Thoughts???? Is breeding mice worth it in my situation???

[pretends2bnormal]

I raised mice for a short while. It is a lot cheaper than buy live mice. The feed was pretty cheap I thought. I used my paper shredder to make substrate from paper. You can buy the mice from Petco divided into female and male. I would get a few females and maybe one male and take him out after he gets some of the females impregnated. It will be a lot cheaper and more convenient for you. What turned me off was the smell. I noticed that petco has vacuum tubes that pull the smell out of the store. If you can handle the smell, you and your snakes will be happy, happy.
I used a 20 gal. glass and had no problem. They didn't bite the silicone in mine as long as you give them chew sticks, which are also pretty cheap. And you will need the little plastic homes they snuggle in. And maybe an activity wheel they can run or play on.

I would be extremely hesitant to include a wheel in a feeder mouse enclosure. Generally, they have plenty to do for stimulation with their offspring and chewables that it isn't needed. Additionally, I've seen some pretty gnarly posts resulting from the use of them in the feeder groups I'm in.

Some mice are obsessive and will run nonstop to the point of neglecting to feed babies. Others try and nest beneath wheels and can catch and throw babies across the cage when they run (more death).

Using one may work for some, but it seems too risky to me. Not to mention nowhere near enough room in the lab style caging for typical wheels.

Your smell issue was likely exacerbated by using an aquarium. Both rats and mice have high levels of ammonia in their urine and it tends to remain heavier than air and stay put at the bottom of the tank compared to shorter tubs. The lower height let's air across the top lift it enough for some to escape and dissipate intk a larger air volume whereas it all tends to stay inside of an aquarium. Also, while rats are more susceptible to RI from the lack of sifficient ventilation taller aquariums have (mostly anything over 6-8"), mice can be effected as well. If the smell is horrible to a human, it is far worse for them and the bigger consequence is from breathing the ammonia that causes the smell. Most feeder breeders strongly advise against glass for mice and rats because of that.

Also, if there are any feeder or pet line breeders anywhere near you, it is well worth even a 2 hour one-time drive to get pet quality animals. Just because some mice are pet store animals does not make then good pets. Mice from pet stores tend to be bitey, chew plastic (typically not possible with lab cages as those are designed without any edges to grip, mostly an issue for DIY tubs), and many are predisposed to killing their litters or cage mates inexplicably when establishing the colony.

I've been lucky my mice are only super skittish and not biters or chewers or baby munchers. Mice can be very tricky to get breeding from general pet store lines, though some areas seem to be much worse than others.

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