Pinky prices

[ConcinusMan]

Prices went up after the mouse virus that occurred with one of the breeders.

That's what I was going to say. They lost millions. Guess who pays for it?

Also, fuel prices go up. everything goes up, like shipping. Hurricane Sandy is going to also make things go up. Everything goes up except wages, that is.

[guidofatherof5]

I think this was the culprit.

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Steveo]

I just ran out of mouse pinkies last night. Thought I had another bag of 100 in the freezer, but no. I still have about 80 rat pinkies that I could cut up, but I might go to guppies and worms for a while. At present I'm going through about 100 pinkies a month for just 6 2012 garters.

I'm not doing any breeding next year, so that helps. I think I'll start producing my own pinkies before I do any breeding.

[Lisa4john]

Are there any companies you need to avoid cuz of quality/health issues? I noticed that shipping has a huge swing from one site to another and I just wanted to make sure it is not cuz they are selling garbage. Thanks.

[guidofatherof5]

I use and trust Mice Direct.

[Lisa4john]

Ok thanks

[ConcinusMan]

At present I'm going through about 100 pinkies a month for just 6 2012 garters.

Seems rather excessive. Especially given that they are so young. Either that or you are using extremely tiny pinkies. I certainly couldn't afford to do that and it's not really necessary. One or two pinky meals a month is plenty. Worms and fish the rest of the time. Also, very economical is chicken liver and/or thigh meat. As long as it's not treated with anything (most of it isn't) you can give them a few meals each month of that too. I know radixes just love the stuff.

[thamneil]

Richard, I have been curious in regards to feeding meat and organ meat. How often do you feed them with this and do they take it readily?

[Steveo]

Seems rather excessive. Especially given that they are so young. Either that or you are using extremely tiny pinkies. I certainly couldn't afford to do that and it's not really necessary. One or two pinky meals a month is plenty. Worms and fish the rest of the time. Also, very economical is chicken liver and/or thigh meat. As long as it's not treated with anything (most of it isn't) you can give them a few meals each month of that too. I know radixes just love the stuff.

They are rather small pinkies. I get them from Layne Labs. Each snake gets 2 every 3-4 days. They're up to ~18" now. I have some guppies I can feed but not nearly enough for a steady supply. Nightcrawlers are not that easy to get - the only place I have found them is Walmart, and they don't order more until they sell out, no matter how old they are. It's usually a couple months between orders.


I'll have to try chicken parts. There are some hippie organic grocers around with their own meat rooms, so getting innards should be pretty easy.

[ConcinusMan]

Richard, I have been curious in regards to feeding meat and organ meat. How often do you feed them with this and do they take it readily?

I've done it from time to time basically when I was just strapped for cash and/or couldn't get pinkies. Can't feed them cheap tilapia fillet forever and I buy tubs of chicken liver (about 2 dollars a pound) /thighs anyway for myself. Just went through the freezer one day and decided I would give it a try. My snow/albino radixes, and checkereds accepted both liver and thigh meat readily. It was hit and miss with the concinnus' and the northwesterns wouldn't touch it. Anyway, they seemed to like it and it seems to me like it would be good for them too. In fact, one treatment I've heard for early stage thiamine deficiency is to feed them liver, supplemented with the vitamin. And garters do eat birds in the wild. Why not chicken thigh muscle. Just make sure it's all natural. No salt water, preservatives, etc. and get the meat from inside the muscle, not the surface. I'm sure all kinds of chicken organs would be good for them if they'll eat it. It's certainly cheap enough too.

It's just a way to save money on the pinkies while also not giving them just fish and worms.