# A little help breeding feeder mice??



## chynawhyte (Jul 15, 2009)

Hello
I just recently decided to breed feeder mice to feed to my king snake and to sell as feeders or pets because the pet shops here sell them for way too much. 
My question is this. Since I plan on selling them as feeders or pets, I want to sex the newborns b4 I sell them off as food, and sell only males as food. I will be keeping mostly females to grow to full size and feed to my snake and to sell. 
I know I cant touch them so early in life or the mother will eat them, so my plan was to use a spoon to pick them up, and small metal probe to move their tiny tails so I can tell the sex. 
The only problem is, I don't want any scent on the instuments that I use so that there will be less of a chance that the mother will eat them. What should I use to sanitize the instruments? I am trying to make this as cheap as possible, so a homemade sanizter works best for me. Any suggestions as to what I can use that will, a. take any smell away and, b. not be harmful to the mice.
I posted this on the rodent forum, and everyone flipped out. too funny. Im sure they all set mouse traps, eat meat etc.


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

I cant say im overly keen but aslong as the babies are dead before they are given to snakes (big no no for me to live feed) 

I would personally use something called hibascub i think it spelt like that, its a very good cleaner and its also an anti-b scuff that keeps things clean. I would soak the things in it then dry. 

Its very very hard to sex newborns so it will be very hit and miss and you can only normally tell when they are a few weeks old i think 

Just please be humane when killing them


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## ....zoe.... (Jul 8, 2009)

its illegal to feed live mice just to let you know. 

it is VERY hard to tell the sex of mice when sooo young as there is only a small gap between the males genitals which when they are sooo small is extremly difucult to see. 

also if you disturbe the nest then the mum is likely to get stressed and kill her babies, so best to leave them until around 2 weeks old.


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## boomerbaby (Jul 21, 2009)

Just curious? Where are you that its illegal to feed mice to your reptile naturally? You know LIVE! I never wanted to feed my Ball live, but she wont eat any other way..I suppose the mouse dies or she does of starvation eventually..BYE BYE LIL MOUSE!


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## mousemighty (Mar 5, 2009)

....zoe.... said:


> its illegal to feed live mice just to let you know.
> 
> it is VERY hard to tell the sex of mice when sooo young as there is only a small gap between the males genitals which when they are sooo small is extremly difucult to see.
> 
> also if you disturbe the nest then the mum is likely to get stressed and kill her babies, so best to leave them until around 2 weeks old.


it is not illegal to live feed as long as your doing it in private as some snake's will only take live feed like pythons from states are fed live then shipped here ,but again i feel its cruel to live feed , so as long as youre not intention on betting on which will killl who and not recorded like for ytube ect youre in youre rights to live feed its a very touchy subject, but zoe dont you think its not just as cruel to let snake die? look mans kills more sexing the mice wait at least 3 weeks to sex as they are not weaned till there about 3 weeks


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## chynawhyte (Jul 15, 2009)

mousemighty said:


> it is not illegal to live feed as long as your doing it in private as some snake's will only take live feed like pythons from states are fed live then shipped here ,but again i feel its cruel to live feed , so as long as youre not intention on betting on which will killl who and not recorded like for ytube ect youre in youre rights to live feed its a very touchy subject, but zoe dont you think its not just as cruel to let snake die? look mans kills more sexing the mice wait at least 3 weeks to sex as they are not weaned till there about 3 weeks


Ya, I live in Canada. I really dont think feeding live is illegal here. It is recommened by pet stores for breeds such as pythons. Ever try to get a python to eat frozen food Not happening. I however, own a king snake, and she eats frozen so its not an issue in my situation.


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## chynawhyte (Jul 15, 2009)

Daynna said:


> I cant say im overly keen but aslong as the babies are dead before they are given to snakes (big no no for me to live feed)
> 
> I would personally use something called hibascub i think it spelt like that, its a very good cleaner and its also an anti-b scuff that keeps things clean. I would soak the things in it then dry.
> 
> ...


I have fish as well as snakes and dogs and cats. I cry for days when a fish dies and I have to call a friend over to fish it out of the tank and flush. No worries about humanity here.


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## chynawhyte (Jul 15, 2009)

boomerbaby said:


> Just curious? Where are you that its illegal to feed mice to your reptile naturally? You know LIVE! I never wanted to feed my Ball live, but she wont eat any other way..I suppose the mouse dies or she does of starvation eventually..BYE BYE LIL MOUSE!


I used to have a ball too, so I know the feeling. I would drop and mouse in with her, and it would like in the tank with her for weeks sometimes b4 she would actally decide to eat it. They would cuddle up together and sleep and everything. cute but morbid all the same.


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

chynawhyte said:


> I have fish as well as snakes and dogs and cats. I cry for days when a fish dies and I have to call a friend over to fish it out of the tank and flush. No worries about humanity here.


Im the same lol This is why one of the reasons we wont get a ball python unless from birth because of the difficulties with feeding. We have a very fussy boa who can go months without feeding but i think he would be eaten by the mouse/rat before he'd get around to eat it so we couldnt feed live we have fed him freshly killed rats before from OH's friend who had feeder mice and rats which works well

I know its not illegal here in the uk as long as its done in your own home and the mouse doesnt suffer for no reason. It isnt something i totally agree with yes it natural but in the wild the mouse/rat also has an opitunity to escape were as in a viv they do not


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## ebonymooncats (May 23, 2009)

i dont understand what makes one life more inportant than anothers??


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## ....zoe.... (Jul 8, 2009)

Originally Posted by ....zoe.... 
its illegal to feed live mice just to let you know. 

it is VERY hard to tell the sex of mice when sooo young as there is only a small gap between the males genitals which when they are sooo small is extremly difucult to see. 

also if you disturbe the nest then the mum is likely to get stressed and kill her babies, so best to leave them until around 2 weeks old.



i did not mean for my post to sound nasty in any sort of way. my own snake was fed live mice before i had her so i cant be nasty about it. 

i was just told that it was illegal, oviously i was rong on that subject and will apologise for that. 

i would never want a snake to die due to starvation but i do know of snakes that have been imported from the wild and yet were still encouraged to eat dead mice, so i do find that most snake will eventually eat dead food.

was only giving the advice that i thought, sorry


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## chynawhyte (Jul 15, 2009)

ebonymooncats said:


> i dont understand what makes one life more inportant than anothers??


?
Life? Nature? The food chain? Belief systems? Personal preferences? I guess the answer to ur question is - nothing at all, but everything, all the same.


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## chynawhyte (Jul 15, 2009)

chynawhyte said:


> ?
> Life? Nature? The food chain? Belief systems? Personal preferences? I guess the answer to ur question is - nothing at all, but everything, all the same.


I have two very loveable teacup chihuahuas. Almost anyone u talk to would say (yappy, saucy, not nice pets etc, etc) I had a mover in my house once who said to me, "is that a chihuahua? bought one for my wife and it hasent shut up since, worst thing i ever did." im sure he feels the same about my dogs and some feel about an ant. God knows y some are more valuable then others.


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## chynawhyte (Jul 15, 2009)

....zoe.... said:


> Originally Posted by ....zoe....
> its illegal to feed live mice just to let you know.
> 
> it is VERY hard to tell the sex of mice when sooo young as there is only a small gap between the males genitals which when they are sooo small is extremly difucult to see.
> ...


I did not find ur post nasty. I posted on the rodent forum obviously by mistake. Those people were nasty. Any advice is helpful. I dont feed live to my king, shes takes frozen so easily there is no need. Plus, I dont want her to become saucy or defensive. Thanks for the advise.


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## CrystaAllen (Feb 5, 2012)

I have a young garner snake that I caught a couple months ago, for a while I was feeding him rosy red feeder fish but he's starting to get to the size that he can eat pinkies so I recently got a male and a female feeder mouse and plan on breeding them. Any tips?


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