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For those of you who own(ed) multiple reptiles, I was wondering how you handled the situation of going through copious amounts of rodents each week.

I currently have seven hungry snakes that need to be fed every week, and they each eat multiple mice. I have just been buying what I need for the week at the store, but it's getting really expensive.

So I was wondering how others dealt with this.

Namely whether you started breeding your own rodents or whether you just bought frozen rodents in bulk for cheap? In the long run, which would be cheaper?

I have thought about breeding my own mice, but I am worried, for example, that I would end up with a large amount of pinkies when I don't need any (or have no pinkies when I do need some). I also don't really like killing mice. I used to have to do it all the time at work, and while I have quite a bit of experience doing it, I'd prefer not too.

On the other hand, buying mice in bulk would be immensely expensive initially. Buying pinkies, fuzzies, hoppers, and adults in quantities of like 50-100 each would probably cost $250 with shipping and every thing. It would last a while though. But then there is always the possibility of them defrosting in going bad during a power outage or something, which aren't too rare here.

So what would be the better choice in your opinions... Breeding or buying bulk frozen?

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

personally i would rather start a breeding program, but my red tail never liked pre-killed food anyway. i guess it depends on whether or not your snakes will eat the frozen ones. if they don't mind, then go with frozen, it's so much easier

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Most of my snakes are scared of live food, so if I did breed them I'd be killing them before I gave them to the snakes.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Our king snake won't eat frozen, only fresh kill so I can't help you much there. It seems to me that despite the initial cost, buying frozen in bulk would be more convienient.

If you do breed them, I would recommend trying to arrange it out side. Lots of mice really smell.

You could always sell the ones that you didn't need. We had a hard time finding a supplier of good quality mice after our local fish and reptile store closed down. The ones they had at the chain stores were often not in the greatest health and many times she wouldn't touch them. Finally a new reptile store opened up and they breed mice and keep them properly.

At least if you bred your own, you would be able to make sure that they were of good quality and healthy.




- Meow -

Frozen all the way. Acquiring suitable stock, acquiring housing, getting tank lids, clips, water bottles, little huts for them to hide in, acquiring and changing bedding a lot, dedicating an entire wall to mice, keeping track of stock so they don't breed incest and start producing mice with tumors and 5 legs etc, dealing with the smell and the little crusties that get on the tank, killing them yourself inhumanely, packing those little warm, limp bodies yourself, etc etc etc...

OR

RodentPro

100 small pinkies
100 fuzzies
100 hoppers
100 large adults

would cost $155.13 with shipping and everything. Not as bad as I thought, but still that's a lot of money to spend on some stupid mice.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Damn straight. RodentPro and Micicles rock.

I love reptiles but this thread shows me the reality of sharing my life with one of these beauties.

May stick to fish unless I hook up with someone who can act as rodent wrangler.

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

I don't know how many mice you are buying on a weekly basis, but $155.13 including shipping sounds very reasonable to me.

You have seven snakes and they all eat a minimum of two mice per week, maybe a few more....
I'll bet that if you added up how much you are spending on buying mice weekly for a whole month and compared it to the same quantity of mice purchased at the bulk pricing you will find that you have been spending more money than you realized on mice.


Micicles??
That's messed up but somehow I find it mildly funny.

- Meow -

The mice themselves are cheap in bulk, but shipping kills you. It's got to be overnight/next day and packed with dry ice or they'll melt and ruin the lot.

I love reptiles but this thread shows me the reality of sharing my life with one of these beauties.

Have you looked into leopard geckos or crested geckos? Leos eat insects and cresteds eat mostly fruit and the occasional cricket. Theyre both adorable and easy to care for.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Crested Geckos are awesome... If I ever got a lizard, it would probably be a Crested Gecko. Not only do they have probably the best personalities among the arboreal geckos, but they are also very easy to care for.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

You should get a green iguana next time. I have two that are stricktly vegitarian and are tame as dogs. They'll even come and sleep with you.

-Vincent

I've been working with Green Iguanas for two years, but I don't think I'd want to have something that big at my house. Also, most specimens are difficult to tame.

I have scars all over my arms from trying to trim the nails of full-grown Iguanas.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

yeah when their not tame yet their clipping their nails is like war.

But all of the iguana that I have ever had tamed up in about a month.

Currently I have a 4.5 foot 7lb. male and a 3 foot 2lb male.

I had a 3 foot female but she escaped through a hole in our screen porch about a month ago

-Vincent