# advice needed



## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

After working out how much money I was spending on frozen mice.
I have taken the plunge and I am going to breed my own.
I have bought 2 females and 1 male and I am going to get some more females next week. 

Can anyone give me any advice on the following. How many male/females will I need to breed enough for 40 snakes.

Do I need to keep introducing new blood so that the mice do not get too inbred.

Any advice on quickest ways to kill the mice.

I will not be killing them Chris is going to do it. 
We are both soft as clarts so I have to look after them as Chris says he will get to know there personalities and will not be able to kill them.


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## nattyb (Apr 9, 2005)

personally i couldnt do it but good luck :? 
i used to keep mice when i was younger and its a fair old commitment keepiong em clean etc so id sooner pay for the ready meals lol!
nige breeds his own i think as im sure do others on here so theyll know the ins and outs


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*Tazzy its very easy to breed mice, as me and luke have done it, its best to have one male to atleast 4-5 females if you have more than 1 male they will fight till one dies :? 
just make sure you have enough food for them they breed really quick, luke was the one that would kill them as i couldnt do it, he'd grab them by the tail and whack them off the wall :shock: it sounds bad but would kill them straight away*


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

I will not be able to kill them but I have worked out we are spending about £1000 a year on frozen mice which is madness. (plus we will have more hatchlings next year due to my corn snake obsession) so the only way forwards is breeding our own.

As I have told Chris if I have quit smoking to save money he can kill mice to save money. (I WILL BE GOING TO THE MALDIVES FOR MY HOLS NEXT YEAR)


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## Andy (Jul 27, 2005)

We once got over run with gerbils that we used to keep they were breeding uncontrolably and i found the best way to kill them was to hold them round the body and give them a quick whack over the head with a bit of wood.not sure if this is the best way but it is quick and they dont see it coming.


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2005)

Tazzy the keeping and breeding of mice is easy.I would work on a ratio of 1 male to 4 females making sure that they have food and water at all times.As for culling there are basically 2 wys to do it.CO2 or the whack attack both work well.CO2 is considered more humane though.Put them in a box or bag and fill it with CO2.The mice will go to sleep due to lack of oxygen and then die in their sleep.The feed fresh kill or freeze them straight away before rigor mortice sets in.A word of warning on gasing though is that it will take much longer to gas a baby than an adult.I would not introduce fresh blood till you cull the adults.They will breed well for approx 9 months.


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## chocolatecolubrid (Apr 1, 2005)

I'm trying to breed my own at the mo as it's costing me about £30 a week to feed my own!! Ive had a couple of litters so far and am waiting for the bubs to get older before culling the males off. They stink though! I dont kow how I'm gonna kill them though. I dont have the heart.


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## Sandi (Nov 2, 2005)

*Sorry gang I'm sticking to mousciles :wink: I have been told the best way is to put them in a plastic bag and straight into the feezer :shock: It seems as if the wholesalers do that as my 'take aways; always look as if they are curled up from the cold  *


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

Chocolate they do smell and I only have three at the minute! They are in there own room with a glade plug in circle air and that seems to be doing the trick.

Thanks for the advice peeny and greenphase.

Been thinking about gassing them. Ready supply of co2 as we use it for the lager so I can buy myslef one and hoist it up the stairs.

How long does it take for them to die with co2. And as it takes babies longer could we gas them until they are asleep then put them in the freezer?

I am getting ready to present Chris with his options of methods and I am tryng to forsee his questions.


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

i have well cut down from an all time high of about 1,000.
they do stick, but they save you a fortune.
i whack the adults on the side of my chest freezer and the fluffs and pinks go in the freezer and are dead in mins.


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

whacking them does seem quicker and more efficent do not know if Chris is up to that though only time will tell.


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

i had tears in my eyes the 1st time i did it, but thats coz i did it wrong.
you have to do it properly, swift and hard (lol) and it works a treat


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*To stop mice from smelling put vanilla essence in there water it doesnt harm them in anyway and when they drink it doesnt make them urine smell :lol: worked loads for us and we used it on our rats aswell :lol: 

As for putting the mice in the freezer you shouldnt do this as its a slow death and makes all the inside crystalize  i mean i know there isnt a nice way of doing it, but giving them a whack is a much quicker death.*


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2005)

Freezing mice to death is a slow and extremely painful death.With pinks the quickest way is to just flick them in the head or drop them on the floor.If you have a good supply of CO2 then i would use that.All you need is a plastic shoebox a length of pipe and a valve placed in the lid.Turn on the gas till they stop moving then switch the gas of and leave them for about 5 mins.Then lay them out on a tray and freeze them.This is the way most wholesalers do it now.


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

i used to do that pen, but when you have so many its pointless. the smell will not go enough to warrent spending out so much on vanilla essence.


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

thanks guys and gals for your advice think Chris is gonna go with CO2.


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## Jack13 (Nov 30, 2005)

large rats are the worst to kill, when you wack them so hard off the wall they bounch out of your hand and every once in a while one of the little f****** is still alive and starts running off


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## bigp (Apr 24, 2005)

:shock: :shock: 

i just couldn't do it!!!

i remember when my mate got his dumeril it would only feed on live for the first year.


i went over one day to see him and he put this cute little fella on my hand, little pink nose twitching and i was all up for adopting him.

next thing i know my new little mate is brown bread!!

if i started breeding them i'd end up with an awful lot of pets!!!! :lol:


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

CO2 is definitely the way to go, I looked into this and its definitely the most humane and easiest. You can get the CO2 from wielders and beer gas suppliers. CO2 wont work on the pinkies though! you will need to use another method for those.


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## chocolatecolubrid (Apr 1, 2005)

How come CO2 doesnt work on pinkies?


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

It will put them to sleep, just not suffocate them... once their eyes are open with fluff they are susceptible. Im not sure of the physics behind it to be honest... just know it to be true


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2005)

The pinkies seem to be able to hold their breath for a very long time and maybe this has something to do with the fact they have only just come into the world.They use far less oxygen than an older mouse and just seem to find any air pockets left in the tub they are being gassed in.


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

woooo hooo my mice are preggers!!!!!!!1
Look like they have swallowed a ping pong ball each! :shock:


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## Bev (Sep 7, 2005)

its about bloody time.


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

lol, wait for it now. they stink.


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## Bev (Sep 7, 2005)

lol aww but theyre so cute, i actually dont mind the smell, if ya clean em out every 3 days its not so bad


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

3 days? i just dont have time to do that, that would be a nightmnare


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## Bev (Sep 7, 2005)

lol well im not breedin em on an industrial factory level lol


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

nor was i, lol. although it did feel like it at times.


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

one of my mice has had her babies. other one is still preggers. They are so cute.
YOU MUST NOT THINK LIKE THIS TARA THEY ARE FOOD FOOD FOOD!!!!!!


Most of these ones are going be grown on to make more babies.


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

lol, itshard, but thats the way it is. they are food and thats that.
cute food though, that squeeks nicely :lol:


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Congrats on the new borns


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## Anonymous (Jan 22, 2005)

*Congrats Tara :wink: :lol: whos gonna kill them, you or chris?
good luck and keep thinking food that way you wont feel bad :lol: *


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

Chris is. I think?
The deal was I looked after them then he would be able to kill them. Keep catching him stoking them though and he has a favourite. Soft shite!


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

cool, so wheres the pics? we love baby mice lol


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

i will go and take one now


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

aw nice one. cant wait


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

on dear the day of the first cull is drawing near one mouse had 8 and the other 10 so gonna let half get to fluffs then kill em :shock:


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

i would take them now, thats hwat i do when one gets munched


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## Daniel (Jul 28, 2005)

i used to keep rats and we had to kill them cos they whent mad after being teased so much without us nowing after spending 200 quid on therapy for them we had to kill so we drowned us they cant puke the death is instanat and is not that nasty just put them in a bucket with a lid and a hospipe leading in and then turn on the tap til its full leave them for ten and then freez em u probs need to dry em a bit though
dan


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

well we have had the first kill and first feed. chris was nearly crying when he was me feeding the fluffs he had killed the day before to some of my little corn snakes


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## animal mad (Jan 7, 2006)

*feeding mice other rodents etc*

Hi
I'm new to this site so please bear with me, will probably come out all wrong!!
I have alot of pets and as far as buying rodents go, I bulk buy hundreds of rats/mice/gerbils/chicks and they are delivered to me frozen. These are kept in their own freezer in my garage. 
This saves alot of money, so much cheaper then local pet shops.
Still it costs more to feed all my animals then it does my kids!!


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

no worries animal mad but i have 26 snakes. 16 of them corn snakes which are breeding age and i will be breeding this year. Just taking into account the snakes i currently have never mind the hatchlings i will have i was spending over £1000 with discount. Hence the reason i have stared to breed my own.


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## animal mad (Jan 7, 2006)

Hi
I've thought abought breeding for food, but the babies are so cute, I know I would have more pets or homes to find.
I was gonna breed Quail for my birds to have or eggs for us and our ferrets/ snake, but at the end of the day I couldn't kill anything unless it's in pain. 
My animals can kill, i've no problem with that, I can skin and chop what ever they give me, but their food has to arrive dead, even then i have to look at the poor faces on the rodents and hope they died quickly..
Your bravour than me, just use the quickest method...
Kim


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## reps4pets (Feb 23, 2005)

t-bo said:


> CO2 is definitely the way to go, I looked into this and its definitely the most humane and easiest. You can get the CO2 from wielders and beer gas suppliers. CO2 wont work on the pinkies though! you will need to use another method for those.


i think by rspca law co2 is only method they allow and also freezing,they to fall asleep before dying,how horrible it sounds lol. lets hope no Rspca workers are on here :lol:


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## tazzyasb (May 4, 2005)

Update in my mouse breeding mission
second birth has happened and my female is preggers again.
Still only killed pinks and fluffs at the minute been letting some fo the babies grow to smales so I can tell what sex they are as i want some more females and a another male for breeding. 
Need to start stock piling on pinkies for when my plannned hatchlings hatch.


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## CBR1100XX (Feb 19, 2006)

I think after reading about all this murdering I will definetly just stick to Crickets for my reptiles


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Well the crickets still have to die.. their no lesser a life than anything else really. Its all nature, when you think about it something always has to be killed for someone/something to eat... even if its a human eating a vegetable


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