I own a seven year old corn snake, my younger sister is planning on getting another snake, and I may be inheriting a sand boa from a friend. Not to mention other friends I have with snakes and reptiles that can/will/like to eat mice at varying ages. I've thought about raising my own feeder mice before, quite a lot, but only a few days ago did a little mouse inspire me to actually sit down and research to breed feeders, and maybe do some real experiments for my curiosity towards genetics. From my understanding, there's a lot of different people with different ways to breed their own feeder mice, and I'd like to compile my understanding, and have someone experienced tell me what's right, what's wrong, and what varies with different keepers/colonies. And from here I'll begin. With my first breeding stock- which will likely come from a pet store- I should choose 1 male, and 3-5 females. They should come from the same place, so they have the same smell, hopefully with at least the male from a different litter if possible. I understand that some places might not know what mouse is related to what other mouse. The male doesn't always need to be taken out when the females are noticibly ready to have their pups, but might- it varies by the individual. Most mice will cannibalize their first litter, and that's okay, but they should just be culled if they do it a second time. Out of the surviving litters, you can pick a new set of females while buying a new male to keep the genes diverse. Later litters can have a female pup stay with the mother, grandmother, etc. A pair of male pups from the same litter can stay together and will likely not fight, making a pair of bachelors that will have company when not breeding with a harem of females. Females bred with the pair of males should be separated from them before giving birth as the males may try to cannibalize their brothers pups After 3-4 weeks, the pups must be weaned and moved out of the mothers cage and by gender to prevent inbreeding. Older female mice will sometimes help with another females young, same with females with litters at the same time. With large litters, some pinkies should be culled to assist with the others growing faster and healthier, providing better breeding stock for generation. Generally, litters should be lowered to around 8 or less per female. Does this sound about right, with the obvious changing by an individual basis? Is there anything else I need to know? Keep in mind this is my basic understanding, I know all of the food, temperature, and housing requirements as well. Do I have anything 100% wrong? Does it seem morally wrong to breed these mice, and save some to end up as pets if I get too attached while I'm still feeding others to the snakes? I'm in a position where I love animals, even the squeaky little mice, but my snake is my baby and she comes first... Is it still alright to choose favorites, or should I try to stay emotionally unattached? Where besides a pet store could I get my starter mice? Ones that I know are unrelated and/or already of a higher quality for breeding? I apologize if I'm hard to understand, I'm a bit ADD and typed this in spurts.
