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My rodents ~ rats & mice

Discussion in 'All other pets' started by Alasse, Nov 17, 2006.

  1. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    Hiya

    I just bought a new cage for my 2 rats

    Cinders (hooded) & Champers
    [​IMG]

    New home
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    I also have 2 adult female mice and 8 pups of as yet unknown sex...the pups are 10 days old today and sooooo cute

    Snowdrop
    [​IMG]

    Bella
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    A pic of the pups at 6 days
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    Some new pup pics.....they are now 19 days old. They're eyes are open, beginning to sample food, and starting to investigate the tank

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

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    And one of Bella & Snowdrop

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Bente

    Bente New Member

    Awww, they are all adorable :D And what a cage! :shock: Even I would love to live in that one :lol:
     
  4. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    Pups have arrived for :eek: :eek: :eek:

    Bella (mum)
    [​IMG]

    Scooter (dad)
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    I'll give mum and pups a couple of days to settle, then i'll take some pics and count how many she had
     
  5. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    Ok...i managed to sneak in a quick head count while she was up the other end having a feed...could be hidden ones again like last time though

    12 little pink pups :shock: :D :eek:

    Sooooooo cute!!
     
  6. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    Bella's pups at 5 days old....colours starting to appear

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  7. eman

    eman New Member

    they are really cute..
    what are u going to do with all of them?
     
  8. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    I'll be definately keeping any with brindle in them

    My kids will take some of the coloured ones....white ones will be rehomed if i can or euthanised
     
  9. eman

    eman New Member

    oh..ok :cry: that is sad..
     
  10. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    Yeah i know....i will keep what white ones i can...i'm setting up a 4 ft tank to house them...

    The coloured ones are easy to find homes for...but no one seems to want the white ones....very sad considering they are just as loving and cute as the colours

    After watching them grow and handling them i'm afraid i find it hard to take any other option...so any extras will probably live out their life with me *L*...cause i'm a big softy
     
  11. tuttifrutti

    tuttifrutti New Member

    instead of euthanizing (i know, this will sound terrible) you can see if you can find somewhere that will buy them as feeder mice. all they do is freeze them, a relatively painless death, then they sell them. i have to buy these to feed my snake. you can sell them at various ages, the pinkies are those w/o fur, the fuzzies are those who have recently started growing fur, and then there are young adult mice and adult mice.
     
  12. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    No difference between me euthanizing them than someone else doing it.......most reptile people will not buy them as feeders here

    Feeders here are lab bred mice...sold frozen at petshops and reptile feed suppliers...guarenteed no disease
     
  13. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    Another quick peek today....they are 8 days old now

    It looks like at least 3 of the pups are brindle&white (woohooo), 1 black, some caramel/tan&white, some very pale tans....not as many whites as i first believed....when they are at around 10 or so days i will be able to tell their true colours

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    There maybe other brindle types in there....paler brindling...tis still quite difficult to tell as the lighting is not very bright near their tank....and i dont like to take them away from Mum for too long
     
  14. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    The change in colours in just 1 day is quite amazing

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The dark brindle pup is stunning (darker than mum)....2 brindle&whites like dad....a few caramel&whites, and a paler version of the caramel&white....some whites (but less than i thought) and the black with the white dot on its head

    A few more days and i'll get them out and take individual pics for ID purposes
     
  15. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    A pile of pups
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    [​IMG]

    Brindle&White pup ~ staying with me
    [​IMG]

    Caramel&White pup
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    White Tiger Brindle pup ~ definately staying with me
    [​IMG]
     
  16. True_Pits

    True_Pits New Member

    Interesting our mice are not "lab mice" I breed them in my home and our pet store will buy them to sell to their reptile customers. Another man was breeding/selling to the pet store but he gave the project to his son and I guess he didn't take care of the mice.

    My husband has worked at a few pet stores and 2 of them took and sold/bred mice that people brought in and didn't want anymore. Where I bought one of my breeding rats to breed feeders for my snakes 1 that they sold me out of the 3 had been a pet which someone turned over to the store. They would have used her for their own breeding, she was one in the back not in the front tanks for sale as a pet. She didn't come from some lab. They told me that she had babies her owner said before so they knew that she was a successful mom and she was a pet so she was used to being handled. The other female was young so they made no guarantee that she would produce but I guess she was already pg when I got her and soon had 4 babies.

    While it is the same outcome (death) the difference is another life gets the food they need to live. So I think that it is worth a try. If you don't have a pet store which will buy them (many won't, some will) they might take them for free and either breed them or sell them. Some might not even go out as feeders.

    This is an old thread, but might be good for future use.
     
  17. Alasse

    Alasse New Member

    Definately an old thread *L*

    Here it is illegal to sell for live feed, as stated most reptile people will not feed live for the legality reasons not to mention the risks to the reptiles, bites etc. Freezing is not a humane way to cull mice, ever been cold yourself, i certainly do not find being really cold a pleasent experience. CO2 is the most humane way, or by taking them to the vet.

    I do not cull my mice (i just cannot bring myself to do it), any i cant rehome stay with me.
     
  18. True_Pits

    True_Pits New Member

    I'm not trying to convince you to do something you don't want to do or that is illegal sorry, no hard feelings.

    Here it isn't illegal to sell live feeders. Many of the stores sell live feed, one here sells frozen pinkies and live everything else, there is only one which sells live pinkies because they breed there own there and don't have to order them in.

    I feed live and I'm not sure what you mean by most reptile people won't feed live. I don't think it is wise to generalize our entire community. Where it is illegal as you live I can understand, they don't have a choice.

    No one freezes or prekills meals for these snakes and lizards in the wild. It is natural for them to eat live animals. I know some who feed live and f/t both and some who only do one or the other. I am on different boards with many other herp people and my husband has been in herps for years and known some of the major people in that industry. He used to be into them a lot more heavily with breeding and such. Some feed live and some feed f/t it depends on that persons preference and sometimes the reptile's preference. Some will not eat f/t especially older ones you buy that someone else has always fed live. Those might take to f/t and others might not and it takes a lot to get them to eat f/t and sometimes force feeding. You have to be weary force feeding them sometimes as well because they might throw it up anyway. I could never get my Hondurans to eat f/t, even with wiggle the pinky only one would attempt to strike, they might grab it and then lose interest. They would leave it sitting there and still would not eat it after grabbing it. Very frustrating to see them not eat, live was not a problem. So it is healthy that they actually eat.

    I have only had one snake which was bit by a mouse and it didn't really even leave a mark. I just saw that it was trying to bite. His monitor was never even injured by rats and those things are pretty big!! He had no problem eating them. I have seen some bad cases where snakes were chewed up/injured by mice/rats and this was usually due to inexperienced keepers and those who thought it was ok to leave the rodents in the tank for extended time.

    I never said to freeze them but since live feeding is illegal I guess you'd have to. I respect your decision to keep any that don't find homes and that makes you a very responsible person/breeder. You have a good plan already. Please don't take my post the wrong way.
     

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