#feeder talk

[i-m-snek]

Im very shy but im rlly curious how much your collection coasts to feed on average every month? If this is to person u dont have to reply!!

So I breed my own feeders, which honestly saves me a lot of money (But also you have to be pretty strong willed, culling feeders does suck even though it's done humanely). Feed for the feeders plus their substrate costs me.. maybe around $70 per month or so? :) And I produce enough for all of my snakes and to sell a bag or two of feeders to people in town who have ball pythons from me from past clutches :) Then I buy fresh veggies every two weeks or so, which is only about $10, then I buy a bag of gecko food every few months or so, soo we'll estimate that at about 6 bucks a month ($20 per bag, purchased every 3-4 months) I also breed my own roaches, which eat home made chow from leftover dried greens that go bad before I can feed them to the lizards, so thats zero cost there. So all together averages out at about $96 ish a month. If I'm doing the math right LOL I am incredibly lucky to have the space and time to do my own feeders with how wildly expensive frozen feeders are to ship tbh When I first started keeping and I was only feeding Leliana, Thresh, and Dante, I was spending about $120 a month on shipping frozen feeders to me, so I can't even imagine how expensive it would be nowadays, especially with how many I have now!

[plushpetaub]

How are you doing down there?

I know, I know. You’re not quite used to feeling all this heft pressing down on you, right? But I have to say I’m really enjoying seeing you from this angle. Under me.~ You might not be quite as big as me, but don’t underestimate how well this paunch of yours works as my pillow, darling. You really have softened all over for me, haven’t you? Especially this cute lil face of yours. 

Here’s the thing. You know by now that I can be quite greedy, but that applies to more than me. You see, it’s not enough that you’re all mine. I want more of you to call my own. If you managed to take your eyes off this belly weighing you down, you might have noticed all these desserts I’ve brought to bed. Don’t worry. We’re going to take this nice and slow. You make a really nice pillow. But I’m in the market for a mattress. 🤭

[catbreon-draws]

Since you also have pet mice, what qualifies a mouse to be a feeder? Was there a separate area, and when did you decide to use them? I've never really thought about feeder mice, so I'm incredibly curious! Thank you for all of the mice posts as well

I didn’t really have a separate area, or pet vs feeder lines. Though I did have pet temperament vs show lines. Any mouse that I felt wasn’t going to improve my lines was culled (removed from my intentions of breeding), and then I would decide whether I wanted to keep it as a personal pet, or if it could be adopted out as a pet to another person, or if it would be beneficial to someone else’s breeding line. If a mouse I didn’t want as a pet or breeder wasn’t sold, or if I thought it had poor health or temperament, I would euthanize it and sell it in a pack with other prekilled feeders (or feed to my own animals). I preferred to sell my feeders prekilled so I knew for 100% certainty that they died in a humane way (if a friend or family had expressed interest in live feeders and would be responsible when feeding I would have considered it, but nobody asked). Sometimes I would wait for the mouse to grow to a certain size before euthanizing, but even after deciding a particular mouse was going to end up as a feeder I didn’t treat it any different from the others. They were all my babies and got treats and fun things to do! I made a point for a very long time to name every single mouse I produced, even if I decided it was to become a feeder, though I did eventually have to stop doing that because it was just getting to be too many lol. I love mice so much and I really hope I can get back into breeding in the future.

[zooophagous]

The blue one is now Ichabod. He's a feeder failure because he's too calm and nice. His cagemate is now Petyr. Peter's fate is up in the air, he calmed down a lot in a relatively short time but he's still skittish and it may be genetic so he might never fully be over it.

The white one became a feeder. I have to decide whether to start breeding my own feeders now or just rehome Ichabod to a pet only home somewhere else. If he stays, Petyr will probably be spared so I can have a cagemate that he gets along with.

[lilsqueakers]

do you breed rats and mice to adopt, keep, etc.? what do you end up doing with them all?

UHM D all of the above haha!I breed rats for myself to improve health, type, and temperament! Anyone who I cannot keep and fits what I look for in a respectable, dapper ratty who will fit well in a pet home gets adopted out to pet homes!

I’m also starting to sell to breeding homes as well! 

Anyone who I think would be a perfect breeding prospect for myself… Oooor I just love them too much to rehome them, stay with me! 

Anyone who is *not* fit for rehoming, breeding, or keeping (See: health, severe temperament issues) are humanely euthanized and donated to a local raptor rehab to help wildlife! Well- they… Will be… If I get enough to donate, haha! Hopefully that will never happen… Which is odd to say when talking about donating to help wildlife but I don’t want to produce rats like that

Mice were similar! However, only a couple have ever been adopted out as pets, but I quickly stopped when the line turned sour and started attacking my hands after generations of lovely critters. So- I decided until I could improve temperament, none would be adopted out! Which I made progress on… But it took. So. Much. To get to where I am, and the lines are regressing again. So clearly I’m doing something wrong, and I decided- instead of putting so much in, messing up, and getting discouraged and not putting my full self into the projects, I would just hand the colonys figurative ‘torch’ to a breeder I trust whole-heartedly (And is actually who helped me get started on mice again!) 

[i-m-snek]

Hi! Do you feed only mice/rats or do you vary your snakes diets with other feeders?

Hey there! :) I do a varied diet as much as I can with all of my snakes, including the ball pythons. They often get chi/cks as well, and I'm researching into other things that are an appropriate size for them. I've never had anyone get "stuck" on a single type of feeder either :)

[catbreon-draws]

You're open about raising feeders (which is fine) but how do you give names to them, like emotionally? I wouldn't be able to handle that, it would be too much like killing a pet to me.

You’re not the first person to say this to me, actually! It’s a common feeling. The thing is, to me they are all my pets. I treat all my mice like family. They all get the same food, the same amount of attention, the same enrichment and love. I feel very strongly about ethically raising and euthanizing animals for consumption, and at least for me, part of making sure I treat them fairly is by giving them a name. I’m going to care more about Squeaker than I am about mouse #250. And I feel like I owe it to them to at least send them to mousie heaven with a name, to show that I loved them and that I’ll remember them forever.

[i-m-snek]

Henlo friend :) I have a concerning question. My ball python, probably a year old, has not eaten in two weeks. She eats once a week, but doesn't have interest in the (live) rats anymore. We switched to live from frozen after she didn't want those either. The vet was absolutely no help, and I'm very worried for my noodle. What can I do to feed her? She isn't interested in the ratto /:

Hello! So for future asks, please punctuate feeder names (like ra.t or mo/use) to keep feeder talk out of the pet tag :) As for her, at a year old she should be eating every ten days or so, rather than once a week. Double check her husbandry, and don’t offer food every day, only offer every ten days. Two weeks isn’t too much to worry about as for losing weight, but it is important to get her back on a schedule. You can also try braining the f/t food item and leaving it in, with its face in her hide overnight, scenting with mou/se bedding, a dry food item, a wet food item, a much warmer f/t food item, and many other things. For now, double check husbandry. Basics to look for:Hotspot: 93 degreesWarm side: 88-92 degreesCool side: 80-87 degreesHumidity: 60-70%And lots of cover to make her feel safe. Tweak your thermostats and spray as needed. Don’t handle her for a week, then try again :) You can also keep her cage covered in a towel all day to give her more privacy as well