The $50 pinkies

[Lori P]

Ok. So last weekend, the only store close to me that normally has live pinkies only had small fuzzies. Brought one home for Dedemona (the kingsnake who only eats live) and it was too big for her. She ended up killing it but not eating it. So the poor girl did not eat last weekend. I tried to find live pinkies throughout the week to no avail, even ran an ad on Craig's List but got no close responses. Then I tried a few nights tempting her with a nice warm jiggling f/t but she wasn't having it.

So this morning I start calling the pet stores. NO ONE has live pinks... except for one... so I head out.

And 100-some miles later (at $3 a gallon for gas), $5 in tolls, and two and a half hours out of my life I finally got back home with four newborn TINY pinkies.

So I figure those things cost me at least $50 today if not more... LOL!!!! So I made the decision to try and make my own pinkies. Yeah... me... with two adorable breeder mice...



I put them in a bow front 40 gallon tank, with that box for them to play in and on and under (can you see the one peeking from under?) and got them a wheel to run in. Now... who's taking bets on how long before I realize I am attached to my meeces and can't possibly feed those adorable babies???!!!

Wish me luck!! Also... I didn't buy a prepared mouse pellet. I have so much food here for the other critters that I'm chopping up daily anyways... the horses get apples and carrots, the lizard gets veggies, we always have other fruits in the house, I always have oats and organic cereals and stuff... why can't I feed them a variety of healthy foods and be ok? Whatcha think? I'm even thinking the horse feed would be ok for them...

[Stefan-A]

Don't worry, you'll snap out of it when you run out of ideas what to do with their offspring,

[Lori P]

I figure I can just seperate them after a couple litters... and then put them back together from time to time. I'm also thinking that there have to be people near me with the same problem, so I'll advertise pinkies when I have them and see how that goes. And if all else fails, I'll get the little boy neutered and let them live out their lives here. :-)

[tikichick]

Cool! I'm fixing to do the same thing.

I don't know what the vitamin requirements are, so it may be good to look into some pellet foods for that purpose, but it looks like a varied fresh diet is right on...

Breeding mice for food

Feeding:

"Provide a small bowl/dish with mice/gerbil/hamster or rat food in and change it daily, if you are able to then supplement the mice’s diet with fresh fruit and vegetables in a similar dish as well as mealworms and wax worms when possible. Fresh fruit and vegetables help promote better digestion and bone and organ growth as do mealworms and wax worms."

[Bay_area]

$50...LOL! That is why I started breeding my own. I probly have 1000 mice in the freezer right now. My wife hates that I do not have a seperate freezer.
I feed my mice a mixture of "Old Roy's Dog food" (The one in the orange bag, 50lbs for $10) & wild bird seed. I throw in left over vegetables & fruits.
The biggest problem with breeding mice is the smell It only takes a couple of days before you can smell them. I get wood shavings from a friend that works @ the city park maintenence. So, changing the beeding isn't costly, just nasty...LOL!
If you do not want to deal with breeding mice, you might want to check into any local Herp Club. There always seems to be a rodent breeder that goes to them.
Good luck, Jerry

[adamanteus]

I read somewhere that you should feed 'wet food' (fruit and veg) quite sparingly... but what do I know about rodents?

[Lori P]

Wow, I didn't realize they'd eat mealworms and waxworms! Interesting!! Thanks for the link, Laura.

Jerry, good thinking on the herp club!! When I put my ad on Craig's List looking for pinkies, a couple people did email me who belong to the nearest herp club but it turns out, they all live around the same area and that's near where the store is that I went to today. I guess out here in hicksville, the farmers just aren't into pet snakes... LOL!!! But hopefully I can find some closer people soon... if not, I'm going to have to gather up alllllllllll my animals and move in with James to be closer to most of you...

[adamanteus]

I'm going to have to gather up alllllllllll my animals and move in with James to be closer to most of you...

I'm making a bed up for you now, Lori.

[Loren]

Wow Jerry- 1000? you got me beat. Last inventory I only had about 700 rodents in my freezer.
My breeding colony is about 45 female mice to 15 males( (15) 3 to 1 cages), and 18 female rats and about 3 "rotating" males.
I clean 1 time every week. Takes alittle over an hour to clean and feed the whole works if I really work hard, unless I am doing sorting/killing/feeding, which adds time. Thats why theres a tv in the reptile room. Tonight(saturday night) has been cleaning night lately.
The thing you need to learn, Lori, is that there are certain "social" rules with mice. For example, if you raise a few females together for several weeks and then try to introduce a male- they will likely kill him. I always try to raise breeders together from young ages, and introduce them to the cage at the same time. In fact, some of my best breeders are very inbred. New blood just doesnt seem to work well in my mouse colony. I dont seem to fight that with the rats, though.
And yes- my reptile room smells terrible by saturday- gets hard to handle. Soon coming is hopefully a somewhat climate controlled shed for them so I can enjoy my reptile room.

[tikichick]

Thanks for the info on social rules! I didn't realize they'd kill a male like that.