Breeding mice is a vary cost effective way to feed your amphibians, reptiles, and large fish. The procedure is very simple and almost fool proof. I have bred literally hundreds of mice in just a short time.
I use professional lab cages that I got from a reptile expo. However, you can use anything that will hold the mice and provide proper ventilation. I currently have three colonies of mice, each produces roughly 30 pinkies each month. The cages keep the food and water above the mice so that they cannot contaminate their food and it is easier to clean the cages. Each colony consists of two female and one male mouse. You must not place a second male in a cage with an established colony because the two males will fight and the new male will kill the other male’s babies.
The downsides of breeding your own mice is that they do smell, but that can be fixed by keeping them in a well-ventilated area. The cages must be clean every week or the smell will become over whelming. I use recycled bedding for the cages that is easily composted. I use a commercial mice and rat food that is in pellet form.
Now for the Math
Adult mouse cost $2
Pinkies cost ~ 1$
So three mice costing $6 can produce 30 pinkies that would cost around $30. Therefore, the mice really do pay for themselves after only a few weeks |
