I'm a mouse breeding failure

I had this really great plan. I was going to get two mice and turn them into 10 mice....Easy!
Apparently, it doesn't really work like that. I started with four (I think). I usually buy feeders from the pet store. This means I have to make a stop once a week after work, spend almost $5, and then sign paperwork.

A couple of weeks ago I thought, "There has to be a better way," so I brilliantly bought extra mice and put them in a cage, thinking I'd have free food in no time. Genius!

Long story short- rodents are vile. I had a pet rat as a teenager and I don't remember him being so disgusting. The mice have been well cared for, but they have systematically taken each other out. My last hope for free snake food died this morning after a severe beating last night from her last remaining "friend".

I'm thinking making the switch to frozen/thawed is the most convenient, least expensive, best smelling, and most user friendly route to go at this point.

For my first order, should I start with a small amount? What do I want to look for in frozen rats? As far as determining quality, I mean. I read some online reviews of different sellers, but the information is so conflicting. One Guy loves it, the next says their rats are diseased.

What company have you used for an extended period with complete satisfaction?

Lol! I have heard mice are a pain in the patella to breed so I am sure you are not the only one who has failed in your mouse breeding endeavors! I have only ever ordered f/t from LLLReptile and Rodentpro. I have to say the way LLL packaged the rats was much tidier and the rats certainly appeared well cared for and were fuller too but I dont know how bulk ordering works if at all with LLL which is why rodent pro is more convenient for such needs IMO. I breed my own because I enjoy it and I know the quality of care put into my feeders. As for how big of an order to place its more cost effective to place bulk orders for up to (X) months because shipping is pretty spendy. I suppose if you order for a 6 month stock you could order a couple different sizes to keep up with the growth of your snake(s) depending on how many you have and how big they are, etc.

Rodentpro is one that I looked into. Someone on here who seems to give excellent advice said she uses them (I searched old threads first), so I checked them out. Apparently they had some problems in May of this year with diseased rats. Maybe an isolated incident?

I believe they addressed it and said that it was a disease among their mouse colonies and none of their rats tested positive for the disease. I cant remember where I read it but I believe it was a thread on here. Maybe a little more digging will be able to pull it up. I will see if I can find it.

I've bought from Rodent Pro in the past and my biggest complaint with them was sometimes my rats would be missing limbs that broke off while frozen. As for the disease problem they had, it's my understanding that it only affected their mice and they have taken care of the problem. Problems like that can spring up with any rodent breeder as large as Rodent Pro.

Given how they didn't disclose the information to any of their clients until one blew the whistle I will be trying MiceDirect with my next rat order in a week or two.

Anyone with mouse breeding experience care to comment on what went wrong here?

Is it typical for them to kill each other off?

What could have prevented it?

http://www.redtailboas.com/f75/roden...warning-62331/

This is what I read. You're both correct, it does say that only mice tested positive.
I'm not trying to spread negative feedback in an area I clearly know nothing about. I just don't want to feed my snake something that isn't healthy. Further, I don't want to support businesses that don't care for their animals properly. It might sound odd, but I believe that even animals that are bred to die should have a good life, however short it may be.

From what I've gotten here, it seems that Rodentpro is OK, and the name that keeps coming up. So, that's probably what I'll do.

If they weren't properly introduced, fighting will happen.

With my breeders, the best girls were the ones from pet smart. I have had a few fights, but the only deaths that have occurred were my own fault

I am wondering if the mice that you got were all males. Usually in pet stores the keep females in one cage and males in other to prevent breeding. If all mice were pulled from the male cage it could have been all males. If it was they were probably fighting and killed each other. Now I am not a mouse breeder and don't pretend to be one but that is my guess, a complete guess I might add.

Mice can be tricky. I'd suggest if you try again look into buying a group that were already kept together. Also a guy I know taught me a trick to get the females to not eat their litters, make a top for a cat litter box out of wood and small-gauge wire that baby mice won't escape from. When the preggo mice get big, put a water bottle on, and put them by themselves into one of these "brooding tubs" and let them raise their babies until the babies at least have fur.