ok so im thinking about breeding my own rodents cuz i see so many people doing it it must save money so here are my questions i have 7 kings and a bull that are taking hopper mice and 3 corns and 2 bulls that are taking an adult mouse or 2 a feeding along with my blood and will be geting more bloods and carpets that will be taking down mice size pray and i have 2 gtp and a fwc that are feeding on small to med rats so the question is would it be beter to breed mice or rats my first thought is mice but then i got to thinking i could feed the mice eaters rat pups and mabe newborn pink rats to the hopper feeders so rats might be a beter choice im not sure what do you guys think. and the other questions are these what kind of amount of coloneys do i need to be keepiing to feed my collection and has anyone had any problems with breeding rodents in the reptile room i dont have a garage or spare room to breed the rodents currently so it would have to be in the herp room im thinking it may be 2 hot in there and the smell of the snakes may deture the rodents from breeding. any info would be much apreciated

I'd feed rats over mice if I could - Any day of the week...As far as breeding rodents go...Each has their pros and cons but if I had to pick one over the other - I'd go with rats...They don't stink as bad...

Rats all the way.
More bang for your snake. Less smell and can be fed much longer with regard to size of pray.
Go with rats.
THE B

I would breed rats over mice and Asf over both. As far as the rats in the same room as snakes. I have been doing that for 10 years. And have never had any negative problems that I can detect.

Rats are smarter and more fun to raise. However, the only escapees I have ever had were rats, cause they are so smart......you can feed the appropriate sized food item quicker with rats, because you will not have to wait as long for them to get the right size.

Id go for rats for all the reasons stated above. Currently I have mice and Im switching over to rats soon. I started up the mice since I wanted some fresh pinkies for the small varanids I keep. Now that I have larger varanids as well as a few snakes rats just make more sense.

Ill still keep a small colony of mice as I need the pinks but I am going to focus more on rats.

Although if you're planning on breeding colubrids you may want to keep some mice around since hatchling corns, kings, etc probably wont be able to take down a rat pink.

I agree with the masses on this one. Switch to rats if you can. You may have that one holdback mouse eater though.

ok so rats it is and mabe ill keep a small trio or somthing of mice just for pinks for the little colubrids and in the snake room it is now the question is how many tub racks do i need to supply myself with sufficent rats to feed the collection off to do some thread snooping thanks for all the replys they where very helpfull

any more tips and pointers anyone is willing to share im all ears . ive only bred snakes before the furry ones are all new to me.

The biggest thing with rats is:

Do Not Leave Two or More Females Together If There Are Babies Present

Rats will try to horde all of the babies they can. Which means, babies often get pulled in two by female rats trying to horde them, which results in the now dead baby getting eaten.

For a small collection, I would think 3-4 females and a male should work fine. Male rats can breed their mom between 3 and 4 weeks after birth as well, so wean them and remove them as soon as they are ready.

Find a good lab food and make sure they always have access to fresh water.

Small scale rodents are pretty easy, they just require some more attention than the reptiles do.

Hope this helps! :yessir:

Note: I do not breed my own feeders. However, I have pet rats, and my fiance has bred them for pets.

First, how big is your collection? Two, are you building racks for the rats?

Upfront, I am a big fan of getting snakes onto rats as soon as possible, but only if the snake is going to grow to a size that it can eventually take weaned or larger rats. If the species remains small/slender and will never be able to handle prey of that size (i.e. my coxi) I keep them on mice.

Rat pinks and fuzzy's are are similar in size to adult mice - but the nutritional value is much different. In the young rats, the % of dense mass is much lower then a mouse of the same size. Much of this mass difference in made up of bone density / the much needed calcium (an adult mouse will average about twice the calcium of a rat pink rat weighing the same).

As the rat matures thru the juvi stages, it does become nutritionally superior to mice (happens around the time they open their eyes, up until they reach what is typically called "medium" - then the fat content goes through the roof, but that is another thread all together). Again, if I had a snake that would never take larger then a pink/fuzzy rat, I would keep that animal on mice as I feel, at that size, it is better nutritionally + has less "water weight".

I know breeding both is not what you wanted to hear, but if I was considering breeding my own feeders with a collection similar to yours, in my opinion, it would be the best solution.

Also - without the rodent fur, you can expect waste to be much more runny/loose.

one more thing to ad - I am a huge fan of diversity and try to offer a wide range of prey. I am a bit spoiled with the womas and bhps - as they will literally eat just about anything that is or once was living... but I do think a variety is best.

First, how big is your collection? Two, are you building racks for the rats?

yes i will be building the racks for the rats thats why im trying to figure out what i need how many breeder tubs how many holder tubs thats sort of thing, and the collection im feeding is about 20 animals but always growing

Upfront, I am a big fan of getting snakes onto rats as soon as possible, but only if the snake is going to grow to a size that it can eventually take weaned or larger rats. If the species remains small/slender and will never be able to handle prey of that size (i.e. my coxi) I keep them on mice.

Rat pinks and fuzzy's are are similar in size to adult mice - but the nutritional value is much different. In the young rats, the % of dense mass is much lower then a mouse of the same size. Much of this mass difference in made up of bone density / the much needed calcium (an adult mouse will average about twice the calcium of a rat pink rat weighing the same).

As the rat matures thru the juvi stages, it does become nutritionally superior to mice (happens around the time they open their eyes, up until they reach what is typically called "medium" - then the fat content goes through the roof, but that is another thread all together). Again, if I had a snake that would never take larger then a pink/fuzzy rat, I would keep that animal on mice as I feel, at that size, it is better nutritionally + has less "water weight".

I know breeding both is not what you wanted to hear, but if I was considering breeding my own feeders with a collection similar to yours, in my opinion, it would be the best solution.

Also - without the rodent fur, you can expect waste to be much more runny/loose.


thanks tim i was thinking the same thing to feed the corns and kings there never gonna take much more than a rat pup or a small rat so it might not be a bad idea to breed both rats and mice. currently there are only 3 snakes eating rats so breeding rats is silly if im going to go with mice 2 mice would feed the majority of my collection right now due to alot of my animals are babys.

For corns, kings etc, I'd stick with ASF's. Grow slower meaning the window to feed is open longer than with domestic rats, which can sometimes seem like, if you miss one day, the next the pink are now pups and chubby. :P

For corns, kings etc, I'd stick with ASF's. Grow slower meaning the window to feed is open longer than with domestic rats, which can sometimes seem like, if you miss one day, the next the pink are now pups and chubby. :P

Exactly what I was going to say :yessir:

ok so i went out and got some 32qt tubs and water bottles and food bowls just to start tell i can build my racks but i got a 1.3 of hooded rats and a 1.5 of fancy mice hope all goes well ill post pics once my racks are built and i get some production going thanks for everyones help

haha mad my first rodent snake mistake today was showing my daughter the rodents then she wanted to see the snakes so just used alittle hand sanitizer and grabed the florida king out and then he grabed me haha luckly he let go right away reolizing i wasnt food but haha that will teach me to wash my hands now . oh and good news one of the mice i bought is already pregnant im thinking it was pregnant before i bought it anyway i got her seperated so she can have her litter

ok so i went out and got some 32qt tubs and water bottles and food bowls just to start tell i can build my racks but i got a 1.3 of hooded rats and a 1.5 of fancy mice hope all goes well ill post pics once my racks are built and i get some production going thanks for everyones help


32qt tub will be too crowed for 1.3 rats. I have the Freedom Breeder rat system (21 totes) which I believe are betwen 28-32qt and I keep 1.2 in each tote. That's about all that will fit.

Some might ask why I have 21 mature male rats when I could rotate 1 male between 5-10 tubs? Well, I have some Argentine boas that love their jumbo rats...lol.

Some might ask why I have 21 mature male rats when I could rotate 1 male between 5-10 tubs? Well, I have some Argentine boas that love their jumbo rats...lol.

Boy, is that an understatement! Those Args LOVE jumbo rats! Actually, anything you'll feed them, they love! :lmao: