Grow your own or?????

I am wondering if it would be cheaper to produce your own rodents or continue buying them? At the moment I have 6 2012 BPs....all on rat pups. Any Ideas if the cost out weighs the savings? Im trying to get them all switched to F/T. One has changed so far. Im not opposed to feeding fresh killed. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Many-to-Breed

I think with just 6 it would be cheaper to buy from someone. Costs of maintenance plus your time caring for them far outweighs $6 or so dollars a week.

I live in a small town and Im paying $2 on average per pup. Ive looked into buying in bulk but the cost to ship them is :O . Plus they wont be on pups all year. In fact my biggest girl will eat two pups at a time and probably needs to be moved up a size. Empty she is a lil over 150g. I was thinking with live I could let the baby rodents grow to the size I need and that way I can keep up with my snakes but I dunno.

Two thing made me decide to breen my own rats. First was the lack of quality food on regulare basis from my Local store. More often than not I have to feed around what they still had in stock that day or wait a few days to feed. Second was cost all my snakes are eating f/t rats and they grow quickly to small rats and with the latest price increases thay can be as much as $3.50 or more. To get a rack set up cost me about $60 in parts and a saturday building it. The rats were about $20 for the 5 breeders. Bedding is about $12 a month and food is $20 for about 2 months (feeding Mazuri rodent). I have a 1.4 colony and get 13-15 pups every 1-2 weeks. In the 4 months I have been breeding I have become self sufficient and actually sell a few to fellow herpers at a slightly lower rate than the pet stores. I have been putting this cash in a cofee can and have yet to actually have to pay for bedding in a month or two (I use the cofee can money). So I know my snakes are getting a quality well fed rodent. I know exactly when that rodent was first frozen and the weight of the rodent within a 20G spread. An added bonus is rats make great pets they all have unique personality's and on average I spend 30min a day cleaning and feeding but I play with them during that time as well. I hope this helps with your decision. I would also recomend a CO2 gass chamber for prekilling I tried dry ice and hated it.

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Originally Posted by KornSnake

I live in a small town and Im paying $2 on average per pup. Ive looked into buying in bulk but the cost to ship them is :O . Plus they wont be on pups all year. In fact my biggest girl will eat two pups at a time and probably needs to be moved up a size. Empty she is a lil over 150g. I was thinking with live I could let the baby rodents grow to the size I need and that way I can keep up with my snakes but I dunno.

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Buying frozen online is only cost effective if you buy a lot at a time. I buy 6 months worth and save $250-$350 vs buying local. (You don't just have to get one size rodent)

Breeding will cost somewhere in between buying local and buying frozen. Buying frozen is a big upfront cost, but it really is worth the savings over time.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Breeding will cost somewhere in between buying local and buying frozen.

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If that's the case how are frozen rodent suppliers making money? :D

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Originally Posted by John1982

If that's the case how are frozen rodent suppliers making money? :D

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Because breeding in bulk is different than small scale breeding.

a few years ago I had 20 or so snakes and maybe another 20 or so babies. I still didn't breed rodents. I'd go to reptile shows and buy frozen. You can usually pre-order what you need for a few months and then just pay the cost of the rodents. Some places will give a price break after a certain number.

They make their money because they breed by the hundred if not, thousand. And they have already made back the costs of the housing system. Subtract the most cost efficient food, water, personal, and you have profit. Even though you are getting them at a great price, each little mouse or rat probably costs the breeder just pennies to nickels to produce. And at the same time you are paying quarters to dollars = HUGE PROFIT. I read the math equations for breeding your own and my brain broke about half way through. I'll likely be ordering in bulk soon.

I also debated this about a year ago.

The best option for me was to buy a chest freezer and order a supply of approximately 6 months worth of frozen mice/rats online. I have to order in bulk to justify the shipping cost, but ordering 6 months worth is the same as ordering 20! You have to factor in the initial cost (and space requirements) of buying the freezer and the energy to run it every day.

You can definitely save money breeding your own feeders, but the time investment cleaning and maintaining them is significant. If you can put a dollar value on an hour of your time, it can definitely add up pretty quickly and make the alternative much more cost effective!

Luckily, I don't have any animals that will only eat Live! If you do, then it might make even more sense to have them on hand when needed.

-Paul

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Originally Posted by cecilbturtle

a few years ago I had 20 or so snakes and maybe another 20 or so babies. I still didn't breed rodents. I'd go to reptile shows and buy frozen. You can usually pre-order what you need for a few months and then just pay the cost of the rodents. Some places will give a price break after a certain number.

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Just so happens that there is a reptile show this weekend about an hour from me ;)

Im still working on switching them over. Some eat F/T sometimes and sometimes they dont. Lil stinkers :taz:

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Originally Posted by KornSnake

Just so happens that there is a reptile show this weekend about an hour from me ;)

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There you go! Check the vendor list for rodent suppliers.

I almost bought rats at the last trade show to come to town. After seeing the condition/quality of the rodents being offered, I quickly changed my mind. The quality of the rodents I get from my online supplier is hard to beat. Its definitely worth paying a little more for in my opinion.

Just breed your own.

My set up cost fifty bucks to make and costs one hundred and twenty bucks annually to run. I have to buy the occassional rat or two locally if I don't time my spring time right.

I own twelve snakes and produce 30-60 rats a month.

I also had this big cost breakdown posted but my browser crashed ill post it here in a minute.

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20 for half inch screen
18 for three tubs
8 for two by twos
5 for water bottles

I buy three fifty pound bags of mazuri 6f for thirty a piece locally and three to four huge 12 dollar bags of kiln dried pine a year. That's it. Maybe thirty minutes of maintenance a week, fill water bottles and spot clean. I completely change bedding once every couple weeks. Pretty easy.

I was breeding my own. 12 females. I also have a full time career, married and two kids. I honestly am getting tired of the keep up, and someone local produces up to 300 a month, so I know she has supplies.

Sure suppliers get a significant price cut for buying in bulk but even if you're breeding on a smaller scale your costs aren't more than buying frozen from any of the sources I've seen..

Not sure what other people are paying for their rat food and bedding but around here it's $24 for a 50 pound bag of Mazuri and $5 for 4 cubic feet of bedding.

when i initially decided to breed rodents i had to invest 800 dollars in a shed, 200 for ac and fans, 100 for racking (have since added) and plus food and bedding each month. if you have 20 snakes or less dont do it. but when you have 60 and close to 150 +/- hatchlings a year, buying wont cut it.