Feeder Business

I'm thinking of starting a small feeder business. Nothing big, just providing for my own collection and selling off the surplus. Since I'm having issues with my rats, I'm thinking of starting with mice and get a good decent colony of those going and then once this issue with the rats have passed, also build up that colony.

Any advice for building up a mouse colony? I have one 1.2 group. I plan on getting a few more today.

Also, what other kinds of feeders can you produce that would be worth it. I was thinking about mealworms since my sugar glider already goes through 40+ mealworms a week. Might as well breed them.

Well if your doing this out of your house i would defiantly breed crickets.You could easily sell them to your local pet shops and localy.Im looking into this to im breeding rats and selling them to people i know,is their any special licenses you would need to sell them to other people,like putting up ads and other things?I live in the state of NY,and i couldnt find any restrictions about it.

Well the man that owns the reptile store in town said he'd buy any extra feeders I produce, so I figured I'd go for it. Crickets tend to be noisy and smelly. We used to keep them when I had bearded dragons. I will wait on breeding those.

What did you find difficult about rats? I have heard (and found) that mice are more difficult to breed (still waiting on our first litter) and they smell more than all the rest of the rats put together.

I have no issues actually breeding the rats. I love my rats. Some of them are beloved pets, but I've had a few die offs in some of the litters so we are waiting and watching to see what could be causing this. We have one litter on the way, and if this litter dies off the way the others have, then we know we have something serious in our colony.

We did, however, get a new female rat. A little dumbo girl. She is away from the main colony in QT.

So right now, I plan on breeding rats, mice, and mealworms. Any others that would be worth breeding. I eventually want to keep leopard geckos and I know they can eat roaches. Would roaches be a good investment?

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

I have no issues actually breeding the rats. I love my rats. Some of them are beloved pets, but I've had a few die offs in some of the litters so we are waiting and watching to see what could be causing this. We have one litter on the way, and if this litter dies off the way the others have, then we know we have something serious in our colony.

We did, however, get a new female rat. A little dumbo girl. She is away from the main colony in QT.

So right now, I plan on breeding rats, mice, and mealworms. Any others that would be worth breeding. I eventually want to keep leopard geckos and I know they can eat roaches. Would roaches be a good investment?

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We are starting a Dubia colony. The new roaches for the colony will be delivered tomorrow or Thurs. I will post pics when I have them set up. We also breed mealworms but they are slow to get going.

The first time I tried breeding mealworms, it took forever for me to get baby worms. I ended up with a ton of them, but I think it takes several weeks for eggs to hatch.

I'm not sure if anything I have in the house now would eat roaches, other than possibly my rodent colonies or my sugar glider.

get some ASFs too! They are starting to become high in demand.

Are they expensive to acquire or keep? Where can I get a group?

Im not sure in your area. But just ask on the forums. They are pretty easy just keep them together and sooner than later you will have lots of them!:D

No pet stores in the area sell them as feeders or pets. I would probably have to get them from a breeder.

I read somewhere that ASFs are not legal in VA. That might be why you (and I) have never seen one in a pet store. If you look in to it, please let me know what you find out.

Its strange that you haven't been able to get any rat pups to survive. If I were you, I would hand-pick a group of female feeder rats, raise them up to size, and keep them seperate from your pet rats. I don't think anything is wrong with your colony, its just that maybe your pet rats' daily routine isn't conducive to breeding and rearing offspring. Pets should be pets and breeders should be breeders...

I wouldn't abandon the rat idea completely. Once you get a group of mice going and see how bad the odor is, you'll wish you had gone with rats.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Its strange that you haven't been able to get any rat pups to survive. If I were you, I would hand-pick a group of female feeder rats, raise them up to size, and keep them seperate from your pet rats. I don't think anything is wrong with your colony, its just that maybe your pet rats' daily routine isn't conducive to breeding and rearing offspring. Pets should be pets and breeders should be breeders...

I wouldn't abandon the rat idea completely. Once you get a group of mice going and see how bad the odor is, you'll wish you had gone with rats.

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My breeders are my pets!! I have awesome litters, with fat chubby babies :D

But, I do leave them almost completely on their own during nursing. I only check once a day to make sure the pups are doing okay. I don't want any nervous mothers, and I definitely do not play with them while they are pregnant or nursing.

I play with moms while they are pregnant, nursing, whatever. I get 80-100g 5-week olds ;) They aren't or will never be food, but still. If your rats trust you, you can get away with alot with them.

I breed Chameleons and in order to keep all of the hungry little mouths fed (anywhere from 10-75 babies in a single clutch depending on the species) I had to get my own feeder colonies going to not spend hundreds a week to keep them all fed. I am not knowledgeable in the breeding of Rats and Mice, But I can give you some input on other feeders in the herp world that I do raise.


Roaches- I raise Dubias and they are awesome!.... No Stink, Slow, Can't climb or fly, Incredibly nutritious, and can be gutloaded very easily, and the breed very prolifically. All you need is a tub in a warm place with some egg crates and something to feed them and they will breed like crazy. There is also a nice demand for these with anyone who keeps any kind of insectivore.

Superworms- Take some patience and are kind of a pain in the butt... But can be easily bred at home. I can go into detail if needed.

Silkworms- Extremly Healthy feeder for anyone with lizards...And are in VERY high demand these days. The countries biggest supplier has been dry while they get some legal paperwork for importing squared away. I'm sure we all raised these in our Kindergarten classes.

Crickets- If you provide the right kind of enclosure in the right place... they are not to bothersome. My Herp room is right next to my Bedroom and I have 2000 adult breeding crickets in there, and they don't bother me. I cut a window in a side wall, and in the lid of the bin, and covered it with screen. This provides circulation... The smell of Crix kills crix, so this circulation helps keep their air fresh, and drastically reduced die offs.

Hornworms- They are tougher, as you must provide an area for the moths(the size of friggin bats!) to fly and mate. But they are an aweome feeder if you can get the knack of raising them.