Rank the Smell!!!

[Wolves-N-Dogs]

Dumb question here!!!

Thinking of raising my own snake rodents. My wife is not cool with the idea because of the smell.

I have a collection of 7 bp's that will be getting larger soon.

So my ? is. What smells the worst?

Mice - Wife's pick
Rat's
Gerbil's - I want to use gerbil's

She will take a look at all the feedback and help with the choice.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Mice are the worst ... rats aren't too bad if you clean twice a week or more.

Gerbils really don't have much of an odor, but they are not a good idea as far as ball python food goes. Ball pythons are imprint feeders and once offered gerbils may not ever take another type of prey again ... if something happens to your breeding plan and you have to go back to buying food items, gerbils can get pretty expensive. Also, they are pretty aggressive and have a much more powerful bite than mice and rats, which is another thing to consider.

For only 7 snakes, breeding your own rodents really isn't worth all of the extra hassle. When you factor in your time and space, it's cheaper to invest in a freezer and buy frozen in bulk. Been there, done that!

-adam

[Shelby]

Mice are stinky little *bleeps*.

Rats do not stink when kept clean.. I find once weekly cleanings is fine, though it depends on cage size/number of rats together.

I second Adam about the gerbils. I don't think they reproduce quite so profusely either, though I am not sure on this.

[Adam_Wysocki]

I don't think they reproduce quite so profusely either, though I am not sure on this.

Definitely smaller litter sizes, but man, I have a couple of males that just love to f .... rolic!

I produced insance amounts of gerbils over the summer without really even trying.

-adam

[Shelby]

Ok, I stand corrected.

You would probably have to feed multiple gerbils to an adult BP.. a female anyway. I'd think that rats would be less work if you need to feed 7 BPs.

[Smulkin]

Def mice for the uberstank.

The odor from ras is easily manageable as mentioned above - so long as you maintain a good cleaning schedule. Mice even when cleaned frequently and only a couple or three to a cage were much nastier. Counterintuitive I know.

No clue on gerbils, sorry.

[Ginevive]

Mice smell horrendous!! Rats are not bad; I have roughly 30 of them at any given time, living in tanks in my laundry room. I use pine shavings as bedding and clean them every 6 days and it is fine; the more crowded the cages; the more cleaning is needed. But you should do it; I am feeding my 4 snakes nicely and I have not bought a rat in months!!

[Melisssss]

Mice smell awful! I tried them for about a month and killed em off FAST!!!



Rats stink too but in a different way. Mice smell like urine in about 15 minutes. Very strong odor. Rats smell like crap and it might take a few days to get the smell up there where its bothersome if kept in a basement for example.

I keep 2:1 and am now separating them after I am sure they are "in the family way" due to litter stealing between the moms causing a few problems for me.

Be warned that my first rat klitter was 16 and my second was 14, That is 30 rats! They grow fast, very fast so you need to either have the ability to feed them off in time or the guts to freeze something you have raised. Neither bothers me.

I only have 4 BPs and an Everglades Rat Snake and rat breeding been something I enjoy so far. I never pay for adult feeder mice anymore and I always have the right size for someone be it live or frozen. My collection of snakes will grow so I just dove in with both feet on the rats.


As for gerbils...HATE THE MEAN THINGS!!!! My brother had them for pets and they would bite us and him in a heartbeat. Although feeding items you hate make it all so much easier.


Oh, NEVER name a rat pup
NEVER sleep with the rat pups
NEVER let your daughters see the rat pups
and NEVER EVER EVER NEVER let yourself say "He's a cute little nasty rat isn't he?"

because the next words will be "I can't feed him, he's too special" LOL
Then you have pet #86763590623864. Even when I think they are cute, they are the first ones I feed off. Out of sight is out of mind

[Shelby]

Hm.. I never have problems getting attached to the rats. I play with the baby rats and the older ones, though I don't name them. But they all get popped into the gas chamber all the same.

[TekWarren]

if only we could cross the size of the rat with the characteristics of the gerbil...gerbils rarely stink since they are dessert mamals and don't pee alot. To beat a dead horse rats are are better smell wise. I am working my way to be heavier on the rat side right now i'm about half and half with raising mice/rats. Personally having only 7 snakes still makes it very worth it for me to raise my own. There are no places in town here I could buy from and paying over a dollar for a mouse is out of the question...not to mention the cost of rats. I'll put up with the cleaning to prevent the smell. The feed I am using and the other things I mix into their diet has more than paid for itself by allowing me to have my own food chain.