# Who breeds mice/rats



## lozmick (Jun 24, 2013)

I'm thinking of breeding my own for my monitors and water dragons. Who else does this and is it cost effective?


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## mitsi (Feb 1, 2012)

Once established it is, i havent had to buy any rats except jumbo ones for well over a year.


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## lozmick (Jun 24, 2013)

Thanks mitsi


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## samnsteve (Aug 20, 2013)

It can be. The initial outlay can be high (cages etc) and they do eat a lot, but I'm very fortunate as I have a friend who closed down their pet stall, and I have enough free food here to last at least a year :lol2:

I think it's worth it just to know where the mice have come from and that they've had a good life :2thumb:

Selling mice as pets has also proved surprisingly successful, I tend to use males as food and sell females as pets. It might be different in your area but around here pet mice are quite hard to get hold of and a lot of people want them. I even delivered two to Gloucester a few weeks ago!


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## mitsi (Feb 1, 2012)

My rats get all our leftovers, so veg meat bread fruit eggs, even the odd chick. Their bedding is shredded paper and their nest boxes are lined with shredded paper and stuffing out of old teddies. Their cages we got free off freecycle so my only outlay was the first lot of rats and their water bottles.


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## samnsteve (Aug 20, 2013)

Cor you're lucky! I never find free cages near me :lol2:
My females tank cost nothing though, as I found a 4ft tank in a bin down the road. I'm like a womble :lol2:

Only other advice I can really offer to the OP is to teach anybody you live with how to sex mice. My partner found one of my males had escaped and assumed he was a female....long story short I have 36 babies and counting :lol2: Monty is going to be one happy snake!


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## samnsteve (Aug 20, 2013)

Whilst we're on the subject, has anybody bred gerbils?


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## talltom69 (Dec 8, 2006)

For over a year, I've bred rats and multis which in turn has saved me in excess of £1000 easily on what I would of spent on frozen at a shop.

My monthly outlay is £15 for food and £15 for bedding.

I have bred Gerbils in the past, but it proved to be a pain as the moment males tend to open their eyes, they start fighting.


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## samnsteve (Aug 20, 2013)

The mice can be a pain like that too. I generally cull males as pinkies and grow on the girls. I would like to try gerbils, however when I had gerbils in the past I found them to be horrible bitey things. I guess it was just mine though as I've seen others have friendly ones. They're also damn cute :lol2:

I'm going to finish doing out the shed to move them all outside before I even think of getting anything else though :lol2:


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## dinosaur lou (May 14, 2015)

samnsteve said:


> Whilst we're on the subject, has anybody bred gerbils?


Hey , I know someone who did breed gerbils till his daugue and gerbil mated he had cross breeds sold his babies they all died but 2 and they were from different parents 
My aunt brought them for her son assuming both were same sex at Christmas she found like 8 babies I think and had to sell them she was not fast enough to take the male away and the mum was pregnant again so I had 2 of the babies every single baby died including the mother eventually 
The only surviving baby was "Lego" the female I kept she lasted 3 years then passed away the dad passed away half a year before his daughter 
So to answer your question yes but they were not planned 
My aunt had borrowed cages etc and her food costs were not that high I think the bedding was highest as she didn't use shredded paper


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