Anyone raise their own pinky mice?

[MeTree]

Thank you for the advice! Rats are probably abit further down the road for me LOL, but I do want to get some some day. I will not be keeping them next to the mice, though.

[Kevin1]

I used to breed mice, but were just a big hassle compared to rats. I've been breeding rats for a couple years now as pets and as food. There's really not much to it. I can say mice smell(the males have a musk) and seem more sensitive than the rats. I can honestly say as far as pets go you'll enjoy a rat 100X more than a mouse. They're very intelligent and almost dog-like. Breeding rats or mice, it'd be a good idea to give your females a break from babies every once in awhile. Too many nonstop litters can really take a toll on the female, death could even result. Generally speaking the better they're fed the better they'll breed. Lastly I just want to say breeding rodents especially on a small scale is not as cost effective as they seem, learned this from experience. lol

[sflyingcow]

If your looking to save money breeding cockroaches is super easy to do and great feeders. I have started doing this so i dont have to buy crickets all the time. Although i still feed the occasional pinky. Only found one pet store out of 4 around me that sells live pinkies. Pets mart doesn't sell them here either. If you have an Ace hardware that has a pet side sometimes employees can get you live pinkies otherwise find i have to drive 30 min. to get live pinkies.

[MeTree]

Yeah, I have thought about dubias, but I can't find them anywhere, and my parents certainly would not approve me breeding cochroaches lol. I have heard that they are much cleaner and more effecient than crickets, but right now, crickets is what I have lol.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

[sflyingcow]

well if you can talk them into it id do it!
i ordered mine from ROACH PAGE
i ordered the 125 mix kit and used plastic bin. super easy set up, dont smell at all i keep them in my bed room. Also they can only flutter not fly and cant climb smooth things like the plastic tub walls. Ive read some people say they wouldnt survive if escaped the tub although i find that hard to beleive. i use a small heating pad on my been and they have been breeding well. no regrets 2 months in

[frogmike]

It really doesn't cost that much. I started of with 2 males and two females. You will need to buy 3 set ups. First you will put them all in together and let them have at it. you will hear a lot of squeaking. after a bout 15 days, you will need to place the females in two separate setups. Approx 21 day after the first time they were together you should have two litters. The males will fight always so you might want to buy only one. Don't give them a wheel while you are trying to get them to breed, they are more likely to run than procreate. If you only want one litter at a time then only put one female in at a time. I would add the second one within 10 days so you don't have a big gap in litters though. your biggest expense will be mouse food, so I don't recommend top price mouse food unless you love them.