# breeding mice



## GM123 (Nov 23, 2010)

is it worth it??
i have 20 snakes eating evrything from pinks to adults??
at the moment its costing me around £15 a week to feed them and im looking to get more snakes to


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## essexchondro (Apr 9, 2007)

Yes, it's worth it; you'll know the quality of the food you're feeding to your snakes if you produce the food yourself, and you'll also save yourself a bit of money too (it won't cost you £15 a week in bedding and rodent food!) but it will take an hour or two once a week to clean them out.

I started producing my own when I got to about 15 snakes. I'd never go back to buying frozen now unless my collection shrank drastically.


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## GM123 (Nov 23, 2010)

how many mice would i need more or less??


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i have similar amount of snakes to you, i have 6 tubs with 1.3 in, and i rarely have to buy in.
you`ll need a few growing tubs too - converted underbed storage boxes are good.


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## GM123 (Nov 23, 2010)

and really what is the best way to kill them??


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

either gas them with co2 or break their necks


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## GM123 (Nov 23, 2010)

ok i think ill start breeding them how mutch should it cost me to get staret with about 4 trios and setups???


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

can you euthanise them? probly best to get your head around that part first.

then you need 
mice are usually around 2/3 quid each, they start breeding from around 10 - 12 weeks old
food - big bag of pig pellets or cheap dog complete food or rabbit food.
bedding - shavings or aubiose
housing - you can get lab cages but they are expensive, or make your own. either plastic storage boxes or similar with wire ventilation or lids.

heres one of mine 









just make sure you use 6mm or 1/4" mesh so they cant get out.

also have some that are just cheapo stacker boxes with a wooden frame that fits over the top covered with wire.


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## Jay--Pee (Aug 31, 2011)

pigglywiggly said:


> can you euthanise them? probly best to get your head around that part first.
> 
> then you need
> mice are usually around 2/3 quid each, they start breeding from around 10 - 12 weeks old
> ...


Hi,

Sorry to jump in on the thread but I have 10 snakes, would it be cost effective to breed mice for food of just keep buying frozen?
It's more the quality of food I am interested in and knowing where they come from rather than the money, but if it's a lot of effort and more money then I'm sure they'll be ok on shop bought until my collection gets bigger?

Thoughts anyone?


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

its definatly worth doing as long as you`re confident about dispatching them humanely.
they are far better than shop bought, and you know they`ve had a quality diet.
i find it cheaper than buying, you could always get a trio of mice, have a go and see if its for you, and if you want to keep more just run some babies on and increase your numbers that way.


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

GM123 said:


> *is it worth it*??
> i have 20 snakes eating evrything from pinks to adults??
> at the moment its costing me around £15 a week to feed them and im looking to get more snakes to


Depends. Do you want to be a snake keeper or a mouse breeder who keeps snakes...?


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

:lol2:

its cheaper for me, frozens are expensive around here and its not worth buying mail order when you add the delivery charge on.


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## Jay--Pee (Aug 31, 2011)

Is there a nutritional difference between mice and rats?


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

rats are fatty especially adult ones.

and if you`re growing your own they smell more than mice


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## Nomad Gecko (Apr 26, 2012)

I've been looking around a little and have found a piece of research into the nutritional values of feeder animal.

granted its an american study and you would have to have some HUGE snakes for some of these animals to be classed as feeders.

Nutrition Feeder Mice | Nutrient Composition of Feeder Animals

I have always believed that rats were these lil fat filled heart attacks waiting to kill my lovely snakes BUT they have little more fat and only when older. weight for weight they are about the same but rats also have more callories.

So i guess for growing snakes or snake with a active life or high metabolism then rats are prob the choice.

:lol2:


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## Spiff (Dec 3, 2010)

I would definatly recommend breeding your own! takes a while to get established but it costs me £7 a month to keep 1:4 mice, and 2:9 female rats and i grow all babys (usually around 30-40 a month) to 5 weeks and usually around 5-10 of those rats a month up to large rat size! and it probably costs me £15 all in for bedding and Food!


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## DragonFish66 (Sep 13, 2009)

Ive just bought 1 male and 3 females are these alright to be kept together as a breeding group or are the females best seperated of what ive read so far some do some dont.
I breed my rats in trios with no problems and grow the young on in seperate tubs when they are weaned is mice the same sort of set up?


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## liam peel (Sep 26, 2011)

It is definitly worth breeding your own, not just for money but, qaulity of food, you know exectly what is going into the mouse that goes into the snake, plus I like the whole proces from birth to dinner plate, you get to know that.
Anothr pro is, have you ever went to the shop asked for lets say 5 large mice and they only have 3 left? very anoying, this way you should have what you need.
The only downside I find it that you have to kill the mice yourself, I am yet to breed mice myself but I would like to do it but this is the only thing that is putting me of.


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## DragonFish66 (Sep 13, 2009)

liam peel said:


> It is definitly worth breeding your own, not just for money but, qaulity of food, you know exectly what is going into the mouse that goes into the snake, plus I like the whole proces from birth to dinner plate, you get to know that.
> Anothr pro is, have you ever went to the shop asked for lets say 5 large mice and they only have 3 left? very anoying, this way you should have what you need.
> The only downside I find it that you have to kill the mice yourself, I am yet to breed mice myself but I would like to do it but this is the only thing that is putting me of.


It only becomes worth it if you have a few snakes i suppose you can start with a trio and sell any extras on either as food or pets.
As for killing them i can understand a few people wont do it, i dont like it through its necessary im used to it with shooting and fishing rabbits pidgeons, salmon ect have been breeding the rats now for two years.
I think its easyer to despatch mice rather than rats because there that much smaller,at least 80% of mine are still bought in frozen bulk buys from the net


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## NasalFloss (Jun 6, 2012)

chenchenPeter said:


> *Ok,I aggre with you .......Thank you .....hah ..*:welcome:


Peter, why exactly are you on these forums??? You're posts rarely make any sense (as quoted), you do not own any exotic pets unless you class your dog and cat as exotic as you did in your profile?! another example of your 'help' - you go on the snake forum and say that you find a users snake ugly and your parents hate them too, then you're on the aquatics forum and the only post you write in a response to a users question is is 'I don't know, ask someone else'. If you don't know, why are you even bothering to respond that you don't know?

Can anyone else look at his posts and try and explain to me what is going on with him?


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## DragonFish66 (Sep 13, 2009)

NasalFloss said:


> Peter, why exactly are you on these forums??? You're posts rarely make any sense (as quoted), you do not own any exotic pets unless you class your dog and cat as exotic as you did in your profile?! another example of your 'help' - you go on the snake forum and say that you find a users snake ugly and your parents hate them too, then you're on the aquatics forum and the only post you write in a response to a users question is is 'I don't know, ask someone else'. If you don't know, why are you even bothering to respond that you don't know?
> 
> Can anyone else look at his posts and try and explain to me what is going on with him?


By the looks of it sounds like a kid plus i dont think he can speak proper english been from singapore :lol2:


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