costs.
The smell topic worries me...in a small apartment that may make the whole place smell, lol...I've only owned hamsters, rats and guinea pigs before. Guinea pigs being the dirtiest, by far...but they just kinda smell like horses or cows, lol...Check this stuff out. We use it all the time. It works great :) Kennel Fresh (http://www.amsanimalhealth.com/kennelfresh.htm)
exwizard
05-08-12, 05:07 PM
What I did was set-up two cages of two female mice, and rotated one male stud between the two every 2 weeks or so. This ensured that I always had pinkies available for all the smaller snakes. Sure I had a little surplus of fuzzies and hoppers at times, but I would just either give a few to local friends who needed a live one every so often, or outright sell the surplus.
Now I HATE taking care of rodents and once I sold most of my baby colubrids or eventually got them on f/t, I just quit breeding mice. But it can save you a little money. Again, you have to evaluate the number of snakes you have, and the expense of keeping X number of rodents, as well as your own "human" factors": are you up for caring for rodents? Can you take the odor? and are you okay with feeding live to your snakes?
If you breed your own rodents, you dont have to feed your snakes live feeders. You can kill them and freeze them if that is your preference.
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