Thinking about starting a small colony

[Lthv]

I am thinking about starting a small colony of 1.3 or 1.4 to provide food for my snakes because one of my new additions won't take f/t. I am concerned about the smell as this colony would be raised in my home. With a small number of rats, and changing the bedding once a week what kind of odor should I expect?

I would also appreciate if anyone can provide information regarding bulk food, or bedding and the best places to buy these, pet stores in my area are somewhat expensive and have small bags of food(they carry 2.5 and 5 lb bags and I would prefer 25-30 lb.)

Thanks so much for any help, the idea of breeding feeders is new to me.

[anatess]

Rats are generally less stinky than mice. Once or twice a week of bedding change is ideal to keep the smell down - dusting the enclosure with baking soda helps too.

If you can find some and it's legal in your state, African Soft Furred Rats are good - they take a while to grow and can not outgrow your ball python so that if you got the right amount of breeder females, you shouldn't have a problem with over-production.

You can purchase cheap food and bedding at a feed store in your area. Feed stores usually cater to agricultural farmers/ranchers/etc. Yeah, you might think, I live in the city... I live in the city too and was very surprised to find a feed store 2 miles from my house. So, maybe you got one there too.

I have a small colony of ASFs. I purchase Mazuri 6F at $23 for a giant bag that lasts me about 4 months. The feed store special orders it for me for no extra charge. Then I get kiln-dried pine for $7.50 for a giant bag that lasts me for 2 months.

[Lthv]

Thanks for the advice, I found a local feed shop that has 50lb bags of food for ~$20. I think the shops around here have only regular lab rats and gerbils and other things. I would like to raise the ASFs so they grow slower though. I may see if this is something they can order in for me =]

[suzuki4life]

Thanks for the advice, I found a local feed shop that has 50lb bags of food for ~$20. I think the shops around here have only regular lab rats and gerbils and other things. I would like to raise the ASFs so they grow slower though. I may see if this is something they can order in for me =]

gerbils...same smell as a ASF, grow faster, have same appeal to a bp as an ASF but ONLY FEED THEM PRE KILLED!!!...

Gerbils are vicious creatures towards predators.

Look on craigslist, gerbils are normally easy to find there for free.

[BAMReptiles]

yea and gerbils dont reproduce anywhere near as fast either, average litter is about 4 too. i would under no circumstances try to breed gerbils as the sole food source, unless you plan on having 4-5 female gerbils per ball python you own, and just cant get ANYTHING else.

[Lthv]

Yeah I have no intention of raising gerbils for feeders, I'm leaning towards rats if anything at all

[Egapal]

yea and gerbils dont reproduce anywhere near as fast either, average litter is about 4 too. i would under no circumstances try to breed gerbils as the sole food source, unless you plan on having 4-5 female gerbils per ball python you own, and just cant get ANYTHING else.

I have to disagree with people. I breed gerbils as feeders and I would say the average litter is more like 5 to 8. I currently have a female that has given me one litter of 8 and one litter of 11 (her current litter, all doing well so far). But lets go ahead and assume an average litter of 4. I feed my BP once a week. So average litter of 4, 4 weeks in a month, sounds perfect to me. That being said you do have to raise your gerbils up a bit more than you would a rat. I have also fed live and never had a bite. I think that gerbils get a bit of a bad reputation in that department. Like any rodent they do not want to be eaten. Whether or not your snake gets bitten has a lot more to do with knowing your snake and your feeders and being attentive and of course luck than it does with your choice of feeder species, in my humble opinion.

[anatess]

ASF's are very slow growers already. It takes 3 months to grow out a rat to feed an adult bp.

[BAMReptiles]

I have to disagree with people. I breed gerbils as feeders and I would say the average litter is more like 5 to 8. I currently have a female that has given me one litter of 8 and one litter of 11 (her current litter, all doing well so far). But lets go ahead and assume an average litter of 4. I feed my BP once a week. So average litter of 4, 4 weeks in a month, sounds perfect to me. That being said you do have to raise your gerbils up a bit more than you would a rat. I have also fed live and never had a bite. I think that gerbils get a bit of a bad reputation in that department. Like any rodent they do not want to be eaten. Whether or not your snake gets bitten has a lot more to do with knowing your snake and your feeders and being attentive and of course luck than it does with your choice of feeder species, in my humble opinion.

you're lucky then. mine have been terribly slow reproducers and the biggest litter iv had was 5, they do from what i can tell smell less though, and they drink/eat less which is good, but when you have 50 something snakes they arent really an option. who knows, maybe i just suck with gerbils and do awesome with rats lol

[suzuki4life]

I have to disagree with people. I breed gerbils as feeders and I would say the average litter is more like 5 to 8. I currently have a female that has given me one litter of 8 and one litter of 11 (her current litter, all doing well so far). But lets go ahead and assume an average litter of 4. I feed my BP once a week. So average litter of 4, 4 weeks in a month, sounds perfect to me. That being said you do have to raise your gerbils up a bit more than you would a rat. I have also fed live and never had a bite. I think that gerbils get a bit of a bad reputation in that department. Like any rodent they do not want to be eaten. Whether or not your snake gets bitten has a lot more to do with knowing your snake and your feeders and being attentive and of course luck than it does with your choice of feeder species, in my humble opinion.

I have the same experiences with gerbils. If you keep them on a proper diet, they breed well and consistently.