rodents/snakes how to do you feel

[PaulThe]

i want to get breeder mice but dont have space but to put them in the same room as my 5 corn snakes(and i hope to soon a baby BP)(5-10 ft apart from each other). i have always been told to never put my snakes together in the same room.

i want to know how YOU feel about it.
after doing research(for about an hour) i have seen that if you put cider chip shavings, it will reduce the smell greater. if you put a few drops of vanilla in some water. it will make their pee not smell as bad either, which helps reduce the smell almost all together. plus a cheap way for food is cat, dog or bird food(a friend said you can buy a 20 pound bag for $11 and it will last 4 mice like 6 months or more)

Do you keep mice/rats and snakes in the same room together?
Do you think it would make my snakes act different if i get 4 mice and start a breeding colony in the same room ?
Do you think that breeding mice would make it cheaper on you when it comes to food ? (i feed my snakes F/t)

Thanks for your advice :santa:

 

[MysticExotics]

I know a breeder who had one whole wall of snakes on one side, & the mice rack along the other wall, in a small outbuilding, & they all did just fine.
That's not to say that it might cause either species to be stressed, if they can smell each other, but it didn't appear to cause any problems in the one I saw. I've seen breeder mice in the same room as ferrets as well, with no problems. Same type of predator/prey scenario.

I use a high quality rodent food, for mice & I supplement with a high quality dog or cat kibble. for the protein. You can give them scraps of fruit & veggies, & I've even heard of people giveng them remnants of steak or chicken (just be careful of sauces & spices). The added protein helps prevent cannibalism.

I use shredded aspen, & I throw in a bunch of toilet paper for them to shred up & use for bedding. Some people use the wood pellet horse bedding as wel (it turns to sawdust when it gets wet), which will also help with odor.
I have a 1 to 4 male-female ratio. It's the males that stink.
I have heard of using apple cider vinegar in their water, to help with their smell, but I haven't tried it.

 

[MysticExotics]

i want to get breeder mice but dont have space but to put them in the same room as my 5 corn snakes(and i hope to soon a baby BP)(5-10 ft apart from each other). i have always been told to never put my snakes together in the same room.

i want to know how YOU feel about it.
after doing research(for about an hour) i have seen that if you put cider chip shavings, it will reduce the smell greater. if you put a few drops of vanilla in some water. it will make their pee not smell as bad either, which helps reduce the smell almost all together. plus a cheap way for food is cat, dog or bird food(a friend said you can buy a 20 pound bag for $11 and it will last 4 mice like 6 months or more)

Do you keep mice/rats and snakes in the same room together?
Do you think it would make my snakes act different if i get 4 mice and start a breeding colony in the same room ?
Do you think that breeding mice would make it cheaper on you when it comes to food ? (i feed my snakes F/t)

Thanks for your advice :santa:

If you mean "cedar" chips, I would not use cedar or pine, I would recommend aspen.
Cedar & pine have the oils that can be harmful to small animals.

 

[PaulThe]

yes i did mean cedar chips ,

How do you feel about containers/tanks ?

 

[VickyChaiTea]

Cedar/pine can cause respiratory infections in small mammals, never use it. Feeding dog food is not good mouse nutrition, and a malnourished mouse is not going to provide good nutrition for your snake. Feed them quality lab blocks with table scraps (raw veggies/nuts/berries/grains/occasionally fruits). Adding cheap bird food won't hurt, though.

I highly doubt that keeping them together would stress one another. The only issue I can see is the snake smelling the mice, and trying to get to them.

Also, who told you to never keep your snakes in the same room? I can understand quarantining new snakes for a month or so, but after that it's perfectly safe to keep them in the same room.

Containers/tanks are perfectly fine, so long as there is some kind of ventilation. A screen lid for tanks is good. Honestly, the smell shouldn't get bad unless you don't clean the cages.

 

[MysticExotics]

yes i did mean cedar chips ,

How do you feel about containers/tanks ?

What do you mean about containers/tanks? Are you asking what I house mine in?
I have rodent bins (I think they're actually rat bins) that I picked up used.
In the past, I have used large Rubbermaid bins, with airholes drilled in, & a hole to put the water spout in.

 

[Emanon]

I bred rats and snakes for a few years in the same room, no issues for the snakes, now my wife... well lets just say that I now only breed snakes lol

 

[GSDlover]

The only issue I think would be if there was an escape and there goes some of your mouse colony.

So make sure they are as escape proof as possible.

 

[PaulThe]

Cedar/pine can cause respiratory infections in small mammals, never use it. Feeding dog food is not good mouse nutrition, and a malnourished mouse is not going to provide good nutrition for your snake. Feed them quality lab blocks with table scraps (raw veggies/nuts/berries/grains/occasionally fruits). Adding cheap bird food won't hurt, though.

I highly doubt that keeping them together would stress one another. The only issue I can see is the snake smelling the mice, and trying to get to them.

Also, who told you to never keep your snakes in the same room? I can understand quarantining new snakes for a month or so, but after that it's perfectly safe to keep them in the same room.

Containers/tanks are perfectly fine, so long as there is some kind of ventilation. A screen lid for tanks is good. Honestly, the smell shouldn't get bad unless you don't clean the cages.

my friend breeding African soft furs and ball pythons, and he said he use to keep them in the same room and his BP were always looking for food and a few started biting him, so he moved in out and they quit , which is why im doing research and asking to see what others do

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

i want to know how YOU feel about it.
after doing research(for about an hour) i have seen that if you put cider chip shavings, it will reduce the smell greater. if you put a few drops of vanilla in some water. it will make their pee not smell as bad either, which helps reduce the smell almost all together. plus a cheap way for food is cat, dog or bird food(a friend said you can buy a 20 pound bag for $11 and it will last 4 mice like 6 months or more)

Do you keep mice/rats and snakes in the same room together?
Do you think it would make my snakes act different if i get 4 mice and start a breeding colony in the same room ?
Do you think that breeding mice would make it cheaper on you when it comes to food ? (i feed my snakes F/t)

Thanks for your advice :santa:

Cedar and pine cause RIs in rodents. Use chipped aspen from the rodent area. I also found no difference in my rats and ASF's smell when I was doing the vanilla thing, probably because they were drinking it so fast because it tasted good. The vanilla also caused a slime to form on the water bottle's inside-- don't do it.
Dog food is best.

1. Yes. Rats. I have at least 2 dozen rats, and my snakes are fine. They all were curious the first week, but they went back to normal. Now, the cat on the other hand...
2. Not unless the mice smell bad, which you cannot avoid PERIOD.
3. Depends. Most of the time, yes.

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

Oh, while dog food is best, that's perhaps not the best staple. I feed a mix of dog, cat, and rodent food as well as oatmeal, granola, and various dog treats and table scraps.

 

[PaulThe]

Thanks everyone, im going to really think about breeding mice after all this, i want a pet but also a way to get food for my snakes, i hope everyone has a merry christmas ;D

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

Mice are no pets unless you get some from a breeder, I will tell you that now. ASFs are the same way. (Then again, I'm a little biased. A little.)

Now... domestic rats are another thing.




Also, with your mice, put them in a closet or something. I had a regular but not strict day cycle and could not get them to breed for my life. A day cycle is ridiculously important for them.
Also, if you have any corns that can eat peach fuzzy mice, you can feed them rat pinks and above. Rats are also a must for BPs, since I saw you were planning on getting a young one. My 33 inch female BP can take a large rat easy. Rats seem to pack more of a punch when it comes to nutrion, and they like to cuddle on cold days when they don't have a new litter down or aren't so pregnant they're waddling.

 

[vetusvates]

In the 1970's, I kept the mice in a separate room. In the 1990's, I kept them in the same room.

No difference from what I could tell.

 

[airenlow]

At work (pet store), we have a wall of rodents right next to the reptile display. The snakes don't act any different than mine at home...

 

[Emanon]

x2 on the mice as pets... rats are gentle and cool... they are great food for your snakes to! but mice, they stink more... I tried a mouse colony at the same time I was doing rats... lets just say that the mice were fed off and i continued breeding rats.

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

Rats also produce higher numbers. 6-10 is normal for mice, whereas rats should have 10 or more after their first and/or second litters. One girl of mine had 6, then 7, then 19. Hell yeah. The other girl I had that I killed off (skittish, bad genes) had 13 for her first litter.