Breeding Feeder Mice For Your BP

I have a really picky eater here (not really surprised though) and I don't think I want to make stops at the reptile store 30 mins away every week for a live mouse, because my bp won't even smell a f/t hopper. Does anyone breed their own mice, rats, gerbils, etc....?? And is it time and $ consuming?

i've wanted to before but i cant stand the way mice smell..:)

same here and I just hate rodents in general..

LOL @ hating rodents.....Mice bedding does smell but I'm pretty sure most people let their bedding get nasty before that smell is bad.
Keep the bedding clean and they won't smell so bad :)

If you have a way to get rid of the extra babies then setting up a tank of mice to breed would be ok but keep in mind one snake can't eat all of the babies a mouse or rat makes so you will have extras.

They do smell pretty bad. I was given this tip today and am going to try it out for myself.

Get some cat box deodorizer, sprinkle some on the bottom of the tub, then cover with news paper, then the bedding. You'll still need to check on them everyday, but it should help with the odor.

Actually, I only have a few BPs and since I'm not allowed to touch a freezer I have to keep them live at home (also cos I can't drive to the pet store every week). Anyway they happened to start multiplying and I got a whole cycle going on here now. I only have 2 breeding tubs, placed at the back of my house, they don't smell all that horrible after I got rid of all the males. I change bedding maybe once a week? Of course if you would be keeping them in an enclosed area it might be a little worse, but I don't smell much until i stick my face into their tubs. Oh and I find carefresh odorfree MUCH better than any wood substrate.

Basically I have 5 females in 2 tubs. The rest of the tubs are for growing up. Each time I bring a male back I leave them with the females about a couple of weeks. Then they get fed off once all my females are pregnant. Once I can spot the male babies with their balls dangling out they are fed to my smaller guy. The rest of the females are allowed to grow a month or two to nearly 30g and then fed off. Then once I'm half way through them I get another male and the cycle begins again. This way I have minimal stench (males are the really smelly ones I think) and I run to the pet store once every couple of months only? You could do this with more females if you need more mice. But this way I get less smell, and dont have to take note of which mice are related to which to prevent inbreeding. With the new male every few months theres very little chance of it. And one male can do all the females there.

Well I really used to hate my mice, they kept getting out making a mess and were such a hassle, but now I treat my breeding females like second pets. I guess the trick is to find a way to ensure the noise and any possible smell does not affect you, by putting it somewhere else. And get a schedule or routine going for their care. They really are quite cute and smart, and females don't create a mess so I don't mind them. Especially after I watched this video of trained mice, I just put up a thread on it a couple of days back, so I'm gonna start trying to do that too. Of course there are a couple which end up being real problems, male OR female, but if I hate them they're fed off:p

i thought about breeding my own feeders but with only 1 bp i would end up with more rats then she could eat. i used to buy enough live rats for the month which was 4-5 at a time but was running into the problem of the last 1 or 2 rats growing too big for my girl (she's super picky about the size she'll take). so now i'm buying a rat every feeding day which is approximately every 10 days.
As far as the smell goes, i was doing complete cleanings of the rat tank every week and even with 5 rats in the 10 gallon tank the smell never got really bad. by complete cleaning, i mean emptying it, washing it with hot water & soap and putting in completely clean bedding. i hardly noticed any smell unless i had my face directly over the tank.
buying a rat every feeding day is kind of a pain cuz the store is 1/2 an hour away in another state but we'd rather do that then end up with a rat thats too big and causing a refusal & end up having to go to the store anyways to trade it...

I breed my own rats, mice, and unfortunately (because of super picky eaters) also currently working on an ASF colony. I also have mealie colonies going on. Time consuming but cheaper then gas, always have what I want, and I know they aren't diseased. Also as far as the smell goes, regular cleaning keeps it under control. I have heard of someone using non chemical charcoal near the tubs to help with smell.

Thanks everyone! I might give it a try once I get a larger bp collection going...:snake:

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

i thought about breeding my own feeders but with only 1 bp i would end up with more rats then she could eat. i used to buy enough live rats for the month which was 4-5 at a time but was running into the problem of the last 1 or 2 rats growing too big for my girl (she's super picky about the size she'll take). so now i'm buying a rat every feeding day which is approximately every 10 days.
As far as the smell goes, i was doing complete cleanings of the rat tank every week and even with 5 rats in the 10 gallon tank the smell never got really bad. by complete cleaning, i mean emptying it, washing it with hot water & soap and putting in completely clean bedding. i hardly noticed any smell unless i had my face directly over the tank.
buying a rat every feeding day is kind of a pain cuz the store is 1/2 an hour away in another state but we'd rather do that then end up with a rat thats too big and causing a refusal & end up having to go to the store anyways to trade it...

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Yea I have run into the same problem, even if I buy rats small, feed multiples the first couple of weeks until they're grown to appropriate size, then just feed one, they outgrow that appropriate size range really quickly. And given that BP's eat like, one a week.. Thats why when it comes to keeping live or breeding its only mice. Rats have to be bought regularly if bought live. Otherwise frozen would be perfect.

Ive been breeding asf's for a few months now and in the next month with about five litters and a new hopper colony I started a week ago there will be enough to start using instead of going to the store. I have been feeding my Kenyan a fuzzy every week and the Bp's have enjoyed a hopper or two.

I started doing this because a few stores around me will go in cycles where one week they will have some and the next week they won't or not the right size.

I have used just about every food I can find out there and right now Im using a 50lb bag of rabbit food for 12.99 from tractor supply. 3 of them just had litters of 10-12 and none of the babies have been eaten this time around so I think it's the right amount of nutrition.

Oh I almost forgot. Im not the most sensitive person walking this earth but it is very easy to start thinking of them as pets ;)

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Originally Posted by rperry03

Ive been breeding asf's for a few months now and in the next month with about five litters and a new hopper colony I started a week ago there will be enough to start using instead of going to the store. I have been feeding my Kenyan a fuzzy every week and the Bp's have enjoyed a hopper or two.

I started doing this because a few stores around me will go in cycles where one week they will have some and the next week they won't or not the right size.

I have used just about every food I can find out there and right now Im using a 50lb bag of rabbit food for 12.99 from tractor supply. 3 of them just had litters of 10-12 and none of the babies have been eaten this time around so I think it's the right amount of nutrition.

Oh I almost forgot. Im not the most sensitive person walking this earth but it is very easy to start thinking of them as pets ;)

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Sorry, I think I'll always see them as annoying obnoxious rodents :D but thanks for the advice!

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Originally Posted by rperry03

Oh I almost forgot. Im not the most sensitive person walking this earth but it is very easy to start thinking of them as pets ;)

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Give it a few more bites.:taz:

I've bred feeder mice twice and it's definitely something you need to upkeep daily as far as cleanliness goes. As people have said, yes, mice do stink and their bedding will contribute to it over the days (depending what bedding you use), so if you have the free time in your daily life to do this... you're going to have to clean their husbandry constantly and keep up with it. Out of breeding your own feeders I would say this is the most time consuming, because they are constantly making a mess of their feces, making a mess of their food, etc. If you're on top of cleaning, there shouldn't be a problem at all regarding smell and uncleanliness.

I kept them in a standard tub I found at Walmart (I don't remember the dimensions but it was wide enough to give them some roaming room, and high enough so it wasn't claustrophobic for them). Hooked their water bottle to the side, kept a fresh dish of food for them to munch on, a little mouse igloo to sleep in, and a wheel to keep them active. Had two females and one male to start (since it was my first time), and they were fairly simple to take care of.

It's also an upkeep to keep them happy and healthy. They're going to need a constant supply of food and fresh water, as well as an area of the household/garage where there is no disturbances (just for the sake of not stressing the pregnant females out; I'm not sure if constant disturbances stress them, but I kept them in a quiet area so they're content).

True, it's easy to get attached to your first litter once they're born, but during my time of breeding it certainly saved me some bucks from running to the exotic pet store to pick some up for $1-$2 a pop. It's definitely a learning experience for every snake owner to try, so I would say give it a shot and see how it works for you. I would do your research on it first just to get all the necessary supplies, and there's a wealth of information on here you can gather to do it if you really want to pursue it. :gj:

I've been breeding rats & mice in my basement for about 3 years now. I currently have 5 Cay Caulker Boas, mostly semi-adults. The smallest is the male, at around 1000 grams. I also have & adult Balll Pythons, the smallest again is a male, weighing in at around 900 grams. My snakes eat mostly all rats. The only reason I keep the mice colony being is in case I get a clutch of eggs (I have 4 right now in the incubator). It is a lot of work, but if I didn't breed my own feeders it would sot me a fortune! As far as breeding goes, it's a piece of cake! All you need is a glass tank with a screen top, food, and a water bottle. You don't need that many mice to start. I also use a nursing tank, for the pregnant females. If left in the colony, the babies can get eaten. A male and 3-4 females will work. It is a lot or work, but You'll never have to run to the petstore again! I buy the substrate in LARGE paper bags. I use Mazuri Rodent Pro. A 50 lb bag is $28. I didn't realize you can use rabbit food at half the price. That would save me a lot. Your biggest problem will be getting rid of the excess mice!

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Originally Posted by Slytherin

It's also an upkeep to keep them happy and healthy. They're going to need a constant supply of food and fresh water, as well as an area of the household/garage where there is no disturbances (just for the sake of not stressing the pregnant females out; I'm not sure if constant disturbances stress them, but I kept them in a quiet area so they're content).

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My breeding them was a pure accident, and I keep them in a non airconditioned corridor at the back of the house, so temperatures are about 85F daily. Theres also construction going on and it does get pretty noisy in the days. Nights are dark and undisturbed. But they still bred anyway and didn't even eat the babies. So I guess if those disturbances become a routine and they do get downtime from it I figure they could adapt to it.

I actually started breeding my own mice due to the small corn and milk snakes we have. I started with 7 mice around October and from that 7 I have 190 in the deep freezer and probably sold over 100. Though I still have about 16 that I've kept as breeders but I also take a male and move him back and forth between 2 groups of females if I don't need a steady supply of pinks. I get bedding from Tractor Supply and get the Mazuri 9F or 6F from the local feed store. Food lasts about 2 months and bedding is usually a month a bag, as of the last set up I had. I changed tubs and did another type and it lasts about 2 weeks instead of a week.

What did you decide on, are you still going to wait?
Around here I pay anywhere from $3-5 for a rat. Local breeders are further away, slightly less and try to buy from them first rather than a store.
I've been bitten a few times, but they were just the females warning to stay away from their babies so it didn't draw blood.
Waiting patiently for some asf's to get bigger to start feeding off on a daily basis. Almost wish I had gone with fancy but choose the asf's due to everyone saying the smell was not as bad.

I breed mice, rats, and asf's. They are housed in my laundry room in the basement. I don't over crowd my tubs and they are cleaned once a week. They don't require a lot of care when set up properly. ;)

I breed mice and rats. The mice stink worse than the rats. But, I change the mice bedding weekly. If I didn't have small colubrids. I'd just breed rats. Since baby bp's can eat pinky rats. Just my :twocents:. In the long run you will save money, or at least I have!

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Originally Posted by Nektu

They do smell pretty bad. I was given this tip today and am going to try it out for myself.

Get some cat box deodorizer, sprinkle some on the bottom of the tub, then cover with news paper, then the bedding. You'll still need to check on them everyday, but it should help with the odor.

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This is bad idea. Do not put any deodorizer in a rodents cage. Rodents chew and eat anything they think is food. And if they ingest any powder you sprinkle down, will either kill the rodent or make your snake sick.


Use pine pellets with pine shavings 50/50 problem solved