Is it worth breeding rats? - Page 2

mykee · 10-06-04, 07:20 PM

Um yeah, if you're not comfortable killing a rat, then maybe snakes aren't the pet for you.

Linds · 10-06-04, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim_Cranwill
Why put up with the stink and do the extra work just to save a tiny bit of money? (Savings = cost of rats + food + housing + chips + time and etc - the cost of frozen rats.)

Quality control

You never really know what's going on with your feeders unless you breed them yourself. Even buying from 'reputable feeder breeders' leaves a window for the unknown. Buying from pet stores is absolutely frightful... not only do you have the quality of the feeder before it arrived to worry about, but yet still the conditions it has been stored in and the pathogens it has come in to contact with. No matter how good the store... employee touched reptiles and their messes then touches your feeders which in turn get fed to your snake

I've been breeding my own feeders even when I had a small collection. Now it's pretty much mandatory due to the size of it. The work sucks, but I only spend around $40/month to maintain 200+ rats, and I am sure of their quality

Tim_Cranwill · 10-06-04, 08:16 PM

Touché!

Great points, Linds.

VI Reptiles · 10-07-04, 03:41 PM

Heh, when you think 3.00 a week, then you think a month, then u think a year, it gets quite expensive $144 to be exact! Think of what you could have bought. You could have bought 3 colonies with that and there boxes! Ok, the food and time comes out of your pocket but I have plenty of food and time! I used to have 10 g-pigs and that was hard to clean cause there pee is like acid and u want to make sure it would be all nice and clean ( countless hours of cleaning with bleach). I used to buy there food in bulk, iv got 3-4 boxes about 80 lbs each so I think I could last a year or more. Also I think maybe an adult rat is about $6.00! I can buy 2.6 for $36 and 2 big containers for $60-$70 and already I have $70 for food and other necessities. Jeff & mykee, I would kill a rat by hitting it only if i really really needed food then and there! Oh, I guess id have nothing better to do but do drugs cause snakes are my only interest! But im sure you wouldnt give a **** if there was another drug lord out there or another drug buyer. Sorry to be so rude but I love my reptiles to much to be told I shouldnt keep them. Who knows, you could be buying from me one day but if I was a druggy you couldnt buy any snakes from me cause I wouldnt have any!!!!!
As i said before, Sorry im just not into hearing "you shouldnt be keeping snakes"

Thats just my thought though

Mister Internet · 10-07-04, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VI Reptiles As i said before, Sorry im just not into hearing "you shouldnt be keeping snakes"

Yoo hoo, did you read what they said? Please read below:

Quote:

Originally posted by mykee Um yeah, if you're not comfortable killing a rat, then maybe snakes aren't the pet for you.

What people are trying to tell you is that snakes cost time, energy, and money, and not necessarily in that order. If you are unable to kill your own feeders, then it is your responsibility to buy them pre-frozen... yes, it's more expensive, but if you are not going to kill the ones you would breed HUMANELY, then you shouldn't be doing it at all. Putting a rat in the freezer is about the worst possible way to kill... yes, it is just a rat, but have the decency to kill it by breaking its neck or throwing it into a CO2 chamber (not hard at all to make). That's ALL people are saying...

damzookeeper · 10-07-04, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mykee
Um yeah, if you're not comfortable killing a rat, then maybe snakes aren't the pet for you.

I don't agree with that. I'm not comfortable killing rats. I don't think anyone should be "comforable" with it, that's just sick. lol. I would however if I absolutely had to to feed my snakes because I would never feed anything larger than a fuzzy live but I get attached easy and it wouldn't come easy. But anyone that isn't comfortable killing a rat can always buy frozen, that's what the breeders are there for.

damzookeeper · 10-07-04, 04:13 PM

Quote:

What people are trying to tell you is that snakes cost time, energy, and money, and not necessarily in that order. If you are unable to kill your own feeders, then it is your responsibility to buy them pre-frozen... yes, it's more expensive, but if you are not going to kill the ones you would breed HUMANELY, then you shouldn't be doing it at all. Putting a rat in the freezer is about the worst possible way to kill... yes, it is just a rat, but have the decency to kill it by breaking its neck or throwing it into a CO2 chamber (not hard at all to make). That's ALL people are saying...

Now this I agree with.

justinO · 10-07-04, 04:14 PM

I've been surprised by the replies.... i thought a lot more people would have jumped down on this guy for the stuff he said.

FIRST, (I agree with linds), and to add for simplicity: RATS NEED HEAT. They can not survive in cold temps, and I don't know why anyone would think a MAMMAL would survive in -10!!!!!!

SECOND, if you can not kill a rat, and obviously do not know how (holy HELL do not put them in the freezer, how mean can you BE???), learn about it first before even thinking of raising them. It sounds like CO2 would be your best bet.

What else, oh, I don't think that before you have at least 5 snakes that it's worth raising your own rats (agreeing with Tim). It takes up alot of time, and your parents would have to be VERY tolerant of them and the SMELL , which is sounds like that are not.

They DO COST MONEY, initial cost, food, chew stuff, GOOD bedding..... and then the price it will cost you to live on your own when your parents kick you out because of the smelly rats. heh

As for the drug thing, where the hell did that come from? This shows your total immaturity and puts even more doubt on you. I am all for younger people getting into herps, for example my brother is 14 and I plan to make sure he's DAMN responsible for these wonderful animals. It sounds like the most responsible thing for you to do is to buy them frozen. It will cost you a LOT more than $150 to raise them yourself.

Jessy.

VI Reptiles · 10-07-04, 04:30 PM

Mister Internet, Ummmmmm, im quite familiar with the fact that they cost money and energy. Ok, if you give me directions I will go out and get the stuff for a CO2 chamer so I wont have to break there necks! Just to burste your bubble JustinO, How the heck can mice and rats survive in alberta where it gets -30?????? By the end of this year im gonna have 10 snakes, id rather have it all started then have to start and wait for a nice supply to appear! As I said I used to have g-pigs and they were hard to clean and I still got everything I had (bedding, food and stuff to chew on) Umm the smell is why i was gonna keep them outside but if they cant be kept outside i'l keep them in our basement. Easy as that! Ummm the drug thing came from the madness in my head! I said that because he was saying that maybe I shouldnt be in the snake buisness because I couldnt kill a simple rat!! If somone would say that to you wouldnt you get mad???????????? Man, im responsible for my reptiles and they make my life go around!! I do so much for my damn snake just to get more and for my parents to trust me with them is hard enough!

mykee · 10-07-04, 04:38 PM

Jessy; you nailed that one. Thanks for saying everyhting I wanted to say.
Damzookeeper; that is why you should not be breeding your own rats. BTW, breeding you rown rats DOENSN'T mean feeding live rats. That's just silly.
VI Reptiles; You have one snake! What am I going to buy from you? Urates! (a urate is 'snake waste').

justinO · 10-07-04, 04:40 PM

I still think it's a bad idea in all ways.

FINALLY I see you are from Alberta, which i know is a RODENT FREE PROVINCE. If you get caught raising rats, you are in HUGE trouble! They take that stuff really seriously over there as far as i know.

Also, I see you've had over TEN reptiles die on you? WOW. I don't know what else to say.

VI Reptiles · 10-07-04, 05:08 PM

mykee, thats just too funny, what are you gonna buy from me?????? probably nothing now, but in the future you might. Well, sor-ry! I only lived there the first 8 yrs of my life...... how the hell would an 8 yr old know that? That was just an estimate!! most of those reptiles I got when I was 8 didnt have a computer and got frogs as pets as well as 1 salamander and 2 leopard geckos! The leopard geckos lived 15 good years. Sorry to say the pet shops give in-adequent info so I didnt do to well with most of my beginning reptiles. The leopard geckos were 10 yrs when I got and died from natural causes! The chameleon was WC so it came with mites and other problems and things I wouldnt pay $100 for. I havent had any reptile die for a couple years now so Im happy.

damzookeeper · 10-07-04, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mykee
Jessy; you nailed that one. Thanks for saying everyhting I wanted to say.
Damzookeeper; that is why you should not be breeding your own rats. BTW, breeding you rown rats DOENSN'T mean feeding live rats. That's just silly.
VI Reptiles; You have one snake! What am I going to buy from you? Urates! (a urate is 'snake waste').

Mykee I don't feed live rats. I do however feed live fuzzy mice to my ksb as he wont eat anything else. I got him that way and he is a stuborn snake, went 3 weeks without eating because it wasn't live. I can co2 my rats but I can't bring myself to wack them just yet. Eventually it will come easier like it did with my mice, but until then I have a sicko friend that is more than happy to do that for me. Don't worry it's fast and human. I actually buy most of my rats frozen but I just started breeding them to lower the cost of feeders. I think partly my problem is that the three parents are my babies, my spoiled rotten pets, so it's hard to kill their babies. I have no problem with the mice.
My point though was that people shouldn't get a thrill out of killing any living thing even a rat and that it should be done quickly and humanly. I know it has to be done for my snakes to eat, but it isn't a fun or a comfortable thing for me. Something I will do because the snakes need to eat and although I wont have nightmares over it I don't have to be happy about it or comfortable with it. That is all I was trying to say. I'm guessing it came over differently. Yes, I love my adult rats so it makes it a bit hard to wack their babies, that 's all. Kind of like feeding snakes to snake eaters or lizards to lizard eaters, when you are attached to snakes and lizards. And I know there are some keepers out there that have snake and lizard eaters that wont accept anything but.

mykee · 10-07-04, 10:10 PM

Damzookeeper; thrill! Who said anything about getting my jollies from killing rats? I kill them because my snakes need food. Unfortunately MY rats don't come out of Mommy 150g, pre-frozen, and individually ziplocked.
VI Rep: Wow, a few years without killing an animal! Hip hip hooray! As for me buying stock from you, don't hold your breath son.

damzookeeper · 10-08-04, 05:21 AM

gezz mykee, I didn't say "you" were getting a thrill out of killing rats at all. I'm done with this post, I can't make myself understood and it's getting very frustrating. Seems like everything I say comes back to bite me in the a$$. I'll just shut up now.