What about wood stove pellets. Have you guys had issue with wild mice getting in? I've thought about this for my pythons but I'll have to keep them in the basement and in the winter mice can be an issue.
@@marzya8013 yes i havd read that. The problem is mg local feed shop has 50lb bags but it dosnt say kin dried its for horses. There is a store 40 minutes from me that has it ill probably take the drive...ive been using paper pellets from my local big box pet store and its way more expensive
This is handsdown the best video I've seen on raising feeder mice! I just have a question on how do you choose breeders? If I buy feeders from the store and they happen to be siblings will their offspring have health issues?
@Prepper Girl, Thanks for the info! I normally only keep 3 week old mice in the bigger cages but I will definitely make sure to watch out for it in the future.
Protein levels in food can have an impact on ammonia levels, It's not fat levels. Dog food typically has higher protein levels than your mice feed, which is typically 18%. Higher protein levels will result in higher ammonia levels for mice and rats. In fact, Mazuri mouse feed has a higher fat content than dog food, not lower (by 1%, at least in my dog food). Mazuri has a specific ingredient that cuts down on ammonia,, which dog food doesn't contain. Great video. Pig feed can be disastrous as it can contain ingredients to liquify waste from the pigs to go through holed flooring. This laxative-type ingredient can produce explosive diarrhea in your snakes.
That sounds kinda sketchy man I hope you’re sanitizing everything before you put your rats anywhere near them . There’s a reason humans caught plague from rats they’re capable of catching human sicknesses
@@joesoto3975 Laboratory animals are kept in the most pristine conditions as they're used for research with hundreds of millions of dollars dependent on the health of these animals. Second of all, rats never spread the plague, it was at first thought that it was fleas on the rats that spread it - but that too has been disproved. It was humans that caused the plague. So, you're two for two. Rats are very clean animals. They groom themselves in the same way cats do.
Great video Benjamin, I finally started breeding my own rodents after almost going broke every month buying rats for my snakes. I built the standard 8 tub rodent rack and it is actually working out great. The one issue I was having was figuring out what substrate to use, there is so much conflicting information out there but this video actually helped out a lot. I've been using paper pellets from the big box store pet places and they actually work great but they are extremely expensive. I'm switching to kiln dried pine pellets and chips after watching this video. I've seen other breeders use some kind of powder that they put down first apparently for the odor but I can't remember what it is, anyone know what that is? Keep up the great work!
@eddie julian, Congratulations! When possible breeding your own rodents is definitely the way to go! While I'm not sure of any powder that reduces odor, I use the pine pellets and they have worked great on odor control for my rodent colonies.
@eddie - you’re thinking of stall deodorizers like Sani-Care Odor Control. You can find them and feed stores in the horse section. I’ve started experimenting with it myself.
Id bet the powder they put down for smell is just baking soda, because I’m telling you man baking soda works GREAT for absorbing smells. I use it in my cats litter boxes, and I also keep an entire box of it open in my fridge, if I don’t change the box out every 30 days the fridge starts to smell like everything in it. Also smelling the box of baking soda that is removed smells like everything that’s ever been in your refrigerator haha
Hi Ben, I have a question about Mouse enclosures for breeding, is it better for them to have the smaller enclosure with no toys? I seem to have stumbled on a problem recently, where I have been breeding my mice in a rat cage, and give them a wheel to play on for enrichment, I read somewhere you shouldn’t do that and I have had trouble with the ones I have done that with doing more play than breeding. What would you say about this? I’m not sure I can find you I have subscribe to you but new to RUclips.
I use bins for my breeding mice... And for bedding I only use cocopeat... I am also a breeder here in the Philippines... Already parked here... God bless
Mine sneeze constantly on pine shavings. They stopped as soon as I switched to aspen. I did a little research afterward and found studies that found rats raised on pine shavings had elevated enzyme levels in their liver (enzymes for detoxification) indicating that pine is mildly toxic to rats.
This is only when the pine shavings are NOT dried in a Kiln first. Those are NOT toxic to rats at all. Most pet stores only sell Kiln dried shavings. There are different size flakes when it comes to shavings, if you use the wrong one, then yes, it can be irritating to the animals when first applied. However, it is the go-to product. Aspen is also not without its challenges. In fact, one of the side effects is dust. But glad you found something that works for you.
Something I found is that males will stop breeding if you keep them with the same females for extended periods of time, I call it the Al Bundy effect. I found its best to keep males separate from females and about once a month I introduce the males into tubs with a couple females for about 3 to 5 days and then put them back in into their "Frat tub" as I call it until the resulting offspring are weaned and the moms are fattened back up and healthy for the next round.
@1Thatstrangeguy, While I have had some success with this method in the past, I have also had groups of 4 or 5 females kill newly introduced males. It all depends on what works for you.
@@wolfrosefarm7725I'd remove him from the female(s) when they are visibly pregnant to prevent the cannibalism, however I'd also recommend growing out another male or 2 as replacements so you don't pass on any weird genetics that may be causing the problem, just to be on the safe side. You don't want any female babies growing up to be baby eaters or cannibals in general. I had to cull an entire breeder colony (3 females) because they ate every male I tried introducing to them. After 2 males were killed within 2-3 days of being with the girls, I said "Oh Hell No!" and they became snake food. Definitely didn't want that sort of temperament getting passed to the babies.
@B Estes, I would try to find a quality rodent breeder near you and see if you can buy from them directly. You can also get them from pet stores, however be careful as some pet stores are known for having rodents infested with external parasites such as mites and lice.
Best is probably show pet mice and rats. They tend to be physically larger and grow quicker than feeder mice and rats. They also tend to be less bitey, which makes handling for culling much easier.
Great video but I have a question u didn't answer.............. how do I know how many rats / mice I need to buy to start my own breeding program? Like how many do I need per snake to produce enough food to feed a snake per week all year long?
@Bad Sons Entertainment I always feed my ball pythons 1 large meal per week normally on Fridays..... the reason I asked this question like that is so i can do the math & get a rough estimate on how many I would need to start & so I don't over produce to many . Way more then I'd need so I'm not freezing way to many animals then I could ever possibly use . So my reason of thinking was like this as an example 🤔 if I had 1 snake how many would I need to produce a steady amount of animals to be able to feed that snake 1 time per week and then once I found out that sweet spot I could just double that for 2 & triple that for 3 & so on. So I could answer the question of ok if I want 20 snakes I need this many mice & rats to be able to produce "X" amount of food to feed them per week . I know this is not a perfect question & there would be no way to answer this down to a specific number so I don't have to youthinize any animals & freeze them but I don't want to very buy & then over produce rats & mice either. Like if I buy 1 adult ball python and I planed on feeding it 1 rat per week ( for example) I wouldn't buy say 30 adult rats to breed my own food unless that is what I needed to do. I live about 1hr & 45 min away from a pet store so I can't go buy live rats every week . Rodent pro as far as I no don't sell live rats & mail them to u so that is not an option. So the most reasonable way is for me to produce my own rats at home but I can't design a plan of attack if I can't estimate the amount I need to purchase to start . So once I drive 2hrs & buy my breeder rats n mice ( 1 time ) I can then buy & grow a collection of snakes
@@davidwootton8731 I can’t recall how many pups mice or rats have but I guarantee that number is on RUclips. I totally understand why. I’d imagine you’d be able to resell an extras right? I only have 2 snakes and a bearded dragon. On occasion the beardie would eat a pinkie. But I’d imagine I’d just start breeding and manage the population by selling them. 🤷♂️ gestation periods differ between mice and rats . Mice 19 to 21 days, and rats are 21 to 23 days. With 5 to 12 pups for mice and 6 to 12 pups for rats. I hope thats efficient enough for you. Good luck!
holding them by their tails scares them and can be harmful to their spine, you would never hold a cat by its tail (i hope lol) just fyi if you’re looking for giving them a semi good life
@not available , I know lots of people don't like holding rodents by their tails, but if done properly it has no negative effects that I have ever seen and from my experience is actually less stressful for the rodents. If I was to try to pick them up by their body, they feel like I am trying to restrain them and I would get bit much more often, which isn't good for anyone.
@@PureAngelicDraco Unfortunately I have hundreds of rodents on hand at any given time, and it is simply not possible for me to handle and tame them all.
@@BenjaminsExotics Ah okay, i understand that it's not possible with such quantity of mice... Well, i had approx 50 mice and i tamed them all, then it was easier to manipulate with them and some of them went to my hand of their own free will :)
@@BenjaminsExotics I've actually had mice and hamsters, and the only ones that have ever bitten me were the hamsters. The mice are way less likely to bite you. Of course, do it how you're comfortable, I just figured I'd mention that in case it may help reassure you
Just wanted to mention that another way to tell a male and female mouse/rat apart is females are the only ones with nipples. Males don't have them. I've had to use this fact to tell very young males and females apart.
@@BenjaminsExotics IT might be so but i was reffering for pet rats...those rats that some keep as pets and are interested in the rats living as long as possible and those people say that pine contains an oil that îs iritant for the rats respiratory sistem
Snakes have to eat, too and they're not fans of vegetables. This is no different than raising pigs, cows, chickens, etc for meat and in fact, the way mice and rats are raised and culled is FAR more humane than how most meat animals are.
Great video 👍
Gotta love pine shavings! Glad you're having success with breeding mice.
@ZD Exotics, Indeed! Thank you for all of your support!
Straight to the point no BS thank you
Thank you so much for going into detail about Mazuri!!
Very informative thank you!
Very good video. Thank u for posting this 👍
Awesome job!
Liked and FAVORITED this video! Thanks so much
@English Roberts, Thanks for watching!
Nice, thank you for sharing
@Royal Business Reptiles, Thanks for watching!
Thank you 👍🏻
What about wood stove pellets. Have you guys had issue with wild mice getting in? I've thought about this for my pythons but I'll have to keep them in the basement and in the winter mice can be an issue.
Great Video. I might make the switch to pine bedding after watching this.
@Cloud Colubrids, Indeed! Pine works great for feeder rodents!
make sure it’s kiln dried pine! otherwise it’s extremely toxic and will give the mice respiratory infections
@@marzya8013 yes i havd read that. The problem is mg local feed shop has 50lb bags but it dosnt say kin dried its for horses. There is a store 40 minutes from me that has it ill probably take the drive...ive been using paper pellets from my local big box pet store and its way more expensive
You're gonna save a lot of money breeding your own rodents
@Wardelingas, Indeed! If you have the space and time it is definitely worth it!
How long should I quarantine them? Can you tell me in more detail?
This is handsdown the best video I've seen on raising feeder mice! I just have a question on how do you choose breeders? If I buy feeders from the store and they happen to be siblings will their offspring have health issues?
Wao so young and so articulate when speak....you know your information...thanks for sharing
What exactly do you use for feed, im trying to find that out but no one says it in their videos on what food they use
hemp bedding is amazing, super efficient.
How do u clean tubs when there's babies?
I’ve had mouse hoppers squeeze between the bars of the mid size tub grates.
@Prepper Girl, Thanks for the info! I normally only keep 3 week old mice in the bigger cages but I will definitely make sure to watch out for it in the future.
Protein levels in food can have an impact on ammonia levels, It's not fat levels. Dog food typically has higher protein levels than your mice feed, which is typically 18%. Higher protein levels will result in higher ammonia levels for mice and rats. In fact, Mazuri mouse feed has a higher fat content than dog food, not lower (by 1%, at least in my dog food). Mazuri has a specific ingredient that cuts down on ammonia,, which dog food doesn't contain. Great video. Pig feed can be disastrous as it can contain ingredients to liquify waste from the pigs to go through holed flooring. This laxative-type ingredient can produce explosive diarrhea in your snakes.
are hides needed?
Yeah Man. I use the laboratory caging too. My local research hospital gives away their old equipment. 👍🏼👍🏼
@Mason’s Morphs
, Indeed! The laboratory style cages are the best setup I have used so far.
That sounds kinda sketchy man I hope you’re sanitizing everything before you put your rats anywhere near them . There’s a reason humans caught plague from rats they’re capable of catching human sicknesses
@@joesoto3975 oh yeah everything goes through a giant autoclave in order to leave the facility.
@@joesoto3975 Laboratory animals are kept in the most pristine conditions as they're used for research with hundreds of millions of dollars dependent on the health of these animals. Second of all, rats never spread the plague, it was at first thought that it was fleas on the rats that spread it - but that too has been disproved. It was humans that caused the plague. So, you're two for two. Rats are very clean animals. They groom themselves in the same way cats do.
Great video Benjamin, I finally started breeding my own rodents after almost going broke every month buying rats for my snakes. I built the standard 8 tub rodent rack and it is actually working out great. The one issue I was having was figuring out what substrate to use, there is so much conflicting information out there but this video actually helped out a lot. I've been using paper pellets from the big box store pet places and they actually work great but they are extremely expensive. I'm switching to kiln dried pine pellets and chips after watching this video. I've seen other breeders use some kind of powder that they put down first apparently for the odor but I can't remember what it is, anyone know what that is? Keep up the great work!
@eddie julian, Congratulations! When possible breeding your own rodents is definitely the way to go! While I'm not sure of any powder that reduces odor, I use the pine pellets and they have worked great on odor control for my rodent colonies.
@eddie - you’re thinking of stall deodorizers like Sani-Care Odor Control. You can find them and feed stores in the horse section. I’ve started experimenting with it myself.
Id bet the powder they put down for smell is just baking soda, because I’m telling you man baking soda works GREAT for absorbing smells. I use it in my cats litter boxes, and I also keep an entire box of it open in my fridge, if I don’t change the box out every 30 days the fridge starts to smell like everything in it. Also smelling the box of baking soda that is removed smells like everything that’s ever been in your refrigerator haha
@@BakedBrain7100be careful it kills rats and mice look it up
What size tubs are those behind you in the intro with the blue latches?
@
Earlando Johnson, Those are 32 quart Sterilite tubs. You can find them on their website, and lots of retailers carry them.
Hi Ben, I have a question about Mouse enclosures for breeding, is it better for them to have the smaller enclosure with no toys? I seem to have stumbled on a problem recently, where I have been breeding my mice in a rat cage, and give them a wheel to play on for enrichment, I read somewhere you shouldn’t do that and I have had trouble with the ones I have done that with doing more play than breeding. What would you say about this? I’m not sure I can find you I have subscribe to you but new to RUclips.
Cruel
Feeder mice!🐍
@Vickstar303, Thanks for watching!
do you think its possible to sell frozen mice to pet stores
I use bins for my breeding mice... And for bedding I only use cocopeat... I am also a breeder here in the Philippines... Already parked here... God bless
@Emmanuel Licup, Thanks for watching!
Mine sneeze constantly on pine shavings. They stopped as soon as I switched to aspen. I did a little research afterward and found studies that found rats raised on pine shavings had elevated enzyme levels in their liver (enzymes for detoxification) indicating that pine is mildly toxic to rats.
This is only when the pine shavings are NOT dried in a Kiln first. Those are NOT toxic to rats at all. Most pet stores only sell Kiln dried shavings. There are different size flakes when it comes to shavings, if you use the wrong one, then yes, it can be irritating to the animals when first applied. However, it is the go-to product. Aspen is also not without its challenges. In fact, one of the side effects is dust. But glad you found something that works for you.
Pine pellets are great cheap cat litter that’s lasts longer as well. $7 for a 20lbs bag
Where do I get the mice and can I feed then to my cat?
Not a good idea let the cat catch it's own
Mazuri is a brand, not a company. It's manufactured by Land o' Lakes, Inc.
@Xxxxx, Thanks for watching!
Something I found is that males will stop breeding if you keep them with the same females for extended periods of time, I call it the Al Bundy effect. I found its best to keep males separate from females and about once a month I introduce the males into tubs with a couple females for about 3 to 5 days and then put them back in into their "Frat tub" as I call it until the resulting offspring are weaned and the moms are fattened back up and healthy for the next round.
@1Thatstrangeguy, While I have had some success with this method in the past, I have also had groups of 4 or 5 females kill newly introduced males. It all depends on what works for you.
What lidder do they stop at
@Eduardo Peña cool, thanks!
Pine is not good for rats. Unless it's kiln dried. Is that the same for mice?
@C CORREA, It's nearly impossible to find any commercially produced pine shavings nowadays that are not kiln dried.
Hey you have any black or grey does if so can you tell me if you can sell me two
Do you meed to remove the father before the mice are born? Or can they stay together?
@Justplainfun14, I don't separate the males from the babies. I think in mice especially it causes more potential for harm than good.
@@BenjaminsExotics what do I do about a buck that's a pup muncher? He's otherwise the best stud I have in my breeding mouse line-up.
@@wolfrosefarm7725I'd remove him from the female(s) when they are visibly pregnant to prevent the cannibalism, however I'd also recommend growing out another male or 2 as replacements so you don't pass on any weird genetics that may be causing the problem, just to be on the safe side. You don't want any female babies growing up to be baby eaters or cannibals in general. I had to cull an entire breeder colony (3 females) because they ate every male I tried introducing to them. After 2 males were killed within 2-3 days of being with the girls, I said "Oh Hell No!" and they became snake food. Definitely didn't want that sort of temperament getting passed to the babies.
@@wolfrosefarm7725he's not a good breeder if he does that, and cannibalism can be genetic
Where would be a good place to look for my pair at ?
@B Estes, I would try to find a quality rodent breeder near you and see if you can buy from them directly. You can also get them from pet stores, however be careful as some pet stores are known for having rodents infested with external parasites such as mites and lice.
Local breeder it is !!! 😂
Best is probably show pet mice and rats. They tend to be physically larger and grow quicker than feeder mice and rats. They also tend to be less bitey, which makes handling for culling much easier.
Great video but I have a question u didn't answer.............. how do I know how many rats / mice I need to buy to start my own breeding program? Like how many do I need per snake to produce enough food to feed a snake per week all year long?
I would think the questions you need to ask yourself is how many snakes do you have? Ball pythons usually eat once a week.
@Bad Sons Entertainment I always feed my ball pythons 1 large meal per week normally on Fridays..... the reason I asked this question like that is so i can do the math & get a rough estimate on how many I would need to start & so I don't over produce to many . Way more then I'd need so I'm not freezing way to many animals then I could ever possibly use . So my reason of thinking was like this as an example 🤔 if I had 1 snake how many would I need to produce a steady amount of animals to be able to feed that snake 1 time per week and then once I found out that sweet spot I could just double that for 2 & triple that for 3 & so on. So I could answer the question of ok if I want 20 snakes I need this many mice & rats to be able to produce "X" amount of food to feed them per week . I know this is not a perfect question & there would be no way to answer this down to a specific number so I don't have to youthinize any animals & freeze them but I don't want to very buy & then over produce rats & mice either. Like if I buy 1 adult ball python and I planed on feeding it 1 rat per week ( for example) I wouldn't buy say 30 adult rats to breed my own food unless that is what I needed to do. I live about 1hr & 45 min away from a pet store so I can't go buy live rats every week . Rodent pro as far as I no don't sell live rats & mail them to u so that is not an option. So the most reasonable way is for me to produce my own rats at home but I can't design a plan of attack if I can't estimate the amount I need to purchase to start . So once I drive 2hrs & buy my breeder rats n mice ( 1 time ) I can then buy & grow a collection of snakes
@@davidwootton8731 I can’t recall how many pups mice or rats have but I guarantee that number is on RUclips. I totally understand why. I’d imagine you’d be able to resell an extras right? I only have 2 snakes and a bearded dragon. On occasion the beardie would eat a pinkie. But I’d imagine I’d just start breeding and manage the population by selling them. 🤷♂️ gestation periods differ between mice and rats . Mice 19 to 21 days, and rats are 21 to 23 days. With 5 to 12 pups for mice and 6 to 12 pups for rats. I hope thats efficient enough for you. Good luck!
I looked it up while responding to you 😅
I did this up north when my mom had a ball python and I loved breeding them
I did rats tho and there bites hurt morelol
@fireshot 21, Indeed! :) Thanks for watching!
Of coures man this vid made me think of those times so thank you
Do feeder mice jump?
Yes, especially hoppers
This 530 like! just showed me to buy a lab rat mouse cage from searching 'rat rack and mouse rack' $530 likes well earned kit!
Is it worth breeding feeder rats if you only have one snake?
@Adam Ramroop, It may save you a bit of money but I wouldn't recommend it if you only have one snake.
holding them by their tails scares them and can be harmful to their spine, you would never hold a cat by its tail (i hope lol) just fyi if you’re looking for giving them a semi good life
@not available
, I know lots of people don't like holding rodents by their tails, but if done properly it has no negative effects that I have ever seen and from my experience is actually less stressful for the rodents. If I was to try to pick them up by their body, they feel like I am trying to restrain them and I would get bit much more often, which isn't good for anyone.
@@BenjaminsExotics if you tame them, you don't have to worry about getting bit...
@@PureAngelicDraco Unfortunately I have hundreds of rodents on hand at any given time, and it is simply not possible for me to handle and tame them all.
@@BenjaminsExotics Ah okay, i understand that it's not possible with such quantity of mice...
Well, i had approx 50 mice and i tamed them all, then it was easier to manipulate with them and some of them went to my hand of their own free will :)
@@BenjaminsExotics I've actually had mice and hamsters, and the only ones that have ever bitten me were the hamsters. The mice are way less likely to bite you. Of course, do it how you're comfortable, I just figured I'd mention that in case it may help reassure you
Its called a harem when you have 2 females and a male in a cage together.
Not full feed cat food but if you substitute 10% of their diet to cat food for the pregnant females they won't cannibalize their babies
Just wanted to mention that another way to tell a male and female mouse/rat apart is females are the only ones with nipples. Males don't have them. I've had to use this fact to tell very young males and females apart.
yah they breed too much after those dry spells.
Pine îs toxic for rats
@user-dc5gm4bs1d Almost all of the large breeders who produce millions of feeder rodents use pine shavings as substrate.
@@BenjaminsExotics IT might be so but i was reffering for pet rats...those rats that some keep as pets and are interested in the rats living as long as possible and those people say that pine contains an oil that îs iritant for the rats respiratory sistem
I would never feed my rats to snakes
Snakes have to eat, too and they're not fans of vegetables. This is no different than raising pigs, cows, chickens, etc for meat and in fact, the way mice and rats are raised and culled is FAR more humane than how most meat animals are.
@@kerseykrewzooyes
Those poor rats and mice
what are pet snakes supposed to eat
You are sick
How are they sick lol
there fine
Your mice are beautiful ❤️