Feeder Business

[Jay_Bunny]

I'm thinking of starting a small feeder business. Nothing big, just providing for my own collection and selling off the surplus. Since I'm having issues with my rats, I'm thinking of starting with mice and get a good decent colony of those going and then once this issue with the rats have passed, also build up that colony.

Any advice for building up a mouse colony? I have one 1.2 group. I plan on getting a few more today.

Also, what other kinds of feeders can you produce that would be worth it. I was thinking about mealworms since my sugar glider already goes through 40+ mealworms a week. Might as well breed them.

[rocko]

Well if your doing this out of your house i would defiantly breed crickets.You could easily sell them to your local pet shops and localy.Im looking into this to im breeding rats and selling them to people i know,is their any special licenses you would need to sell them to other people,like putting up ads and other things?I live in the state of NY,and i couldnt find any restrictions about it.

[Jay_Bunny]

Well the man that owns the reptile store in town said he'd buy any extra feeders I produce, so I figured I'd go for it. Crickets tend to be noisy and smelly. We used to keep them when I had bearded dragons. I will wait on breeding those.

[jglass38]

What did you find difficult about rats? I have heard (and found) that mice are more difficult to breed (still waiting on our first litter) and they smell more than all the rest of the rats put together.

[Jay_Bunny]

I have no issues actually breeding the rats. I love my rats. Some of them are beloved pets, but I've had a few die offs in some of the litters so we are waiting and watching to see what could be causing this. We have one litter on the way, and if this litter dies off the way the others have, then we know we have something serious in our colony.

We did, however, get a new female rat. A little dumbo girl. She is away from the main colony in QT.

So right now, I plan on breeding rats, mice, and mealworms. Any others that would be worth breeding. I eventually want to keep leopard geckos and I know they can eat roaches. Would roaches be a good investment?

[jglass38]

I have no issues actually breeding the rats. I love my rats. Some of them are beloved pets, but I've had a few die offs in some of the litters so we are waiting and watching to see what could be causing this. We have one litter on the way, and if this litter dies off the way the others have, then we know we have something serious in our colony.

We did, however, get a new female rat. A little dumbo girl. She is away from the main colony in QT.

So right now, I plan on breeding rats, mice, and mealworms. Any others that would be worth breeding. I eventually want to keep leopard geckos and I know they can eat roaches. Would roaches be a good investment?

We are starting a Dubia colony. The new roaches for the colony will be delivered tomorrow or Thurs. I will post pics when I have them set up. We also breed mealworms but they are slow to get going.

[Jay_Bunny]

The first time I tried breeding mealworms, it took forever for me to get baby worms. I ended up with a ton of them, but I think it takes several weeks for eggs to hatch.

I'm not sure if anything I have in the house now would eat roaches, other than possibly my rodent colonies or my sugar glider.

[stangs13]

get some ASFs too! They are starting to become high in demand.

[Jay_Bunny]

Are they expensive to acquire or keep? Where can I get a group?

[stangs13]

Im not sure in your area. But just ask on the forums. They are pretty easy just keep them together and sooner than later you will have lots of them!