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Breeding Mice?

DTkach

Snake Owner
I have heard people go threw (sp i know) the trouble bredding mice to feed to snakes.Why? I have one snake and don't think I should breed mice for it. I just think its WAY too costly.Buying mice,tank,and food or whatever else.Does anyone think I should if I have only one Corn?
 
but it IS worth it when you get into the higher numbers.. i have under 10 snakes but i breed.. and it SAVES me money.. :)
 
Yeah I have only 1 snake.I have 1 snake,1 chinchilla (shes getting old though :cry: ) 3 dogs,3 ferrets,and 1 fish.I think I got enough pets for now. I think I should just buy feeder ones from petstores.
 
It's only worth it to breed mice for one snake if you genuinely like keeping mice as pets. Otherwise, yes, it's probably more sensible (and costs less in terms of time you spend caring for the mice, etc) to just buy frozen or live feeders.
 
Not for one snake! Rodents are stinky. Their urine is strong!
Unless of course you'd like to have pet mice, but then it would be hard to off their babies.....
It would be worth it if you had numerous snakes. I really should breed them, but like I said, rodents are stinky. I just spent $164.00 on frozen mice, which was a bargain.
 
Hmm,

Well I breed my own for just one snake. It is cost effective AFTER initial set up if you do it right. HOWEVER! Have someone availabel to take your extra mice off your hands.. I end up with roughly 25 mice per month from my original set up, and my snake eats 5 max a month..

On a brighter note I did just cut a deal to sell the ones I dont need at .40 per already killed and frozen to a local reptile store.

They arent so stinky if you keep the cages clean, but then I clean twice a week on average. And yes, I have pet mice too...

Wife; "But she's Sooo CUTE.. You have to let me have her..." Me "Yes dear, ONE mouse.." Kids...

long story short we have a total of 5 "pet" mice. I have three primary breeder Females and one male. Plus I have a fourth female that was traded to me with a male in exchange for a feeder and a breeder male. Im considering a second breeder tank now that I have a place to sell the extraz.. Might even pay the cost of food, which I mix myself.

Final note, IF you decide to do this, READ READ READ!! I can give basic advice, but keep in mind I have only been at this since February or so.
 
DTkach said:
I have heard people go threw (sp i know) the trouble bredding mice to feed to snakes.Why? I have one snake and don't think I should breed mice for it. I just think its WAY too costly.Buying mice,tank,and food or whatever else.Does anyone think I should if I have only one Corn?


Tank: (first one LOL) $10 ($9.99 at Wal Mart)
Water bottle, $1.89 Wal Mart
Food dish, (If you really want to buy one instead of making one) $3.99 (I think) at Wilco Farm supply.
Pine bedding $9 a bale.. lasts.. well Ive only purchased one and its half full still.
Food: Aproximately $7 a month including what is fed to my "pets".

Total cost initially: $30 aproximately, including the food for my pets. Take the pets out of the equation and the food I mix will last two months for a batch of mix, so about $30 initially, and another $3.50 a month after the second month.

Cost of mice at 5 per month (locally for me) $6.95.

Yup initial setup is gonna be a loss for a while, but the feed and upkeep is about 2/3 what I pay for frozen at the pet store.
 
Nice break down! Man, I really should bite the bullet and breed at least a 1.2 or 1.3 of my own, especially since....

I have an extra tank with a lid. I can just use extra aspen for bedding. Mice are about $1.00 to $2.00 each from a local breeder. Mouse chow, supplemented with a little dog chow adn bird seed (which I have), is cheap. I can use some old snake furniture, etc. I just need a water bottle! My total set up cost would be about $10.00! Wow. I just need to buy f/t small mice for my bigger snakes, and can have all the pinkies I want for about $3.50 a month f(or less) for the smaller ones. Did I say Wow?
 
ok i'm not really that worried about the money. i was wondering how you get them to breed. do u just leave them there and wait are your supose to keep the male and female separate. hings like that. how long before they will breed?
 
1 male per tank. leave them together. first litter may take up to 2 months. After that, every 3-4 weeks usually
 
BUT.. how do you get the Bleeping mice to BREED???? I used to breed mice as pets and hobby and always had HUGE litters...8 years inbred(awesome deformities).. BUT now that I want to breed to feed snakes, they do NOT BREED!!!!! WHY?? I buy healthy, young stock. I feed good food(Mazuri Rodent breeding food).. THey have all they can possibly want, so why no babies??? I give them a good 4 months to start and nothing..They end up going to the snakes themselves... :flames:

AND, yes, I have the right sexes in the tank...So, what gives??? :shrugs:

Billie
 
have you tried playing some Barry White for them? :grin01: My first attempts failed because they bred but ate the pinks, I mixed in puppy mix for protein and now they produce like clockwork
 
Oregonherpaholic said:
BUT.. how do you get the Bleeping mice to BREED???? I used to breed mice as pets and hobby and always had HUGE litters...8 years inbred(awesome deformities).. BUT now that I want to breed to feed snakes, they do NOT BREED!!!!! WHY?? I buy healthy, young stock. I feed good food(Mazuri Rodent breeding food).. THey have all they can possibly want, so why no babies??? I give them a good 4 months to start and nothing..They end up going to the snakes themselves... :flames:

AND, yes, I have the right sexes in the tank...So, what gives??? :shrugs:

Billie

Try a different male in the tank with the girls.. if that dont work get new girls. Mix them up a bit till they breed then feed off the nonproducers..
 
Mice that won't *bleep* when you want them to?

Oregon: I'd agree with the people who've said maybe it's a nonproducing male or some similar problem... what sort of strain are you working with?
 
Hi I am new thinking about getting a corn. I was wondering if I should breed mice? I have 3 10gal tanks and 20gal tanks lieing around and I have food dishes, water bowls etc. from previous hamsters I've kept as pets. The only thing I fear is getting attached to the little buggers. I might keep one or two as a pet but what do you do? Do you not pay attention to them like just feed them water them and leave them to their own business and not watch them so as not to get attached? How do you kill them? I definently don't want to feed live to my snake. Srry for the long post this is actually my first one.. :cool:
 
Personally I spent some of my childhood on a farm with free-range pigs and chickens that were slaughtered for meat, but were treated really well. I don't see any problem with stroking and fussing the baby mice that will die quickly and feed my snakes when their time comes.
 
corn_mania said:
The only thing I fear is getting attached to the little buggers. I might keep one or two as a pet but what do you do? Do you not pay attention to them like just feed them water them and leave them to their own business and not watch them so as not to get attached?

How do you kill them? I definently don't want to feed live to my snake.

Srry for the long post this is actually my first one.. :cool:

Well, you can just pick out mice that bite...that's a good way of not getting too attached.. But I keep my mice in another room. And it is the attachment thing that keeps me from breeding rats.. I love baby rats and tend to play with them..cant kill what I love..

Honestly, If you only have ONE or TWO snakes, I think the best thing is to BUY pre-killed, Frozen Mice. If you check with a local herp society, you can find mouse breeders that might sell cheaper than pet shop. I pay 50 cents for each one I buy live, or 75cents if pre-killed by breeder.. BUT since I have over 10 snakes I need to breed.. I just cant GET THEM TO BREED!!!


AND, Welcome to the forum!!! I found it a few weeks ago myself. :santa: BEST snake Forum on the NET :santa: ..and I belong to almost all of them out there.

Billie
 
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