not allowed to breed - The rodent thread

[mommanessy247]

well the mice alone are $7.99 ea x's 5 for the month thats $39.95.(1 mouse p/ week.)
then theres the cost of food & bedding for them which is another $17.98.
total-$57.93 & that does not include tax which is why this got rounded up.
now for rats...they're $11.99 ea x's 5 for the month thats $59.95. (again 1 rat p/ week)
same food & bedding for them-$17.98. total-$77.98 not including tax.
i did all this math via calculator so theres no chance for mistakes, since i suck at math.

[shaunyboy]

is that mice that were meant to be sold as pets per chance ? its just that seems an awfull lot for a single mouse. small rats over here are roughly £1 thats $1.47.even jumbo rats are only £1.80 = $2.64.pet rats out a pet store are way more expensive.it might be your getting quoted prices on pet rats rather than feeder rats ? might be worth asking the folk aaron suggested to see if they can do it cheaper as they are a food supplier.
cheers shaun

[mommanessy247]

i think the mice/rats are in fact meant as pets...thats all the stores website is showing. who knows, when i get there to buy the mice, there just might be feeder mice there. i'll definitely be looking for feeder mice, but if there are none then i'll have to go with the others...see, here in south/north carolina theres really only the major pet store chains scattered far and few in between. we're not gonna drive more then an hour 1 way for feeder mice.

[marvelfreak]

Check new papers or do a web search for pet stores or breeder in your area. With a little work you should be able to find someone in your area with much cheaper prices. I pay $3.00 for large feeder rats at my pet store and that's on the high side. There a couple stores that are even cheaper, but i won't give them my business.

[Will0W783]

WOW, that is ridiculously expensive for mice! Even the pet stores around me that sell them as pets only charge like $3 for a mouse, and the place I go to charges $1.99 for adult mice. You really will save yourself a LOT of money and stress if you start ordering online or going to shows. Where are you located? I can direct you to a few local shows most likely, or you can google "(your state's name) reptile shows" and get a listing of ones that are near you.

[mykee]

Holy ****!
Firstly, pet store "pet" rats and mice are genetically inferior animals when compared to breeder-quality rats and mice. From the food they eat, to the conditions they live in.
Secondly, paying any more than $1 for a live mouse is bordering on reeeee-tawded. Buy your junk from a breeder and you'll end up spending 1/10th (yes, that's one thenth) the cost.
Thirdly, for one snake, breeding mice (which happen to smell like piss and popcorn) or rats is ridiculous. Whether you have one rat in your house, or breeding colonies in the hundreds, your house will never smell the same again. Trust me.
I breed enough rats at my facility to feed my 100+ adult ball pythons and even cleaning every 3-4 days, the smell is atrocious. No ammonia (big pet peeve) but poop and Mazuri smell.

Just for reference sake; breeding my own rats, feeding them, watering them, bedding them, culling them etc. I spend roughly $2.65 a month feeding each of my adult balls.

[mommanessy247]

those are petsmart's prices...i found feeder mice at petco for $2.99 ea. (way better) & will only cost me $14.95 p/ month to feed the snake instead of the $39.95 i mentioned earlier.
small feeder rats there also are $5.49 instead of the $11.99 for the ones at petsmart.
i made a few phone calls this morning lol.

[Lankyrob]

We pay 49p per pinky here - not sure about larger mice as havent had to buy any yet but the prices you are quoting do seem mighty high!!

[mommanessy247]

**NOTICE** onlinepetdepot.com has pet food & supplies in bulk for really cheap!!!

[Aaron_S]

Again if you're looking into buying FROZEN (and you should) you could save even more.

[mykee]

What Aaron said X2.
To add, assuming you've done some research into baby ball pythons; you should only have to be concerned about live mice for maybe two or three feedings, then live rats for a high total of six feedings, and finally frozen rats for the rest of the snakes life in you play your cards right.
No more than $1.50 a week for 35+ years.
Congratulations.

P.S. Aaron: how's the book?
Cool stuff, but almost completely outdated already.
Great info I found though.

[Aaron_S]

Also, if you skip on breeding your own then you'll cut out all that cost and time as well! You should ask the breeder of the snake if they can switch it to F/T and rats before you purchase it. They probably can, and will at least switch it to rats.

Mykee, it's pretty interesting. I read through it once but I'll go through it again. The morph part is outdated but still very cool.

[Chu'Wuti]

Mommanessy, if you don't even have the snake yet, get one that's already trained to eat F/T. Even if it isn't, some BPs are easy to switch over, while others take a little work but can be switched over. Once you've switched the snake over to F/T prey animals, as Mykee and Aaron have pointed out, it is MUCH less expensive than feeding live animals. I have two BPs and a Honduran Milk Snake, and the food bill for all three of them is FAR less than what you've calculated for the one snake you're planning to get.

[WakoNako]

Petsmart sells frozen mice at 6 for $10. Its a little high, but it'll last until I can get to a show and order bulk without worrying about shipping.

[spankygaaarge]

We only have Spanky (Dumeril's Boa), when we got him he was eating 2 frozen mice a week, but then i got my dragon "charlotte" for Xmas an since shes been in the house Spanky wont even go near frozen mice......... live mice cost us about $30 a month, Charlotte costs more to feed per month.......... we only buy mice when we need them, we would never even dream of breeding them, just having them in the house for an hour an you can smell them............... STINKY