Breeding vs Store bought feeders

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Originally Posted by Brad91

That doesn't sound too bad. I can make a rack out of those plastic shelving bins with holes drilled to hold water bottles. And bedding would be cheap too. I can get 25lb bags of pine or cedar at a farm and garden store for about $10. I'm really starting to lean towards breeding. It sounds so much simpler to just do it that way. :)

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Cedar is bad for snakes and remember what your rats touch/ eat will go in to your snake. Try aspen or sheredded newspaper.

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Originally Posted by Brad91

That doesn't sound too bad. I can make a rack out of those plastic shelving bins with holes drilled to hold water bottles. And bedding would be cheap too. I can get 25lb bags of pine or cedar at a farm and garden store for about $10. I'm really starting to lean towards breeding. It sounds so much simpler to just do it that way. :)

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We did water bottles. And trust me we were in and out everyday getting more and more water for them. I really would consider a water system. It makes it ten times easier to have


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The more snakes you have makes breeding better too. Always a snake that can eat a certain size :)

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Originally Posted by Brad91

This one's for everyone who feeds live mice. Do you breed your feeders or do you buy them from the strore as you need them? I've thought about breeding them but idk what would be more efficient... I've got 4 ball pythons, 3 are around 300 grams the other is around 450 grams. All estimates of course. Lol. I really need to get a scale. Any input would help alot. Thanks in advance.

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Judging by their weight, they should be young enough and not stubborn in their ways to switch to f/t. How often do you feed them? Let them go around 4 weeks without food to get them hungry. Heat a f/t mouse in hot water until its body temp is 90+ degrees. That should do the trick. If it doesn't, then wait 2 weeks before trying again. My apologies if you tried that method already. I've cared for 30+ ball pythons, but only have one live eater because she was 5 years old when i got her and she was fed live her whole life. I normally don't have any trouble switching them from live to f/t.

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Originally Posted by collrak

Judging by their weight, they should be young enough and not stubborn in their ways to switch to f/t. How often do you feed them? Let them go around 4 weeks without food to get them hungry. Heat a f/t mouse in hot water until its body temp is 90+ degrees. That should do the trick. If it doesn't, then wait 2 weeks before trying again. My apologies if you tried that method already. I've cared for 30+ ball pythons, but only have one live eater because she was 5 years old when i got her and she was fed live her whole life. I normally don't have any trouble switching them from live to f/t.

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I tried that unfortunately... They went from November 12th to February 23rd without eating... I finally gave them each a large adult live mouse on the 23rd and they all ate right away. No need to apologize, I would've tried it had I not already. They're just so stubborn. Lol.

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Originally Posted by Billy305

Cedar is bad for snakes and remember what your rats touch/ eat will go in to your snake. Try aspen or sheredded newspaper.

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I knew cedar was bad for reptiles but I never thought about it being ingested by eating mice that were in it. Thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to stay away from that.

Snakes are pretty stubborn. They only do what they want and eat what they want.


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I'm building up a colony of rats for my snakes. I would do the same if they only ate mice. For me... the problem is my prior source of f/t is now very unreliable and I am having to buy live and prekill, which is MUCH more expensive (around $24 a week, which is what i was spending on f/t every couple of months!). I build a rack with 6 tubs, I need to look at the receipt, but I believe it cost less than $50. Right now using water bottles, but I have the supplies to set up a watering system, just need to sit down and do it. Rodent food will cost me $0.70 per pound, and a local store has big bales of bedding for $4.99 each (I have bedding now, but I'm going to buy a few bales to store up any way, I have never seen a better price!). Since my snakes do eat f/t, I will be able to grow up to the right size, and then kill and freeze to save for later. Would be a little more complicated and probably require more planning if the snakes only ate live though. In the end, I really didn't want to breed my own food, I was happy buying the f/t, but now with that source being so unreliable I am forced to do this (can't order online, don't have the storage space required to make the money worth it!). Ultimately, I'll know what is going into my feeders and how they grew up too.

1) I use pine for both snakes and rats and have yet to have an issue. I have talked to people on here that have been around long enough to see husbandry advice change greatly over time and was told by them that pine is fine. I bought a 14 CF bag of "softwood shavings" for less than $8 at a Big R, which is where I also get my 50# bags of Mazuri feed, and unless I lose a snake I won't be switching back to aspen that costs twice as much as pine. I trust the people on here that gave me the advice on pine.

2) The 50# bags of Mazuri cost me about $30 per bag and even with 6 adult rats it is looking like each abg will be lasting me at least two months. Even if it is only two months, that is $15 per month for food and maybe $3 per month for bedding, so less per month than I used to spend every week (Used to spend over $25 a week for all 8 of the snakes that I'd feed on a weekly basis). Once you get the cost of the rack off-set you will save a great deal, as mice will use even less bedding and food, and the 6F from Mazuri that I use would work for the mice - it is a rodent breeder, not just rat breeder, diet.

3) Plumbing would be fine if you wanted to do it but the bottles that I use are half gallon and I fill them less than once a week. Just something to think about.

Best of luck with whatever you do!

I breed my own. It's not for everyone but if you have the space and get setup to do it right it can be cheaper and ensure good quality feeders. I do a mortar tub rack with harlan lab block that I got from Reptile Basics.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/harlan2018

Now that I have finished reading the thread I should say. Kiln dried pine would be ok for adult feeders but I wouldn't use it for breeders. Aspen is only slightly more expensive. I have a watering system that I got from reptile basics and it works great. You can find great tutorials on watering systems and rack setups on this site and others. http://www.reptilebasics.com/rodent-watering/