Two thing made me decide to breen my own rats. First was the lack of quality food on regulare basis from my Local store. More often than not I have to feed around what they still had in stock that day or wait a few days to feed. Second was cost all my snakes are eating f/t rats and they grow quickly to small rats and with the latest price increases thay can be as much as $3.50 or more. To get a rack set up cost me about $60 in parts and a saturday building it. The rats were about $20 for the 5 breeders. Bedding is about $12 a month and food is $20 for about 2 months (feeding Mazuri rodent). I have a 1.4 colony and get 13-15 pups every 1-2 weeks. In the 4 months I have been breeding I have become self sufficient and actually sell a few to fellow herpers at a slightly lower rate than the pet stores. I have been putting this cash in a cofee can and have yet to actually have to pay for bedding in a month or two (I use the cofee can money). So I know my snakes are getting a quality well fed rodent. I know exactly when that rodent was first frozen and the weight of the rodent within a 20G spread. An added bonus is rats make great pets they all have unique personality's and on average I spend 30min a day cleaning and feeding but I play with them during that time as well. I hope this helps with your decision. I would also recomend a CO2 gass chamber for prekilling I tried dry ice and hated it.
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