Cost effectiveness of raising feeders

[PitOnTheProwl]

Buy bulk rats for $1 each....

You are not going to find ASFs that cheap.

[cchardwick]

I'm breeding rats, ASFs, and mice and I can tell you that it is way more work to breed your own rodents than to keep snakes, at least with my setup. I'm looking at eventually purchasing an ARS rodent rack to simplify things, still can't decide which rodent I like the best. And ARS makes a mouse rack and a rat rack, I'd probably do the rat rack and put extra bedding in the bottom of the tubs for the mice.

As far as how much it costs to raise your own rodents it all comes down to three things: Food, bedding, and time. If you have a lot of free time then that may not be an issue. I actually really enjoy breeding my rodents so it's kind of an alternative hobby for me, I don't have much time but since I enjoy it there's no problem. For bedding you may be able to get some free bedding. You could find a sawmill that has rough sawdust or wood chips, or perhaps you live in a forested area and can purchase or use a wood chipper and chop up branches for free a few times a year. For food you may be able to get free food from local pet stores, supermarkets, or feed stores, perhaps you can get their newly expired feeds. If you look at everyone's math it all can vary a lot from person to person depending on what he uses for supplies. The longer you breed I'm sure the more you will look into cheap or free bedding and feed.

Bottom line is that it could be possible to get really cheap or free bedding and feed and the cost of raising them comes down to just the time you spend taking care of them.

[Pippin]

Yesterday I paid $6 for a rat for a new BP I just received
So I have a question for all of you more experienced with reptiles and raising feeders.
I have 3 BPs right now, and will keep the hatchlings they breed next year. I am considering breeding feeders, and want to know the cost of this before I start. There are many helpful threads in ASF, RATS, MICE, and OTHER FEEDERS, but I didn't find a specific answer to this question:
How much does it cost per rat (normal or ASF) per month? And how many babies can I expect of feeding size per cost of feeding the rats? I believe I read they eat .83 lb of food a month each, and at $28 for 50lb bag, I think 4 females and 1 male would cost
5 rats * .83 lbs= 4.15 lbs
4.15 lbs* $0.56/lb =$2.32/ month to keep 5 rats.
If gestation is 21 days, and about litter of 7 (or 10 for ASF), assuming 2 rats become preg, it should be 14-20 babies every month, and I don't know how fast they grow up!!
So here is where I need some help from the pro's. I want to euthanize and freeze them between weanlings and medium size, so does this take a month? two?
if one month: 20 rats ~$9.28 + $2.32(breeders) = $0.60 to raise each rat ready as a feeder! compared to $4 at local pet store.
If two months: 20 rats ~ $23.2 (including breeders) =$1.16 to raise each rat to feeding size.

please- this is all speculative math: I wanted to see how much it really cost per rat, and how long it takes for baby rats to grow to weanling size, and how long to medium size? Do they eat more in this time? Does it take longer for ASF to grow to the same size? I would rather keep them because of the smell-- how long does it take an ASF to grow up?

I'm not at all worried about being overrun- because I am feeding the others F/T and it sounds really appeasing to have an unending storehouse of cheap frozen food for them. Plus I could separate the colony if it becomes too much still. I have all the materials, so start-up costs are not a factor, and I read somewhere that you can use shredded newspaper as a substrate, if you are willing to change it out more often.

Thank you all so much for your help.

I realize that I am posting this reply 8 years after it was posted.. (but still replying for anyone who also comes across this)

The first thing that I noticed and would suggest is instead of looking at a pet store, go to a Tractor Supply store or a Farm and Feed store; 8 years after you posted, all the prices I have found for a 50lbs bag is $14 to $21 at the most expensive.

The normal food intake that works as maintenance for keeping them healthy is different that a pregnant or nursing female.
- The male can be kept on the same amount of food all the time
- a female for the first week of pregnancy will pretty much be no different in her eating habits
- a female that is in her second-third week of pregnancy, nursing, or recovering from just weaning pups will be eating A LOT compared to her normal non-breeding eating habits

The next thing I noticed was the food intake you had calculated for raising pups.
Pups are weaned at about 3 weeks, you can either wean them at that time or you can let the mother naturally wean them on her own. (If you are planning on breeding her again for more feeders, I suggest weaning them at 3 weeks so you can re-breed her.)
Pups for their first 2-2.5 weeks ONLY drink milk from their mother, so for the first 2.5 weeks of their life it is still just Mom eating food to be able to produce milk.
At about 2.5 weeks the pups are starting to watch Mom and eat solid foods.
By three weeks they can be separated and weaned and eat solid foods as their diet.

" I want to euthanize and freeze them between weanlings and medium size, so does this take a month? two?"
- they can be weaned at three weeks! (so you could essentially only have a food bill for your weanlings for the 3-5 days that they start to try solid foods)
- I don't know what you consider to be Medium Sized

"I read somewhere that you can use shredded newspaper as a substrate, if you are willing to change it out more often"
- My favorite bedding is shavings (tractor supply $5-6 for a 4.5 cubic foot bag)
- I like to use news papers on top of that for them to play in and make their nests/beds because it is free (just sign up for a few free or extremely cheap news papers, or collect recycled ones) But I prefer to use paper towels/kleenex/toilet paper for nest material
- The only thing that I don't like about news paper is that I have had problems with using it as nest material for First time moms or when they have a LARGE litter, just because the news paper is so easy to stick, it sometimes sticks to the newborn pups and dries to them, requiring me to intervene with newborn pups....

Good luck! I hope it worked out for you

[bks2100]

I'm breeding rats, ASFs, and mice and I can tell you that it is way more work to breed your own rodents than to keep snakes, at least with my setup. I'm looking at eventually purchasing an ARS rodent rack to simplify things, still can't decide which rodent I like the best. And ARS makes a mouse rack and a rat rack, I'd probably do the rat rack and put extra bedding in the bottom of the tubs for the mice.

As far as how much it costs to raise your own rodents it all comes down to three things: Food, bedding, and time. If you have a lot of free time then that may not be an issue. I actually really enjoy breeding my rodents so it's kind of an alternative hobby for me, I don't have much time but since I enjoy it there's no problem. For bedding you may be able to get some free bedding. You could find a sawmill that has rough sawdust or wood chips, or perhaps you live in a forested area and can purchase or use a wood chipper and chop up branches for free a few times a year. For food you may be able to get free food from local pet stores, supermarkets, or feed stores, perhaps you can get their newly expired feeds. If you look at everyone's math it all can vary a lot from person to person depending on what he uses for supplies. The longer you breed I'm sure the more you will look into cheap or free bedding and feed.

Bottom line is that it could be possible to get really cheap or free bedding and feed and the cost of raising them comes down to just the time you spend taking care of them.

For me to breed 4 females it only takes like 30-60 minutes for a full clean each week and then 10 minutes every 2 days to refill food and water. I'd like to make new lids for the 10 gallon tanks they're in so I could set up automatic water and have food hopper I can refill without opening the cage, but it's still easy for this amount.