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 #1826466


Greatballzofire
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 Of Mice and Meals

Phooey on the frozen pinkie trip. It is expensive off the Internet, and the snakes go Ewww...we have to eat THIS again?! They eat the ft’s but without much enthusiasm, except for Dotz, who is wonderfully greedy.
So I spent $10.00 for a buck and two does. Already had a nice big set up for them. The mouse cage is in my big dog crate so the cats can’t molest them. By the time these mice produce their first live pinkies I will have used up most of the yucky frozen ones. This is a lot cheaper than buying the fts. I can vacuum seal the extra pinkies as I get litters, and I think my home grown will be better than store bought. The main idea though is to have live wiggling food for the snakes.


What a live meal looks like.
Besides, the mice are fun to watch do their little mouse trip. Yet another batch of pets! They will never themselves be food, so I can safely name them.



08/10/08  08:47pm

 #1826514


Candy_Corn
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1826466


 Of Mice and Meals

Cool picture! I think it’s great for those who can tolerate breeding rodents to do so, b/c it saves money, and provides healthy food for your snakes, because you know what the mice and rats are eating. I’d probably be saving a bunch if I still bred rodents, but I couldn’t tolerate it.

So now I’m stuck buying in bulk from Rodent Pro :)
08/10/08  09:15pm

 #1826741


The_Thunderer
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   Message To: Candy_Corn   In reference to Message Id: 1826514


 Of Mice and Meals

I really would follow suit, but I don’t have the space and I CANNOT STAND the smell... even fairly clean breeder setups just gross me out.

So, feeding pre-kill/FT is the only way for me.

BTW, love the pic!

Fred
08/11/08  02:16am

 #1826834


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: The_Thunderer   In reference to Message Id: 1826741


 Of Mice and Meals

Quote:

even fairly clean breeder setups just gross me out.


"Fairly" clean is not clean enough. With just three mice I see no problem. When I was a kid I had pet rats and mice and they didn’t stink because I cleaned their cages often ( was I the only teenager in the world who never had to be nagged to clean their room?)
The frozen pinkies have a smell that is sort of like milk going off. Gak! And they have smelled this way from the first day I opened a fresh vacuum sealed package and thawed one out. I thought my snake had musked her feeding jar when I first smelled that godawful stink, but it was the pinky, she has never musked me or her jar. I have never smelled snake musk, or if I have, it just smells like reptiles in general when they poop on you. I got some special unscented soap to wash them in the stink is so obnoxious. And I’ve got a high tolerance for organic odors, since I trap and release skunks, have cats with a cat box, deal with all sorts of poop in the organic garden. The pinkies aren’t spoilt, they just smell this way. A little (little being the key word) mouse urine is nothing in comparison.
I can see where limited space is a factor. Not everyone has the space or time to bother with live mice.
08/11/08  09:20am

 #1826980


The_Thunderer
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1826834


 Of Mice and Meals

Hope you don’t think I was trashing on you... was just pointing out that I WISH I could do that (it would save me LOTS of money), but because of my own sensitivity, I simply can’t. LOL.

I can understand where you’re coming from though. If you deal with the likes of skunks, etc., you’re probably not going to be bothered by mouse odors.

Good luck with your mice breeding program!
08/11/08  12:25pm

 #1827636


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: The_Thunderer   In reference to Message Id: 1826980


 Of Mice and Meals

Quote:

Hope you don’t think I was trashing on you


Absolutely not, Thunderer. I can dig how not having the facilities or time, or even the tolerance for the mousy odors, can make keeping mice a non option for someone.


This is the mouse cage. It is a rabbit cage covered with 1/8 inch hardware cloth, and is 24 in x 24 in by 16 in tall. When I put them in it they were delighted, and played on their wheel, checked everything out, and seem quite happy. There are two does and one buck in this cage. During the day I can set the cage outside on the porch as you see here, and at night bring it in. Its lined on the bottom with a piece of linoleum; when they chew that up I can just put a new piece. I had to make this cage as I could not find anything big enough without paying a ton of money.
All’s I need now is a little feed hopper for their kibble. They get an assortment of little treats, like peanut butter, seeds, fruit, ect.
They are too quick for my camera, but eventually I will get a photo.
If my computer mouse fails I have backup!



08/11/08  09:43pm

 #1827732


L.ROY
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1827636


 Of Mice and Meals

i have to changeout mousecage bottoms about every 3 days or my snake room gets real stinky.





08/11/08  10:55pm

 #1827763


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: L.ROY   In reference to Message Id: 1827732


 Of Mice and Meals

That is a first class setup, L,Roy!
Do you mean by mousecage bottoms the litter?
I plan on only keeping a few adult mice.
08/11/08  11:21pm

 #1827781


L.ROY
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1827763


 Of Mice and Meals

no, by btms i mean the clear poly-carbonate btms.
i have 2 cage btms for each stainless top that way i can wash the btms at my convenience.



08/11/08  11:33pm

 #1827811


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: L.ROY   In reference to Message Id: 1827781


 Of Mice and Meals

Where did you get this equipment?
I am going to make a bottom out of sheet metal when I get to the hardware store. Then I can just hose it out (removing the litter and the mice first, of course) and apply detergent and hot water to this non permeable surface.
Do your poly carbonate cages come in bigger than what is in the photos?
08/11/08  11:59pm

 #1827822


L.ROY
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1827811


 Of Mice and Meals

i bought them factory direct from a place in Arkansas "Alternative Design". i hear they only deal with large quanity orders now tho.
08/12/08  12:08am

 #1827828


L.ROY
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1827811


 Of Mice and Meals

and yes they come in a larger size but the lids are like $30.
08/12/08  12:15am

 #1827861


The_Thunderer
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   Message To: L.ROY   In reference to Message Id: 1827828


 Of Mice and Meals

I think I’ve seen pics of those setups (as well as those snakes) before! LOL. Still, quite impressive!
08/12/08  12:59am

 #1827865


L.ROY
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   Message To: The_Thunderer   In reference to Message Id: 1827861


 Of Mice and Meals

lol!!! my pics get around,lol!!!
08/12/08  01:02am

 #1828146


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: L.ROY   In reference to Message Id: 1827865


 Of Mice and Meals

I looked at their products but for my needs I didn’t see anything as large as the current cage my mice are in. Since I have only three little mice, and no plans to keep the young as breeders, I will stick with my cage, which is ventilated to the max, even though a tad crude, being homemade. Today I’m going to get the sheet metal and fabricate a better tray inside the cage. This cage is escape proof; not even a snake could get out of it! Or even a hornet, who flew in while I was putting a food treat in the cage this morning (cage is on the porch) and could not find it’s way out until I opened the door for it.



08/12/08  10:11am

 #1828447


L.ROY
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1828146


 Of Mice and Meals

i’m sure the cage you built will work fine.
08/12/08  02:38pm

 #1829011


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: L.ROY   In reference to Message Id: 1828447


 Of Mice and Meals

I got the sheet metal and made a tray with four inch sides inside the cage. Much better, and they can’t chew it up and it wont hold the smell of pee. I think they have already gotten down to business; last night I heard some excited squeaking coming out of one of their little shelter boxes, and the box jiggled around like a ’57 Chevy at Lover’s Point! So in a month I should have some nice fresh live pinkies for my snakes.
Woody the male pyro got a treat today. One of the cats caught a tiny fence lizard, and I got to the body before the cats ate it. Woody was most happy to get that. He really doesn’t care for the ft pinkies I have, and I don’t blame him!
08/12/08  10:26pm

 #1829043


Belbackclan
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1829011


 Of Mice and Meals

hey LROY how old and what kind exactly is that king in the second pic up above looking at the mice,it looks like a brooksi also like our Columbus so i was just wondering.



08/12/08  11:00pm

 #1829104


L.ROY
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   Message To: Belbackclan   In reference to Message Id: 1829043


 Of Mice and Meals

oh, that’s muttly and he’s a 5 yr old floridaXeastern.
08/13/08  12:01am

 #1829823


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: L.ROY   In reference to Message Id: 1829104


 Of Mice and Meals

Muttly is easy to recognize. He has a distinctive little mark on his head, like a square u.


Puff gets caught on camera. Hershey and Blaze, the other female and the male, are shyer and harder to photograph. My darn camera has a delay while it thinks about taking the photo, and by then the mice have zipped off out of camera range! Argh. Even the lizards are easier to photograph, and the snakes are really easy. The cats are like the snakes, easy. As I sit here typing this the mice have come out and are doing all sorts of cute mouse things, but by the time I get in position...
I put quite a banquet out hoping to entice them, but no dice, or should I say no mice!
08/13/08  04:05pm

 #1830330


L.ROY
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1829823


 Of Mice and Meals

nice mouse holiday inn, i showed that pic to my mice and now they want to vacation there.
08/13/08  11:41pm

 #1830537


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: L.ROY   In reference to Message Id: 1830330


 Of Mice and Meals

They have mouse air conditioning, too. Yesterday I wrapped a cold pack in a washcloth and put a little cardboard box over it, and they were able to chill out in their own cool room. Today they will get the same thing; it is supposed to be 103 Fahrenheit in the shade again! The snakes get cold packs on the edges of their terracotta hides, as well. I even have to put cold packs in my incubators...the only thing good about summer is it makes the plants grow!
08/14/08  10:04am


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