New colony questions

Ok I realized I had everything I need to start a colony yesterday. I have a giant bag of pine shavings, water bottle, food bowl, extra cage and a fifty pound bag of rabbit food. So I ran out and bought me 2 females and 1 male. Now I only have one snake now but I will have a sub-adult Irain jaya soon that will not eat rats. So I figure I can freeze the fuzzies or slightly larger ones for my baby Bp and feed the rest to the ij. Once I have a decent stock I can just feed off my breeders. I kno alot of people say that it's not worth it for just a few snakes but I live 50 miles away from petco and it's 11 dollars for 6 f/t fuzzies. Where it's 9 for three breeder mice. Ok now to the Q's:
Will the rabbit food be sufficient enough?
How much vanilla do I pit in a small water bottle?
What can I give these lil that has alot of protein so I can fatten them up?
I'm sure I'll have more q's later but for now that's it. I appreciate any feedback.

Rabbit pellets are not a sufficient mouse food.

The rabbit pellets will need supplemented. As to what with, I'm not really sure as I find it a lot simpler to use rodent block but several others on here make their own mixes and will probably chime in. As for vanilla, just a few drops in a bottle but I personally didn't see any effect when I tried it so vanilla may be a waste of your time.

I would completely get rid of the rabbit pellets. They are not formulated for rodents at all. Rabbits are not rodents and their dietary needs are 100% different than mice.

Ok thanx for tellin me that. So what can I use that i have around the house that I can use?

You need to go out and buy mouse food.
Lab block is a good choice.

What About cereal n cheese or rice? Stuff like that? What do y'all use? Anyone?

Lab block - Mazuri 6F - made for mice.

Ok uNo mas time I'm asking what kind of stuff can I use that I have at home. I live too far to go back to petco and after I seen how bad there animals were I may never go back.

6F, like said before, made for mice, less cannabalism...

I know you said that you were gonna start regardless of what people say, but honestly, you will spend more money breeding for a couple of snakes than it's worth... Buy frozen, save money.
Mice are easy to breed, but hard to raise, and if you don't use the correct food you will lose tons of babies.

You asked what we use. I don't use stuff I have around the house. I buy mouse food.

Rats can eat stuff that's around the house.

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Originally Posted by Apophis

Ok uNo mas time I'm asking what kind of stuff can I use that I have at home. I live too far to go back to petco and after I seen how bad there animals were I may never go back.

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Well, you can listen to the advice we are trying to give, or you can spend tons of money and fail...
I think you've made your choice already.

You can find a feed store, and they can almost certainly order lab block for you.

You cannot feed your mice solely on things from your home. You can go to the grocery store and make a mouse mix, but it will be more expensive than lab block.

A basic simple grocery store mouse-mix: Quick oats (50-60% of your mix), brown rice, brown or green lentils, dry whole grain pasta, pearled barley, wild bird seed, holistic dog chow.
This isn't a list of things you can give individually, it's a list of things you would have to mix together to meet the nutritional needs of your mice.

This is not cost effective for a feeder breeder, though.
But you will have to meet the nutrition needs of your mice if you expect to breed them successfully.

Mice, do not eat cheese.

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Originally Posted by Rhasputin

Mice, do not eat cheese.

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Since when??? you mean all those cartoons were wrong!?:gj:

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Originally Posted by jasbus

Since when??? you mean all those cartoons were wrong!?:gj:

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Well, mice shouldn't eat cheese. :P
Just like cats shouldn't drink cream, go figure! :rolleyes:

Oh boy ...
A can of worms has been opened!

You should order some lab block from national pet pharmacy if you dont wanna drive. It's $4.99 shipping.

you can give them mealworms, shredded carrots, dog food without red food coloring, apple slices, spinach for part of there diet but i would invest in the lab block.

i have 1male1female mouse for my two snakes. its worth it after you get the hang of it.

whatever your measurements are, half should be grains (i use cheerios)
and half dog kibble, they loove dog kibble. cheap brand is fine but momma needs lots of protein so make sure its got a a lot.

i usually throw in a peice of whatever im eating at the moment.

usually either
apple wedge (they never eat the whole piece but every mouse is different)
lettuce (always gone the next day)
3 sticks of baby carrots cut ( they'll eat 75% i'd say in one day)

Mouse protein should be between 16 and 19 %.
That's why commercial rodent diets are so important...