Hey folks,
I'm pretty new to the world of snakes, having only a small collection that started over the summer this year. I am also totally new to the idea of raising my own feeders and need some guidance before I decide to move ahead with this potential project.

At this point, I have 3 snakes,(2 small Kenyan sand boa females and 1 male hognose). I have plans for at least 2 more KSB females, a kingsnake, and 2-3 ball pythons in the future, but those additions will probably not happen until late next year after we move into a house and I invest in a rack or two.

I currently feed f/t, which is working, but I have a problem feeder and find my options limited as only 2 chain stores in my area carry live and neither carry smaller than adult mice.

Given my situation, I am considering starting a very small breeding colony of 1.3 after the new year. and have a few questions for those of you with mouse breeding knowledge to help me make up my mind.

1. Would a 10gl tank for females, a separate tank for the male, and 2 grow out tanks (one for female and one for male offspring) be enough "real estate" for a small colony?

2. The odor of male mice is horrific from what I've read... Would keeping them on pine pelleted bedding (i.e. feline pine) with a layer of aspen on top and cleanings once a week be adequate to deal with this? This is a major concern as my husband is very sensitive to odors.

3. How much money a month would i be looking at to keep a colony like this going, roughly speaking? I'm not necessarily in this to save $$ right now, but I don't want to be "in the hole" for it either.

4. Seeing as I currently have 3 snakes who usually take f/t, could I breed a litter every 1-2 months, grow them to the correct size, and cull / freeze the rest to feed at a later date?

5. I'd like to breed for temperament and health in my feeders, but I only have pet store stock to work with...would it be good to hold the potential breeding females / male for a while (say, until they are about 6 months or so) to make sure they are free from early tumors, not psycho, etc? Would this be helpful or not in your opinion?

6. I'm considering culling the mice using CD (except for small pinkies), I know that building a CO2 chamber may come in handy, but given the small numbers I'd be dealing with, is CD a feasible method?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and your help! If only my current snakes ate rats, I'd be a lot less cautious about starting a breeding project, but I hear so many mixed reviews on breeding mice that I"m not sure what to think.

Artgecko