Raising food - Dead

[kainslie]

I have a question for people who raise food for their animals...How do you euthanize the animals? Say for mice, I was told about a CO2 tank, but i have no idea how to get dry ice, (well I called one place, and I have to get 6lb minimum and a video I watched said I would only need like 1/5th of a pound IF that.. you can't put dry ice in the freezer right?.... hmm..

Also, for mice, since it's for feeder food, you'd want to feed them natural food for them. What do mice naturally eat?

andd, do you just go to a pet store and buy a male and female? do you have to get 2-5 females to 1 male?

How do you raise them? Is it in a fish tank like container, and do you transfer them to another container to euthanize them?

and......When do you know when to get rid of the original mice and bring new blood in, or how to sort through so there isn't any deformaties in the litters. Do you keep the males and femals seperated?

Lastly, how do you know a good age to euthanize them? I'm not familiar with mice life spans, and don't want to feed mice too young. and cause dificencies to my ferret.

It seems so frusterating, but it's so expensive for feeder mice.. (I spent 95 dollars on 100 mice about a month ago, and i'm about 50% through...)

I hope you guys can help me =[

Also, when you euthanized them, was it easier the second, or third time... My boyfriend is hesitant for me to try this because he thinks (knows..) that I will chicken out and we will have a thousand mice! Eek haha

sorry for all the questions =[

[WTFerret]

Google breeder rack or check craigslist I've seen them before. Dry ice is sold at most grocery stores , ask around

[kainslie]

I've been too 6 grocery stores, no luck yet. (That was a suggestion on places to look)

as for the breeder rack, that looks a little extensive.. I am only breeding mice for one ferret. and would like to keep it in the house where I can clean their cage and not forget about them here and there.., and I surely don't have room for all that breeding

[bluemoose]

Assuming it's mice, I just give them to the ferrets live. They make a quick kill and they get enrichment out of it. However if you want to pre-kill, I'd recommend cervical dislocation. It's quick, painless, and best of all, free. The method I use is to take a ball point pen, place it length wise across the neck right behind the head, and then just pull the tail. Separates the spine from the skull causing instant death.

I don't know what mice naturally eat but I feed mine Mazuri rodent pellets. If you buy from a feed store you can get a huge bag for pretty cheap. You can also put in some fresh foods if you'd like.

You can pretty much have however many females to each male as your cage has room for. I have four females and a male but you can certainly have one to one. Just make sure not to have multiple males in one cage.

I think you can use a tank as a cage but I prefer something where you can attach a water bottle. Mice make a disgusting mess with a water dish and the water constantly needs to be changed. These are the cages I use.
The breeder cage:

And the adolescent/adult cage:


I got them here: www.critter-cages.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=40
They are a bit pricey but I find them very convenient. In addition to the exterior water bottle, you can place the food pellets above the mice where they can reach them but can't poop all over them.

I'm planning to let my females breed 2-3 times and then cull them and bring in new. I'll probably get a new male too just for good measure. I'd like to get colored ones next time to make it more interesting You can take out the male after he impregnates the females or you can leave him in. If you leave him in the females will constantly be pregnant because he will breed them again as soon as he can but there's no danger to the babies to leave him in.

I feed mine off once they stop growing. I think it's around 6-8 weeks but I honestly don't keep track. I just eye them and decide when they're ready.

And yes, euthanizing them does get easier. Even if you use my method I was terrified the first couple times I did it but it doesn't take too long before you're used to it. CO2 seems like it would be pretty easy considering all you have to do is set it up and wait.

[kainslie]

Thanks Moose!!
Super informative.. I wouldn't mind feeding live, I just have no place for it, so I can't at this time (We don't have a bath tub or anything, and I don't know if Sly Bandit could even kill a mouse Hah.

Fro the mice, how often do you change bedding and stuff? and since you feed live, I assume that you don't let them all go at once (like I would do with CO2) Oh and, how many mice do you release at a time, I usually feed about 2 mice a sitting.. Would you feed two also all at once, or would you let one go at a time?

[bluemoose]

I usually change the bedding whenever it starts to stink It really depends how many mice are in the cage. I use aspen shavings for bedding which is pretty good at absorbing urine ect.

I give my fuzzbutts their mice in the bathroom. It's fairly small and there's no where for the mice to escape. You can also use a shower. If you're not sure how efficiently your fuzz will kill a mouse, start with a young one like a pinkie. Even if he isn't an amazing hunter right off the bat, most ferrets can improve their skills as long as they have some prey drive.

The number of mice I feed at one time really just depends. Which ferret is getting them (Kiwi eats much more than the other two), how many I have that are old enough to be fed off, ect. I prefer to only give them as many as they'll eat that day because part of the appeal of raising your own feeders for me is the ability to give the ferrets fresh mice that have never been frozen. But I'm sure doing several mice at once and freezing them for a short time will cause little or no nutrient degradation. That's usually only a problem with long term freezing and yours will still be fresher than mice you bought frozen that have been dead for who knows how long.

[kainslie]

I have another question (cause that's what i'm all about!)

Would the mice carry anything? I know since i'm raising them it'll be different then say - wild mice. but i don't know how to care for a mouse so i'm scared I could somehow give them something that could hurt the fuzzbutt.

Also, How often do you feed mice, I give about two everyday.

[bluemoose]

I suppose the mice could have parasites of some kind but if you get your breeders from a reputable source I don't think it should be an issue.

I don't feed mice everyday because I try to balance them in with the pre-killed rats, rabbits, chicks, quail, and guinea pigs that make up the rest of their diet. Raw fed fuzzies are recommended to have at least three protein sources in relatively balanced amounts. So they get mice every 2-4 days and they all eat different amounts. Age, time of year, how much they ate of the last meal, and just differences between individuals all affect how many mice they each eat so it's always different.