raising mice for food question

[truthsdeceit]

another note on pinkies. When my snakes we're eating pinkies I just fed live. Pinkies and Fuzzies are hard to p/k without damaging them, plus they pose little to no threat to my snakes.

So yeah, I p/k hoppers and adults to feed or freeze anything smaller than a hopper gets fed live or left to grow up.

You need to be careful with this though cause your snake might get 'addicted' to live and not want to eat p/k or f/t. I was ordering f/t and feeding that long before i started breeding my own so my snakes will take either. Except my BP who is afraid of live.

[punyhuman07]

i know this sounds dumb but what does p/k mean. and what is you do before you freeze them i not sure of all the small words we use on here yet..

[punyhuman07]

i just figured out what it means duhh anyway what is the best method on doing this to hoppers and full grow mice i hear so stories about brown bags and stuf but i don' know if i can do all that...

[truthsdeceit]

i know this sounds dumb but what does p/k mean. and what is you do before you freeze them i not sure of all the small words we use on here yet..

p/k is prekill

f/t is frozen/thawed

cervical dislocation is when you, in short, break the mouses neck killing it instantly (it's instant if done right, botching the process can be traumitizing) I do this by placing a stick (usually my feeding tongs) behind the neck and pulling back on the tail, this disconects the spine from the skull.

So I p/k by cervical dislocation before feeding, if I freeze them first then thaw and feed they're f/t.

Any other Q's? It's okay to ask I was completely lost for a while when I started.

You may also want to check out this: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=69059
It's a list of the common abbreviations used in the herp comunity.

[truthsdeceit]

i just figured out what it means duhh anyway what is the best method on doing this to hoppers and full grow mice i hear so stories about brown bags and stuf but i don' know if i can do all that...

In my opinion the best method is CO2 chamber.

Really read 'breeding feeders my method' thread: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=77619
the section Killing Method explains CO2 in depth.

I'm using cervical dislocation right now cause I"m broke (I need a new CO2 tank and I can't buy one right now) and cerival dislocation is free to do. I also haven't been killing in large batches lately. Large batches is where CO2 is really useful. for just one or two I use cervical dislocation.

[punyhuman07]

tail will not fall off i handle the p/k though that stuff don't bother me just seems like time consuming thats all i just trying to get all my cards in line before i decide on breeding my own mice and rats for my snakes i have three right now and frozen just seems so much more money to me so i thank you for everything ou have told me... my wife is going crazy i'm telling her everything i'm learning here..she loves the snakes but hates the whole feeding thing lol but she's cool with everything else...

do you keep certain male and females after they are born to use in future breeding or do you just buy them and if so how do you choose that very one with so many running around like the female also..

[truthsdeceit]

tail will not fall off i handle the p/k though that stuff don't bother me just seems like time consuming thats all i just trying to get all my cards in line before i decide on breeding my own mice and rats for my snakes i have three right now and frozen just seems so much more money to me so i thank you for everything ou have told me... my wife is going crazy i'm telling her everything i'm learning here..she loves the snakes but hates the whole feeding thing lol but she's cool with everything else...

do you keep certain male and females after they are born to use in future breeding or do you just buy them and if so how do you choose that very one with so many running around like the female also..

No the tail won't fall off. I'm treating that as a questions so I hope it was.

Breeding mice can be very time consuming, I check on them everyday, change water and add food about every other day, change bedding every 3-4 days, and do various other little tasks throughout the week.

Frozen does seem like a lot of money, mostly cause it's one big chunk, I actually prefer spending 10-12dollars a month rather than 90 every 6months. Regardless of which is cheaper it's just easier when I don't have to plan for a 100 dollar bill all at once.

My current breeding group hasn't been going that long but I do plan on keeping females back for future breeders once my current ones get older. I try to pick ones who's mother gave me big litters, was healthy, and had a good personality, because these things can be genetic. But really any healthy mouse can be held back and it depends on what's available when I need new ones.

I'll be keeping back a male next time, but the one after that I'll buy so that new blood is always entering my breeding colony. I won't have to worry about the males as often because they live longer and can breed almost till death.
Females tend to die sooner, breeding takes alot out of them, and they stop being fertile when they get old.

[punyhuman07]

thanks for the tips one last question then i'm going to sleep what size tubs did you say i'm i'm going to walmart tommorrow and may pic up two of the with lids?

[truthsdeceit]

thanks for the tips one last question then i'm going to sleep what size tubs did you say i'm i'm going to walmart tommorrow and may pic up two of the with lids?

I keep mine in 16qt tubs floor dimentions 18"x11" and about 7" high. but that only houses 3-4 adult mice comfortably or 2 adults and a litter. My grow out tubs are 30qt. they've got double the floor space but are the same height. Be sure the tubs are smooth on the inside so there's no place for the mice to chew.

Yes with lids, use a soldering iron or hot glue gun (without glue) to melt air holes and a hole for the water bottle. You can also drill holes just be careful not to crack the plastic.

People also use rodent racks, which is a shelving unit where I tubs slide in and out without lids. Search "rodent rack" or "rat rack" in one of the feeder forums if you want to see those.
But one or two tubs and 3-4 mice should cover your needs, racks are for people who need lots and lots of rodents.

[truthsdeceit]

Here's my current setup

Shelf




The inside of a tub, 13day old babies.


Homemade food hopper.