Is it worth breeding mice?

[bimbo]

The other day i had to buy a mouse for a thing i was doing with some kids. they had to make a maze and run the moue through it and there was a whole story to go with it.

Anyway i told the pet shop what i was doing and they said they would take it back when i was finished if i didn't want to keep it. When i went and got the mouse the one i picked is apparently pregnant and should have babies this week some time so that got the brain ticking over. the mouse cost me 3 bucks and i have been paying about $1-1.50 per frozen pinky/mouse so if i kept the mouse and it has more than 3 babies i am infront.

At the moment i only have one yearling blond mac and am going to get another hatchling this season.

just wondering if you think it would be worth getting a male mouse and breeding them which should produce most of the mice i need.

Your thoughts
james

 

[jeramie85]

depends on if you want to breed mice

i think it would work out cheaper but have never looked at the cost

but i breed them not only for my snakes but for my daughter as well

hehe ill attach a pic of her playing with them

they seem to enjoy it and she does too
dont worry the toys are sterilised after she finishes playing with them

she sometimes plays for hours on end

 

[TrueBlue]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

better to breed rats rather than mice, youll easily sell or swap your excsess and they dont stick like mice.

 

[bimbo]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

done a bit of reading on the forum and the net about breeding them and i think i might give it a go. just worried about the smell stinking out my garage. at the moment i have her in a 60L plastic storage tub with some pine shavings in the bottom - will look at getting some lucerne charff or something instead cause i have read that pine can cause problems.

once she has the babies should i just get a male or possibley a male and a female?

also would a CO2/Argon mix gas be just as effective as CO2 (got a cylinder for my MIG welder) for killing mice?

cheers
james

 

[Mysnakeau]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

Personally I think pet litter or straw is better than shavings. Shavings can cause respiratory problems, they hold heat and make them smell worse. If you can get onto cheap cat litter, Max's Pet Litter or Breeders Choice are two that I have tried and like either one. Lucerne chaff? If they're anything like rabbits, they can get very fat off lucerne.

Depends how many you want to breed as to what to buy next. Mice have litters generally around 6-8 but can have smaller or larger. 2 females will go together fine, even when breeding but the male will have to be separated or he might kill the babies.

 

[cris]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

I would go for the rats too, far better allround IMO mice will stink out your garage, rats wont if you clean their cage properly.
The argon should work fine i cant see it being a problem to your snake either. It might be worth asking a vet just to be on the safe side, although im not sure if a vet would even know :?

 

[Pythoninfinite]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

You should use food-grade CO2 to kill your mice & rats, sold as beer gas at the outlets, but if you're only doing a few at a time, the "swing & whack" on the edge of a table works very well and is probably the most humane way anyway. Just takes for ages if you're doing 4-500 at a time as I do.

As far as substrate, all the labs I've ever been in use pine shavings, as I do, without problems. If you can get some with a percentage of hardwood as well, they're even better.

Jamie.

 

[Recharge]

if you rig up a 12v computer fan with a power adapter, and keep the tank ventalated, the smell is not that bad at all.

I've also been told if you mix a capfull of white vinigar with 1,25 litres of water this also gets rid of the smell.
though I haven't tried it yet myself, as I have big fans set up on all my cages
(one mouse cage, 2x 6foot rat cages)

http://members.optusnet.com.au/recharge1/Pictures/Rats/

you must be carefull with pine, it can and will produce bacteria if left for too long

 

[bimbo]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

my snake woulnd eat rats at the moment i wouldn't think, never actually seen a rat pinky to compare size to - she is currentý eating hopper mice. would prefer mice as that is what i will be feeding the new hatchling so no point breeding rats if i can't actually feed them to my animals which is the whole point

 

[jeramie85]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

i have found that breeders choice so far is the best to use in my opinion i did try lots of other stuff and that with breeders choice cat litter there is very little smell at all

dont forget to get another tub doesnt have to be as big
its just for temporary housing when you clean there home out

but do agree with trueblue be better to breed rats or look into it in the not so distant future

but i do breed both (rats/mice) and no not with each other :lol:

mice and rats i like to keep the ratio about 2-3 females to 1 male

 

[Recharge]

Re: RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

my snake woulnd eat rats at the moment i wouldn't think, never actually seen a rat pinky to compare size to - she is currentý eating hopper mice. would prefer mice as that is what i will be feeding the new hatchling so no point breeding rats if i can't actually feed them to my animals which is the whole point

if he/she is on hopper mice, then there'll be no problems with pinky rats

though getting them onto rats *can* be dificult (mice are like candy it seems heh)

luckily mine will eat anything at all (they are bloody gutso snakes haha)
once onto rats, do NOT feed mice again, some have found that they won't eay rats again without a masive fight hehe

(just ask pythoness)

 

[junglemad]

RE: Re: RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

1.50 is a lot to pay for a pinky i reckon. maybe you need to get connections before you stink up your garage...mice stink worse than rats.
I can get pinkies for 50c each so i couldn't be bothered breeding mice. Surely there is a mouse breeder around newie that can hook you up to the same deal mate

 

[cris]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

Rats are fine as far as size goes, a pinkie rat is quite small and can be eaten by young maccies if you get them as soon as they are born.
Mice stink really bad, Rats dont.
Rats can be left together all the time some say mice cant.
Rats make better pets.
Rats will be much better when your snake gets bigger to as you wont need to keep heaps of adults. You would just need one pair and would never need to raise any above small adult size.
Rats are much cleaner animals.

 

[bimbo]

RE: Re: Is it worth breeding mice?

how do rat sizes compare to mouse sizes - like what would a rat pinky be equilivant to etc?

 

[imported_Varanus]

While were on the subject,

Who believes fresh rodents are better for herps than frozen/thawed rodents that could be many weeks old? (ever seen the difference between the insides of a thawed (black/grey organs and little or no fresh blood) and a fresh, still warm rodent (all pink and fresh blood)! Sorry to be so graphic, but I believe fresh is best!!

Cheers,

Varanus.

 

[timmy]

But fresh killed rodents can give your snake mites.

 

[imported_Varanus]

Sorry,

Never heard that one before??

Can others confirm???

 

[timmy]

Sorry I was under the impresssion that live or freshly killed rodents could give snakes mites.
Someone told me that that they can. But after reading some old threads im not so sure.

 

[snakes4me2]

I heard penut butter can give you cancer too . I like penut butter too.\

I have heard that fresh killed you would be more inclined too get worms than mites, wouldnt know for sure but.

 

[RevDaniel]

Personly i get every one of my snakes onto pinky rats asap. If i buy a snake feeding on mice i will try them on the pinky rats onwards and if not will eventually get them onto the rats. They fill up more from eating rats and grow much faster. I had a heap of mice i was going to be breeding but just ended up freezing the lot as i wanted more room for my rats.