When is it sensible to breeder feeders instead of buying?

[Sita]

I can tell you now that 3 snakes is not worth it, even with the future babies. The only way it will be worth it is if you overproduce and sell the extras.

I really like this website for info on breeding and such: http://www.metalmonkeyexotics.com/blog/?page_id=163
You might want to look into raising African Soft-Furred rats if all you're going to have is BPs, but be aware that if sometimes the babies can be harder to sell if they refuse to eat regular rats.

I've been raising rats and mice since November, but have not completely paid off the initial costs plus the ongoing ones, even though I produce way more than I need and sell the extras. I have about 9 breeder girls that generally get a week break after a litter before going back to breed, which is healthier for them than back to back litters. I probably sell 90% of what I produce, so you can see, with the 6 snakes that I have (7th is a new rescue), if I didn't over-produce, it would actually cost me more money to breed my own, even if it was scaled down in size.

[KMG]

I bought a chest freezer from HomeDepot(free delivery). Then ordered frozen feeders in about a six month supply. Im glad I did.

[Darkbird]

Just my take on this, unless you plan on getting a lot more snakes you will be better off buying a small chest freezer and doing occasional large frozen orders. I have both a freezer and a large rat colony. But I also have 23snakes right now. For just 3 or 4 it won't be worth the hassle.

[zeion97]

Agreeing its not worth it... I have 25 breeders at 1.4 and it's very time consuming. With ten snakes and my freezer broken it helps but soon I'll be switching back to frozen. Working full time as a restaurant manger taking care of a 2 month baby and the snakes takes a lot of time. I would shy away from it for the time being unless yours only eat live... Then maybe do a 1.2 or even 1.1 for small amounts of feeders to switch them over to frozen

[the_knot]

I only have 3 snakes, But I also only have to female rats with one male. Works great for me, I spend probably $6 in food every two weeks and I buy large bags of aspen. Only been doing it for two months now but it has not ran out yet. I might add rats are ten bucks a piece for me in Newfoundland.

[threezero]

wow $10 a piece and i though ours were expensive. So you have a 1.2 colony for your three snake? what kind of system are you running to make sure there is always food every week? I assume your snake take small rats too?

[the_knot]

wow $10 a piece and i though ours were expensive. So you have a 1.2 colony for your three snake? what kind of system are you running to make sure there is always food every week? I assume your snake take small rats too?

Yup veryyyy expensive and mice are 5 dollars and are half the size of a weaned rat. Right now I have two corns and one ball. Corns are gonna eat the weaned rats, Once every two weeks. I did a lot of research and corns get fat if fed weanlings every week. My ball is adult female and eats small or medium rats. I did just start breeding because it is jst too much money realistically to be paying ten bucks a pop. I have had my rats for 2 months, they both had babies last week on had 12 one had 13. for me that is 250.00 worth of food So that is three months of food for me and that is with just two females. As soon as the babies are weaned I will put them back with the male an do this until I have a few month supply. Also I would like to add I feed f/t so I will be euthanizing them and freezing.

[the_knot]

So it will take two months before you have small rats. But if you constantly have the two pregnant I dont see you running out. When your rats are over bred and you have a good supply, feed them off and when you start to get low get another couple. Or keep a couple Babies as they will need a couple months to get to breeding size.

[sorraia]

I am starting a rat colony for 8 snakes because my frozen feeder supply has become unreliable, and it would not be cost effective enough to order bulk frozen feeders online. (Not to mention I do not have room for a second freezer, first freezer is full of raw frozen food for the dogs and cats).

If you are going to breed for your snakes (or for any reason really), you should be willing and able to provide top quality care. You are what you eat, and that applies to our animals as well. You want to feed your rats good quality food so your snakes are eating quality food. You also want to keep your breeders in good condition so they will produce. An animal fed an improper diet may be able to reproduce, but it will be harder on their body and the litter may not be as big, strong, or grow as quickly as an animal that was provided a better diet. Finally, quality rat blocks really is the cheapest diet. I buy rat blocks for $0.70 per pound. A complete, healthy homemade diet for the rats is possible but it is NOT going to be cheaper than $0.70 a pound! It will also contain a lot more water than rat block (in terms of produce content, which would be necessary to provide proper vitamins and some minerals), which will mean the rats end up eating even more of it. Rat blocks really are the way to go, in terms of time, ease, and money.

You can experiment with different types of bedding, but wood shavings are one of the cheapest beddings out there. I recently stocked up on a paper bedding because a local home improvement store was selling them for $4.99 per bale, cheaper than anything else I've found. This is an acceptable alternative.

[the_knot]

I use a variety diet of rat block, romain lettuce, fruit and boiled egg for a treat for the moms. It is great after birth for protein buildup. Also I tried stuff like care fresh, recycled paper. But I found it to be horrible for smell. I just use aspen.