When Did You Guys Start Breeding?

Hey guys, so I have 4 snakes right now and it usually costs about $30 a month to find them. Where I live, breeders arent available and good f/t rats are tough to find. I cant really buy in bulk because my roommate does not like the idea of frozen rats being in our freezer, which is understandable. Think it would be okay to start now or should I wait?

thanks

and btw ive read the threads about this that are stickied, i just wanted personal opinions and stories!

Don't do it man! I have two snakes and I go through over 1500 lbs of rats food a month. LOL

Hatchlings typically start on live hopper mice or rat fuzzies, and then switch after a few meals. If you can't find a reliable local source for them then you will have to breed your own.

Have you tried Craigslist or the local / WV Facebook reptile forums to see if you can find a local feeder breeder?

Try puting an ad on craigslist looking for a rat breeder in the pet section worked for me. I actually had people lowering there prices to get me to come to them and i live in a smaller town

When my collection reached 8 I decided to start looking into my own rat colony. Now that I am over 30 snakes in the collection, I am glad I made the choice!

If your source isn't reliable you'll need to breed your own. That's the biggest reason I started being rats again. I had a couple local sources, but the closest was inconsistent and unreliable, andr I didn't want to make unplanned trips 30 minutes out of my way to pick up rats. Wirth the number of snakes I have now and the sources I found for food and bedding, I am saving money too, but even if I weren't, having the peace of mind knowing I'm in control and can provide for my snakes is worth it.

I am currently getting into rat breeding myself. The nearest place that sells frozen rats is over an hour away & time constraints make it hard to make that journey very often. I am starting with 1 male and 2 females for breeding.... and 1 female that I bottle fed that will not be used for breeding at all. I asked some of my friends if they knew anyone with snakes and that's how I found a rat breeder less than 5 miles from my house. We are getting to be good friends and she is giving me TONS of tips on breeding and doing everything right. I think it's in the best interest of the snake to produce your own food. That way you know it's healthy food instead of sickly rats.

I started when I went from 2 bp's to 7 in a weekend. Now if my rats don't produce, it's a $60+ a week food bill.