Breeding mice

[Anneliese]

Any tips on breeding mice? Anything special i should know?
I'm breeding them for my snake of course

[Kagez28]

you have one snake?

i do have some advice... DON'T BREED

you will be overwhelmed very quickly...

and they smell...bad

[ADEE]

dito kevin. with only one snake your better off, i see you already have 5 mice so i msure your aware of the smell but i wouldnt breed if i were you. besides your snake will get to the point that mice wont be big enough anyway..my snakes get mice (or rat pups) now and that wont be lasting long

[GirDance]

Breeding feeders for just one snake is most likely too costly...

I've been researching this a lot lately because I do plan to have more than just one BP... I think with all finances factored out and breeding cycles taken into account it's really pointless to breed your own unless you have about 7 snakes.

On top of that, with just one snake the mice would quickly get too big, or you'd consistently have dry spells where you'd have none while waiting for a new litter.

If you compound that on top of the fact that you have to house, feed, and maintain the bedding for them (I found with my rats that their bedding needed to be changed every 2-3 days to maintain a non-stinky environment) the mice end up costing you much more to breed than you'd spend buying either one live mouse a week, or a few FT a month... I used to spend more to keep my 3 rats than I did to feed and house my cat if that's any sort of reference for you... Then again, my rats had everything, chew blocks, salt lick, high end mixed food, and always a clean cage with fresh bedding...

Also, if you're breeding the mice for food, there's such a risk of becoming attached to them over the time you devote to them. Breeding rodents is a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of money... It only becomes really beneficial for you when you're to the point of going through about 50 feeders a month.

Well, besides the benefit and satisfaction you get from raising them that is!

[ADEE]

well said adri on so many levels!!!

my rats whom i bought as breeders have become pets that i love and i worry if ill be able to feed off their babys myself. i spent soo much money on them too hehe

[Sunny1]

I have also heard, as well as found out for myself, that it can be kindof tricky breeding mice. I tried for about 1 1/2 months to breed mice, because I thought that if I bred them myself I would know that they are healthy and would not cause any problems for my BP. At any rate, I had 1 male and 2 females in a 10 gal tank, after 1 1/2 months still no babies. So I gave up, for all the reasons already listed. It just became too much work and too much money for some feeder mice that weren't breeding. I think that maybe my problem is that my kids kept making too much noise around them and kept bothering them too much maybe. I have found that it is much easier for me to just go and get feeders when needed. But there might be some tips in the feeder forum, I think that maybe there is a sticky in there about breeding mice and rats.

[Sunny1]

Okay found the thread. Its a bunch of questions about breeding rats and mice.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=31106

[Anneliese]

LOL i know mice smell =] I have 5 pet mice plus 2 feeder mice. I know mice have ALOT of babies. Which is fine by me. I like mice =] And have many containers to keep them in. I'm supposed to be getting two more snakes. One more ball python [norm] and im unsure of the other snake. My friends cousin has to get rid of his two snakes because he moves around and is unable to keep them anymore. Hopefully they'll becoming soon. [HOPING SOON!!] With there full set ups.

[Kagez28]

well good luck then...

you wanted advice, you got it. take it as you want...

[Flagg]

Put together just 1 male and the females in a cage with water bottle, constant source of food (preferably a good lab block) and some kind of nesting box or igloo or cardboard tube.

Leave them alone mostly and it might take up to 2 months but you should get litters eventually. After that around 1 litter per month per female.

...and then get more snakes or a CO2 setup to euthanize and freeze the surplus.