Rats - Breeding vs Buying

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i breed mice, i have currently 10 tubs going,i breed out to near adults/adults and sell them to someone else,who sells mice and rats from their place....it saves ppl turning up at my door.

so i get to feed my snakes for free :D :D and i help my mate out and buy rats off him as i need them
 
3 snakes? You would get enough food from them from a 2:1 set-up!! A good female rat will supply you with 1-2 babies per week!
A good question is at what stage does a set-up become farming?
By law you can not farm in a suburban residence, I believe most peoples set-ups would be classed as farming, therefore making their set-ups illegal?
I have heard of people being reported, fined and told to remove their set-ups!
 
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I breed mice for 1 snake lol. I had no start up costs as I used to work at a mouse breeding facility and was given all the old tubs and bottles when they changed from open rack (got several of those too lol) to IVC systems. Also any feed and bedding that had been deemed no longer airtight sealed (PC2 facility). I cull by hand (not by gassing) and I cull at various stages, anything I don't need - and with just the one snake (atm) I obviously don't need much - I give to friends who have more snakes and monitors etc. Over winter I have 5 tubs going, 4 out in the shed and 1 inside as insurance as the strain of mouse is very fertile and prolific, in summer I only have 3 tubs + growout. As I am not so happy about breeding rats - and as my friends do, once mice are too small a feed for Pixel (SWCP), they will swap mice for their smaller reps for rats for me :) I also love having mice, so that is another reason I breed my own, along with - I know how they were fed and how - and when - they were culled.
 
I have a question about rat food

I have a question on the rat blocks i just use the normal rat block that come in a 25lb bag because that is all my feed store supplies but i need like a 50lb bag i can get it from mazuri but they cost way to much to ship i don't have that kind of money on hand right now.

I was just wondering what type of food you guys you i have tried the 6F breeder food but i can't find in my town. I want to order of the internet but i have to get my money back up after a split.

but any good odvice on what to supplement to them with the stuff they need. I used to do a mix of dog food cat food and some bird mix with their rat blocks i buy at the feed store.
 
I think you should start breeding rats instead of mice rats are better mothers i have had hardly any rat mother loose a pinkie only the first time moms when they don't know what to do for their first time i loose maybe one baby then they pick it up.

But if you have like 10 snakes i would suggest on breeding i don't care what other people say that it isn't worth breeding feeders i only have 2 snakes and i am glad i breed because i know where my rats come from and i know where my food comes from so i know they are healthy and i know what i am feeding my snake's.

but you should start to breed rats not mice because mice tend to eat their babys well i have never had a problem with mice eating their babie's but they have done it in the past. :evil:
well it was over a year ago when i wrote what u had quoted , now i have 18 snakes and one lace monitor thats a eating machine .if i didnt breed mice id be knackered . i dont have issues with mice eating there babys .
 
I'm actually going out this morning and buying my first bag of Bio-mare to trial. I'm not going to mix it with dog kibble just to see if it can be used as a stand alone ration for rats without any drop in production.
 
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breeding is wayyyyyyyyyy cheaper.
I made all my own tubs etc.
spend $50 a month on food and bedding.
run 10-14 female rats over 2 males and average 70-80 rats per month - approx.
run 15 super females over 4 males and average 100 mice month - approx.
clean every friday night while listening to footy :)
The mice cover thw food and bedding cost roughly and the rats are free !!
 
Food for Snakes

Hi guys im a new member like to say HI , I live on the Gold Coast , Could you tell me suppler even privet for rats on the Gold Coast at a decent price as some of these Pet shops are abit of a joke when it come to price also Woodies Cheers Trev
 
akwendi,
i use the biomare as well,its going well,mice dont leave anything behind,no tubs half full of crumbs.

on the other side tho,ive been told that because its horse food,there's no animal fat in it to stop mums eating babies,to counter-act that,chuck in a cpl of dog biscuits every cpl of days
 
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For the breeders - does anyone give rats or mice bones to gnaw on? I would think they would be a great source of fat as well (marrow)
 
You've never seen a rat fight until you put pork chop bones on their menu :)

Same with chicken bones and the bones from the pea and ham soup
 
Yes, breeding your own rodents is always better in my opinion.

If you do it the right way it is always cheaper than buying them. But don't forget to take the equipment cost into account.
I use rodent pellets to, I believe they are about the same price as over there. It's better to give them a decent pellet than `garbage`, because if the protein level is wrong they will eat their own offspring.

But.... more impotant than the cost: If you breed your own rodents, you always know the quality of the food you offer your animals is good and you can make sure that these rodents are treated well as long as the live.

I do not feed mice myself. I only feed my snakes rats and hamsters. Rats have stronger litters than mice, they don't smell zo bad as mice and they are a lot more friendly than mice.
Mice often fight and kill litters from other mice. If you leave the male with the females there is a big chance the male will kill all the offspring. With rats this has never happend to me.
 
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I breed my own rats (if you have over half a dozen snakes it is easily a better option for most keepers), however it does make keeping snakes a daily job. For instance you can basically ignore your snakes for a week, but rodents need daily feeding and water changes. And unless you have like minded friends, finding someone to watch your rat colonies while you take a holiday, is more difficult than finding someone willing to puppy sit...
 
For instance you can basically ignore your snakes for a week, but rodents need daily feeding and water changes
I disagree. Mine can go a week without someone looking at them. The only reason they get checked more regularly than that is because we give them food scraps but I only clean the tubs and refill the water once a week
 
Haha yeah I used to have to change it really often but now I have that system with one large tank and a bunch of hoses going to nipples. It never gets below half even after two weeks. In the hotter months I dare say that will change though
 
I used to have a system like that, but I am working with separate bottles again. Because of the chalk (calcium) in the water the nipples started to leak. I lost a group of rats because their tub filled op with water from a leaking tank. The poor animals drowned...:(
 
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