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Invalid User
Account Deactivated
United Kingdom
0 Posts |
 Posted - 09/02/2011 : 13:34:17
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I know some people on here do this but I just wondered if anyone else does it or if it is something you would consider doing?
I am thinking it might be an option for me in the near future as my snake collection is growing and most of them will be on mice.
I used to breed rabbits so I could handle the whole mice breeding side of things and tbh killing the mice wouldn't be a problem for me either (yes I am a cold hearted bi*ch lol). My daughters not too impressed by the whole idea but I can talk her round or bribe her 
What are the downsides, if any?
Any advice you could offer would be great. Gonna do a googly search but would be nice to hear from other members own experiences too.
Thanks  |
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Sta~ple
qeeun speler
United Kingdom
6129 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 14:12:53
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No, I wouldn't as I dislikes mice. When I was a young girl, my mummy and pappa had nice, they bred like crazy, they smelt and just generally... urgh... I find rats the same to be honest, although they are other peoples rats and probably get cleaned weekly, twice weekly which doesn't seem like enough to me.
Also wouldn't be cost effective with the housing, bedding, food and all that. However, If I did like mice/rats as pets, I would consider breed a couple every so often for the few amount of snakes I have. That way I would enjoy keeping the mice/rats so food cost and all that wouldn't really be an issue but at the same time it would also feed my snakies :3 |
   
A very special super, duper thanks for K :3 |
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mikerichards
don't say the 'M' word!
United Kingdom
2901 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 14:14:34
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i breed plenty of mice, i have about 70 babies at the moment! you can get setup for less than 40 quid, if you shop about, get your self some lab cages, some bedding from a horsey place, and use pig nuts for food, then all you need is the mouses, which you can get for very little.
It doesnt take long for them to breed either!! i would start with 2 groups, i have 4 females to a male, i get roughly 40 babies per group a month, and i have 5 groups. it saves me about 30 quid a week when i have lots of babies!!
the only real downside is the smell, if you dont keep ontop of them, they stink in a very short space of time!! To be fair though, even if you do keep on top of it, they still smell, might be worth keeping them outside, i am gonna make a nice little shed for them soon, then expand!!! |
Location : Worthing, West Sussex
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mikerichards
don't say the 'M' word!
United Kingdom
2901 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 14:19:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Sta~ple
No, I wouldn't as I dislikes mice. When I was a young girl, my mummy and pappa had nice, they bred like crazy, they smelt and just generally... urgh... I find rats the same to be honest, although they are other peoples rats and probably get cleaned weekly, twice weekly which doesn't seem like enough to me.
Also wouldn't be cost effective with the housing, bedding, food and all that. However, If I did like mice/rats as pets, I would consider breed a couple every so often for the few amount of snakes I have. That way I would enjoy keeping the mice/rats so food cost and all that wouldn't really be an issue but at the same time it would also feed my snakies :3
9 quid for a 25kg bag of pig nut, lasts me 3 months for 5 cages.
8 quid on a bag of megazorb would last me the best part of 6 months to a year, thats all you pay for.
even if we said 20 quid a month to keep and feed, i have 20 female mice that give me on average 10 babies each a month, thats roughly on average 200 babies a month, if you factor in the cost of a pinky at a shop being 40p, thats 80 quid near enough, a month.
thats ignoring the fact that in a couple of weeks they are worth about £1 each, thats 200 quids worth of food every 8 weeks.
in my opinion, breeding your own mice if you have enough snakes is more than worthwhile, they pay for themselves many times over.
I would breed rats too if Kate let me!!!! |
Location : Worthing, West Sussex
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Invalid User
Account Deactivated
United Kingdom
0 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 14:36:16
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I had heard about the smell. When I used to breed rabbits it was also quite bad but I used to spot clean everyday and change bedding often so it wasn't too bad but yes I agree there is always 'a smell' but again my daughters male hamster was awful and we used to clean him out every 3 days!
I also used megazorb with the rabbits so I know that is very cheap to buy and lasts for ages. Didn't know about pig nuts though, is that all you give yours Mike?
I don't have an 'outdoors' unfortunalty as we live in a second floor maisonette but luckily the rooms are huge and quite airey so I would put the mice cages upstairs out the way where I used to have my bunnies.
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baitman
Hatchling
United Kingdom
113 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 17:43:03
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The only down side (if keeping them in the house) is the smell, this can be overcome somewhat by beep bedding and regular clean outs....
For me it is a must, i only have 5 snakes(for now)so its not about cost for me.
I have a trio of rats and a 1-4 mouse colony but these will be growing, i am in the middle of building a small rack for the mice... |
1-0 ghost (mojo)
1-0 anery corn (eifel)
0-2 amel corn (mona,marshall)
0-1 normal corn (lisa)
0-1 mongrel bitch...(milly)
oh...and dreaming of a pair of blizzards |
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Ammerz
Hatchling
United Kingdom
168 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 17:47:51
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We used to breed mice and rats for food in the collage animal centre, which was good as it saved wasting any defrosted mice that werent eatten. And the snakes generally ate them better as they were warm and usually still had a bit of a twitch im them. There is some sick twisted power trip you get when you kille them. (Mwahahahaha!!)
The mice and rats were also sold to pet shops. They breed pretty quick so you're gunna have surples mice if you try breeding them for food. |
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mikerichards
don't say the 'M' word!
United Kingdom
2901 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 18:48:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Louise32
I had heard about the smell. When I used to breed rabbits it was also quite bad but I used to spot clean everyday and change bedding often so it wasn't too bad but yes I agree there is always 'a smell' but again my daughters male hamster was awful and we used to clean him out every 3 days!
I also used megazorb with the rabbits so I know that is very cheap to buy and lasts for ages. Didn't know about pig nuts though, is that all you give yours Mike?
I don't have an 'outdoors' unfortunalty as we live in a second floor maisonette but luckily the rooms are huge and quite airey so I would put the mice cages upstairs out the way where I used to have my bunnies.
It is indeed, they do very well on it, admitedly their coats arent silky smooth, and glossy, but they grow very well, live quite a long healthy life considering they breed when they can. |
Location : Worthing, West Sussex
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eeji
The Morph Master
United Kingdom
4335 Posts |
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mikerichards
don't say the 'M' word!
United Kingdom
2901 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 21:38:05
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| 6 to 8 weeks for medium mice. |
Location : Worthing, West Sussex
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eeji
The Morph Master
United Kingdom
4335 Posts |
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Invalid User
Account Deactivated
United Kingdom
0 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 21:57:04
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wow that is quick.
Seriously considering it now even though my daughter thinks I am evil :( |
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mikerichards
don't say the 'M' word!
United Kingdom
2901 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 22:17:26
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| 8 weeks or so they still arent gonna be big, if you want full adult, its gonna take a while longer, not entirely sure how much. |
Location : Worthing, West Sussex
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baitman
Hatchling
United Kingdom
113 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 22:30:16
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8 weeks and they are breeding age, for full adult size i would say around 20 wks.
but a rat at 8 wks is as big as a full adult mouse. |
1-0 ghost (mojo)
1-0 anery corn (eifel)
0-2 amel corn (mona,marshall)
0-1 normal corn (lisa)
0-1 mongrel bitch...(milly)
oh...and dreaming of a pair of blizzards |
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Oh How Original
Yearling
United Kingdom
591 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 23:54:53
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I had considered this, and also to sell some on cheaply to basically cover my own costs as shops seem to charge a fortune for these things.
But I was put off with the idea of having to set up a gassing chamber and all that kind of thing.
Seems a bit too complicated. |
When on the Forums, always be nice, stick to the rules and help when you can.
1.0.0 Normal Royal - Ronald.
1.0.0 Carpet Python - Magic.
1.0.0 Amel Corn - Pendulum.
1.0.0 Anery Corn - Chilli.
0.1.0 Snow Corn - Wormsle.
0.1.0 California King x Mexican Black - Lucy.
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko - Bear. |
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Invalid User
Account Deactivated
United Kingdom
0 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2011 : 00:20:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Oh How Original
I had considered this, and also to sell some on cheaply to basically cover my own costs as shops seem to charge a fortune for these things.
But I was put off with the idea of having to set up a gassing chamber and all that kind of thing.
Seems a bit too complicated.
You don't need a gas chamber to humainly kill them. I wont be using one.
There are other much simpler ways.
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mikerichards
don't say the 'M' word!
United Kingdom
2901 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2011 : 01:45:07
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quote:
Originally posted by baitman
8 weeks and they are breeding age, for full adult size i would say around 20 wks.
but a rat at 8 wks is as big as a full adult mouse.
5 months for a mouse to hit adult size?? not mine. |
Location : Worthing, West Sussex
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Sta~ple
qeeun speler
United Kingdom
6129 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2011 : 10:52:30
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quote:
Originally posted by mikerichards
[quote]Originally posted by Sta~ple
9 quid for a 25kg bag of pig nut, lasts me 3 months for 5 cages.
8 quid on a bag of megazorb would last me the best part of 6 months to a year, thats all you pay for.
even if we said 20 quid a month to keep and feed, i have 20 female mice that give me on average 10 babies each a month, thats roughly on average 200 babies a month, if you factor in the cost of a pinky at a shop being 40p, thats 80 quid near enough, a month.
thats ignoring the fact that in a couple of weeks they are worth about £1 each, thats 200 quids worth of food every 8 weeks.
in my opinion, breeding your own mice if you have enough snakes is more than worthwhile, they pay for themselves many times over.
I would breed rats too if Kate let me!!!!
Yes, I meant that it wouldn't be cost effective for me :P It would be very much if you had lots but I don't! Although to be honest, if I did have lots of snakes I think I still wouldn't breed mice because I dislike them and because of the smell. I can still remember the smell with a few mice and them every so often having babies... As soon as you open the door of the room they were kept in it would hit you and then the whole house smelt like wee for a bit :( It's the same with my b/f's brothers rats but it's not the rats's fault this time, it's due to him cleaning them out weekly! I think you should breed rats Mike :P if you don't tell her.. :p I did ask my b/f brother about getting a male rat and letting me have the babies, he and his g/f were horrified, she looked like she was going to burst into tears!
Mice do row quickly, most only live like a year so they have to grow quickly! I think if I remember rightly (probably isn't though!) it's about 3 months for full adult size mouse from what I remember keeping them... Kinda wish my parents did still keep them and kept them in the garage now though! |
A very special super, duper thanks for K :3 |
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Cornelia
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
8 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2011 : 14:02:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Louise32
I know some people on here do this but I just wondered if anyone else does it or if it is something you would consider doing?
I am thinking it might be an option for me in the near future as my snake collection is growing and most of them will be on mice.
I used to breed rabbits so I could handle the whole mice breeding side of things and tbh killing the mice wouldn't be a problem for me either (yes I am a cold hearted bi*ch lol). My daughters not too impressed by the whole idea but I can talk her round or bribe her
What are the downsides, if any?
Any advice you could offer would be great. Gonna do a googly search but would be nice to hear from other members own experiences too.
Thanks
Not something I would do now. Years ago I had several snakes and decided to breed my own feeder mice. Got the set up and the mice, waited for the babies. Fell in love with the babies. Sat on my hand, little beady eyes looking at me, and cute twitching whiskers. Couldn't kill them could I. I found myself keeping meeces as well as buying feeder mice. |
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baitman
Hatchling
United Kingdom
113 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2011 : 14:24:08
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| Mike..i was being generous, mine reach full size around 12 to 15 weeks |
1-0 ghost (mojo)
1-0 anery corn (eifel)
0-2 amel corn (mona,marshall)
0-1 normal corn (lisa)
0-1 mongrel bitch...(milly)
oh...and dreaming of a pair of blizzards |
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Invalid User
Account Deactivated
United Kingdom
0 Posts |
Posted - 14/02/2011 : 14:41:57
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Mike and Baitman, where do you buy the mice from? Did you buy the white lab mice or did you just go to the petshop and buy a few pet mice? lol
I read that the white lab mice are better but no idea where to get them from :( |
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Breeding your own feeder mice
