Who all breeds rodents?

[SerpentineDream]

Originally Posted by pet_snake_78

The rodent suppliers in my area are a nightmere to deal with. I wish there were a reliable place to buy the sizes I need, but I've not found that to be the case. Pet stores usually don't have enough and god only knows what parasites and disease are floating around those places. Next house, I think I will try to locate myself stones through away from a rodent factory.

If your snakes will take F/T, I have never gotten a spoiled or unclean rodent from Big Cheese Rodent Factory. They will ship feeders packed in insulated boxes with dry ice so they stay frozen. I've also heard the same said of Perfect Prey, though I haven't used them myself.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Humble308

I enjoyed breeding mice. They're pretty simple and if you stay on top of cleaning then the smell isn't that bad but it's noticeable. My mice were so much cleaner than the ones I've got online and locally which have been a bit ripe.

I tried breeding rats but failed dismally from the great rat escape chronicles to outright colony cannibalism. I did however get one small litter of 3 that seemed to be discarded by the mother. They seem to be pretty social and smart but mine were very nervous and skittish. The odor isn't the same but they poop alot more so it's mostly that. Rats were tough for me but most folks seem to have no trouble with them.

I gotta ask what is that caging your using? I've seen them before but don't know what that screen lid does?

Yeah, I just ordered a shipment from Perfect Prey and all the rats smell heavily of urine. All my Big Cheese purchases are odorless (until thawed out and then it's a mild smell but not of urine). The shipment was free of freezer burn or broken limbs, though, so I'll probably order from them again whenever Big Cheese is out of the sizes I need, like when I bought from them this time.

Perfect prey does vacuum pack their feeders as well, anything shipped frozen has to have dry ice (to my knowledge).

Rats definitely weren't hard for me. lol I think it has to do with what sort of stock you get. People generally cull rats that cannibalize, and keep the ones that don't. Although my original male ended up killing my original female, all their offspring were docile and I didn't have another incident like that. My females were good breeders, too, I got an average of 12 babies per female, with my smallest litter being 9 and my biggest something like 17 or 19 from one girl.

[pet_snake_78]

Ya that's odd because most I've talked to said rats were easier than mice. I haven't had any issues with mice though so I don't see how it could get much easier lol The cages are the lab cages, I bought them from reptilebasics or LLLreptile, I forgot which, I like them because they aren't tall, hold the water and several days worth of food. Definitely not as economical as homemmade racks, I would have went that way if I were using more rodents but 95% of what I use are frozen I get from perfectprey. My orders have all been extremely clean there.

[valkea]

I had planned on breeding mice but have found it impossible to find living mice here. The pet store that used to have a decent supply of living rodents has shut down and now the other only place in town that carries mice only has male. Tried looking on classifieds and the closest living mice I've found are over an hour and a half drive each way.

I gave up (for now) and bought online. My first online feeder order and I wasn't super thrilled but oh well. They were partially thawed when I received 'em.

http://i.imgur.com/n7sB0ne.jpg

Dunno if that much blood is normal but the people I asked said no. I'll try a different supplier next time.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Yeah definitely not normal, looks like they were just tossed in a freezer bag like you'd buy from Wal-Mart. :/ Definitely try Big Cheese or Perfect Prey. Layne Labs is also good, but when I was buying from them they didn't vacuum pack, not sure if anything has changed (their website has a bit).

[valkea]

Most american places won't ship to Canada it seems I'll check those ones out though!

[Humble308]

Originally Posted by pet_snake_78

Ya that's odd because most I've talked to said rats were easier than mice. I haven't had any issues with mice though so I don't see how it could get much easier lol The cages are the lab cages, I bought them from reptilebasics or LLLreptile, I forgot which, I like them because they aren't tall, hold the water and several days worth of food. Definitely not as economical as homemmade racks, I would have went that way if I were using more rodents but 95% of what I use are frozen I get from perfectprey. My orders have all been extremely clean there.

Awesome those look pretty cool. Now that I see those, it looks like alot less of a pain than my DIY caging made with a drill, some tubs and a whole lot of thinking I was clever haha. I'll give those a shot.

Maybe it was a fluke but I recently got some mice and rat fuzzies from Big Cheese on a pick up order that were just quite musky and smelly. I was excited that they were only 10 miles down the road and saving money on shipping, but they were even worse than rodent pro. I'll give them another shot when they go up a size...hopefully the next batch isn't quite as ripe as I've normally heard stellar reviews about them.

[pet_snake_78]

Big Cheese is usually pretty good, I've ordered from them before no issues. If they are up the street, that's probably a good thing for you esp if they will also sell you live!