Anyone breed Mice or rats For there pets???
- Thread starter ozz465
- Start date
Don't do it! 
I maintain some mouse colonies at work, and it's a nuisance. Unless you are breeding at a large scale, you're better off buying a small freezer and getting your feeders in bulk from Rodent Pro or Big Cheese. You'll end up saving a lot of time and money. Mouse food and litter adds up quick, and mouse cage maintenance is required more frequently than reptile cage maintenance.
I maintain some mouse colonies at work, and it's a nuisance. Unless you are breeding at a large scale, you're better off buying a small freezer and getting your feeders in bulk from Rodent Pro or Big Cheese. You'll end up saving a lot of time and money. Mouse food and litter adds up quick, and mouse cage maintenance is required more frequently than reptile cage maintenance.
Unless you have 100s of reptiles its really not worth it. The food and bedding for the animals would cost more then a single frozen mouse/rat would cost. You can get a frozen mouse online for less than $1/animal. How much do you think it would cost for the food and housing and such per animal. Not to mention the smell that rodents produce is enough to change most peoples mind. Even most large breeders buy from http://www.rodentpro.com/ or similar places online. You can keep 100s of frozen rodents in a small freezer. How much room do you think 100s of rodents would take up if you use a rack system.
if there are any reptile shows near you that would be a great place to stock up on cheap mice. now after saying that, i do keep a trio of mice in a 10g for my irian jaya carptet python. they give me more than enough feeders, but yes they do stink.
I used the individual lab type mouse breeding cages for a couple of years. I really like them. I got them from Big Apple Herp. I still have them, but I barely have any snakes now.
I say go for it and breed them yourself, even if its a lot more expensive than buying frozen. Its still worth it.
I hate frozen mice. Thats what I mainly feed the snakes at work with. I fed frozen twice to my own animals before and thats it. I wont feed frozen ever again! I'd rather feed live or pre-killed.
Can't beat a fresh meal that still has warm blood from its own body heat!
I say go for it and breed them yourself, even if its a lot more expensive than buying frozen. Its still worth it.
I hate frozen mice. Thats what I mainly feed the snakes at work with. I fed frozen twice to my own animals before and thats it. I wont feed frozen ever again! I'd rather feed live or pre-killed.
Can't beat a fresh meal that still has warm blood from its own body heat!
DO NOT DO IT! mice and rats are a huge pain in the a** to try and breed and grow, you would need literally hundreds of snakes or monitors for them to consume enough mice to make it worth your time and money. try looking up some rodent farms that might be near you or will ship free to you. I think that rodent pro ships free to some states. I live in FL and get off easy because I am less than 10 miles away from gourmet rodent and do not have to pay shipping. just try looking around online for deals because you WILL regret it is you try raising your own mice or rats. they stink, they fight, they eat too much, they make a mess, it is expensive to start, they take a long time to grow from pinky to adult, and i could go on all day....
I'd say it's not worth it unless you have a really large collection (as said before) or a really small collection. With a small collection you're not really looking for huge bulk orders of frozen rodents which would make shipping worth the cost, and buying from the local shop is really not worth the price.
As for the trouble, I've bred both mice and rats and I would never raise mice again. Mice in my experience fight more, eat their young more, and most definitely stink more than rats. I kept a few trios of rats in large rubbermaids and the maintenance wasn't that big of a deal. It's more trouble than pulling a ratcicle out of the icebox and thawing it, but I like rats so it wasn't a big deal to me.
As for the trouble, I've bred both mice and rats and I would never raise mice again. Mice in my experience fight more, eat their young more, and most definitely stink more than rats. I kept a few trios of rats in large rubbermaids and the maintenance wasn't that big of a deal. It's more trouble than pulling a ratcicle out of the icebox and thawing it, but I like rats so it wasn't a big deal to me.
