Is it worth it?

[Marissa@MKmorphs]

I currently have 1 hatchling BP and a sub adult western hognose that are eating live mice.

My local pet shop where I get my feeders sells their mice for about $2 depending on size. So that is about 10-15 bucks a month I'm spending.

Would it be cost effective for me to have 1.1 or 1.2 mice to breed so that I could have my own feeders or should I stick to getting my mice from the local pet store? Another thing I don't like about the pet store is that they don't always have what I need and my animals have to wait until they have mice that are the right size.

If I did decide to have my own small breeding colony, what are some essentials I would need as far as set up and tips? I currently have 2 empty 10 gallon tanks that I could use.


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[youbeyouibei]

For that few of animals that you're trying to feed, no, it probably won't be cost effective. The only real advantage would be having the appropriate size feeders any time you would need them. Otherwise you would probably be better off either using the pet store or trying to convert your animals to frozen/thawed and buying in bulk on-line. Mice stink, BAD, in my experience. Their urine has a lot stronger ammonia odor than what do rats or ASF's, so you'd be dealing with the odor on top of buying bedding and food for them. If you buy each of those in bulk (bedding, food), it still wouldn't be cost-effective for the number of breeders you'd keep to feed your collection. Basically you'd be raising too small a number of feeders to make buying the amount of food/bedding you'd need to buy cost effective. If you're set on doing it, by all means have at it, just expect to spend more money raising your own versus what you'd spend buying them locally. You might be able to sell off your excess feeders but I would recommend you make sure there is a demand before you leap in with both feet and get overrun with animals you can't feed off or sell if you decide to breed your own. As far as tips, welllll...start with good stock, keep them clean and their cages/tanks clean, ample water and food and voila, babies! Expect to lose some animals, babies included, for unexplained reasons or from cannibalism. It sucks and it sure isn't pretty but it happens. It's rewarding and can even be fun to raise your own feeders but until you get into the double digits with animals you're trying to feed or otherwise can sell off your excess production, I wouldn't really plan on it being cost effective. Good luck, whatever you decide!

[el8ch]

I wouldn't breed mice for 2 snakes to save on 'cost'. Properly setting up the mice, bedding, food, supplies and maintenance will outweigh the cost to purchase live mice from the pet store. Have you tried switching them over to F/T? If so you could order in bulk to save some money.

Breeding rodents can be a very rewarding though, I currently have a small colony of rats.... We have a love/hate relationship =)

[youbeyouibei]

I wouldn't breed mice for 2 snakes to save on 'cost'. Properly setting up the mice, bedding, food, supplies and maintenance will outweigh the cost to purchase live mice from the pet store. Have you tried switching them over to F/T? If so you could order in bulk to save some money.

Breeding rodents can be a very rewarding though, I currently have a small colony of rats.... We have a love/hate relationship =)

^ THIS! Absolutely! I have more scars on my fingers from mamas with babies than what I've accrued from any of my snakes thus far. I don't mind the upkeep/maintenance/or costs of raising them but when they draw blood, all bets are off, lol!