Help please

[angllady2]

My goodness. Are you in the US? I am thinking not. You can keep a small mouse colony in not much room, but be prepared to do the maintenance. Depending on the size of your snakes, they could easily take two or three or more in a single feeding. If you feed weekly, you could be looking at between 6 and 12 mice per week. Now, in order to have that number of mice of proper size readily available, newborn mice will need a minimum of 3 to 4 weeks to reach proper size for feeding. So, in order to provide let's say 9 mice that are 3-4 weeks old every week, you will need a minimum of 5 groups producing steadily. I run a ratio of 1-4, one male to four females. Once established, a colony this size should keep you pretty well supplied. The trick is finding enough mice to start up the colony, and then waiting for the groups to start producing.

Once a group is going well, records must be kept as to age of the females and number of litters, so you know when to start holding back new babies to replace retired stock. I recommend buying from at least two different sources, three is better. This gives you enough genetic diversity to keep your colony going well for at least a year without needing new blood. It is critical to avoid excessive line breeding as this leads to health problems and deformities.

You must also be prepared for one important fact. Mice stink. Period. You can cut the smell by cleaning often, some mice are good about only soiling one corner of the tub, and that can be scooped daily or every other day, but the entire tub will need changed weekly at least or the smell will be unbearable. You must also have a source of rodent food, mice not only eat a lot for their size, they waste as much as they eat. A wire food hopper can help this, but it's a fact of life when breeding mice.

Hopefully this give you some things to think over.

Gale