Feeder Farms

Does anyone have any experience in raising their own mice/rats/asf as feeders for their snakes? I'm interested in getting set up since the price for feeders seems to be on a constant rise in my area.

I rase my Rats, Mice and ASF's for feeding..It drastically cut costs

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Originally Posted by Derrick

I rase my Rats, Mice and ASF's for feeding..It drastically cut costs

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Even with the costs of maintaining the feeders themselves? Since you raise all three, what would you recommend using? I'm currently purchasing hopper mice for my hatchlings.

It all depends on your need.

I raised mice, rats, and ASF's for 5-6 years, and never found it quite worth it....especially after my original rodent food supplier went under. They sold blocks for a great price and delivery was free. Once that ended, it wasn't the same for me. Lots of work, that in that time, I could have been accomplishing several other things. I was breeding enough feeders that I would be able to sell some and recoup about 40-50% of my maintenance/feeding expenses, but in the long run, still not worth it to me.

I raise rats and asfs. I do mice on and off.
It's always been cheaper for me personally than buying feeders. I sell the extras as pets and the rats essentially pay for themselves.

Check out the Feeder section of this forum.

I'm raising rats for my snakes. I've estimated I have cut my costs in half, compared to having to buy the rats instead.

I do mice and rats. Mainly to save feeding cost but depending how big your collection is it can be some work too. How much space do you have to work with?

I breed rats for my collection and It saves me 40-50 percent from buying at local pet shops they are pretty pricey $3.49 for pups, $3.99 for Smalls and $4.99 for Med. For the last couple months I've been purchasing rats with another local BP breeder directly from a large rat breeder at a much better price- $2.25 for pups $2.50 for Smalls and $3.25 For Med. I choose to breed my own rats so I can produce better quality rats to feed my snakes, the rats from the breeder are packed up in overcrowded tubs during transport and when we receive them some are dehydrated and have poop on them. My breeder rats are treated like pets and I fed a high quality food along with a seed,dry pasta,whole grain cereal,fruit mix I make myself. I do not save any money breeding them verses buying from the breeder but I know my snakes are being fed high quality/healthy rats. I currently have 2 males and 12 females which gives me roughly a litter a week. They spend 4 wks with the male, 3-4 wks in a birthing tub with there litter and 4 wks in a large 2 story wire cage to rest and put some weight back on. And all that is done in a closet in my studio lol, I clean the rat tubs / cage every 4 days. Only smell I get from the closet is the kiln dried pine bedding. I've had people over and unless I open the closet door to show them the rats they have no idea there even there

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

I do mice and rats. Mainly to save feeding cost but depending how big your collection is it can be some work too. How much space do you have to work with?

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Currently looking to move, I hope to have an entire room to devote to my snakes. I only have two currently, though I plan on breeding them once capable.

I started breeding when I paid $50 on one week of feeders. I had more snakes and only paid $30 per month for supplies. It does take a lot of time, so you need to like the rats/mice/asf.

I raise my own rats out of necessity. Nobody sells on a regular basis near me, and even the pet market i go to sometimes have a lot, and sometimes none. Cost savings by itself does not justify raising my own rats, but the convenience and confidence i get from having a constant supply of feeders seals the deal for me. When i have excess, I also help fellow snakers in need by sharing high quality feeders for the same price as those of mass produced rodents.

I breed my own rats ... cheaper then buying them to me after setting up ur looking at maybe 30/40 bucks a month if that ... thats about half of one feeding for me .. so it works for me ...time is not that bad it takes about 5-10 to cleans a tub . But thats cause i dont have back ups ... it takes about a hour to make a tub ... the smell is not that bad I keep to females to a tub and k feel that helps keep the smell down

I've started breeding my own ASFs. Right now I have 1 colony and in the coming weeks will have 3 more started. My cost/mo in buying feeders for 8 snakes was $150. After doing the math on feeding 11 snakes(which I will have by the end of Sunday), my cost to feed/care for the rodents will be $50/mo. Fresh food and water 2x a week and cleaning cages every 2-3 weeks is about 2-3 hours worth of work for me in that timespan.

It'll aslo be nice to know I won't have to go to a certain pet store(local chain) anymore for feeders as I no longer care to do business with them. At this point it is a partial necessity as they carry all the feeders I need.

30-40 a month?? You guys must not need that many feeders LoL
I use about $100 in Mazuri, $84 in pine and about $150 elitricity/water a month for my breeders. That is cheaper than the $500ish a month to feed my collection is i were to buy plus i get to sell/trade the extras to offset the cost even more.

^^ wow!


I need about 26-40 feeders a month when everyone is eating. I actually didn't consider electric into the equation, but my colonies are in my Living room so that's negligible for me. However, the snakes and turtles probably use about $50-$100/mo.

My shed is heated and a/c

I have been breeding my own feeders since 2007, I produce several thousands each year, I do save money but most importantly I am in control of the quality.

I raise my own rats for 2 reasons. 1 it does save me a lot of money. Rats in my area tend to be expensive upwards of $6 for med-large and I have some snakes that just will not take F/T. 2. I know the quality of food I am feeding my snakes. I think if all of your snakes will eat F/T then it may be more economical to order bulk in the long run.


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