RCReptiles.com

[tigasnake]

Hi all,

So I went into my local pet store in an effort to purchase a live hopper mouse.. Then it occurred to me. I live 15 miles away from this place and I certainly have the cash to raise my own mice! So I walked out the pet store with 3 mice (one to feed Marty tonight, a large male, and a medium sized female, which is supposedly preggars), "bird and small animal" pellet substrate, a hamster/rat water thing (lol), a really annoying chain-link wheel, a hamster "igloo" tube, mice food, an edible walk-in log, and a 10 gallon tank... DOH!

I set up the cage as if these were prize pets... a luxury suite for mice! What was sad was the small male was being picked on by the large "alpha male" all day before my python's feeding time. I felt sorry when it was time because it was NOT a good day for that little mouse. After it was all said and done, the adult mice acted like it was pleasantville, loving every inch of that enclosure, playing with everything, even the newspaper underneath the substrate. They even slept together inside the igloo. I officially made these 2 my breeder mice.

Ok my question. How do you breed feeder mice for your ball pythons without getting attached to them? These 2 I vowed to never feed my snakes with. Also, when the female gives birth, should I put the male into a separate enclosure for the time being? I'll get some pics very shortly.

Regards,
Kyle

[deborahbroadus]

I have had no success with mice . Perhaps someone else has.

[NickMyers03]

i HATE mice...they eat their young and eachother

[GrayKat97]

I have had luck with mice in the past, (possibly a fluke) I made sure they had plenty of room, lots of toys, and lots of food. Soon I was over-run by mice. I ended up giving them all away because quite frankly they stink! I think it's the plenty of room and plenty of food that's important to them not becoming cannibals. (But I may have just had unusual mice)

[raven]

GrayKat has the right idea. The more mice you have, the bigger enclosure you need. There should never be more than one male in an enclosure even if they are brothers for they WILL fight, ESPECIALLY when there are females present. (I realize this time was temporary until feeding time.) If they're well bonded, females usually won't have this problem but it can happen. Its actually better to keep a pregnant female either by herself or with a non-pregnant female who can later act as a "nanny" to give mom some time off. Most importantly, they also need a secure nesting place that is not disturbed in a place that is quiet, especially if they mice that are not used to being handled or don't like human contact. That's the best way I know of to reduce the number of infant casualties. The quiet and secure place for the babies is more important stress-wise I think, than keeping the female by yourself so if you're going to do it colony style, make sure that there are plenty of safe hiding places to put babies so mom feels like they're safe.

[todd13]

i never get attached to them. if you start to get more snakes like me dont get toys and stuff for the because it gets EXPENSIVE!!!!!! I am sure you know when to wean them how often to clean their cages and all that good stuff. Good luck on your mice and you can also vote on my pole question under general feeders