New venture-Mice/Rat breeder Cape Town

[Reptile Deli]

Hello Everyone

I am new to the forum and I am from Cape Town. I have been toying with the idea to start breeding mice and rats and supply frozen rodents. I have a few snakes myself and it is so difficult to find rodents in Cape Town and if you do the prices are really high. The last batch of weaned mice that I bough I paid R11 each.

I wanted to do this for a while now but had to put it on hold because I was working overseas for the last 3 years. I just started a new job (In Iraq) where I will be working a 6 weeks on/6 week off rotation. With my new schedule I think it’s a great time to start with this venture.

It is still very early stages in planning etc and will be still a while before there would be any rodents for sale but I just wanted to get a feel for the market out there to see if it would be worthwhile to start doing this.
I don’t want to make a killing out of the whole project but want to supply good quality frozen rodents at reasonable prices. I am looking at the following prices:

Mice:
Pinks- R1
Fuzzy-R1, 40
Pups-R1, 60
Weaned-R1, 80
Large-R4

Rats:
Pinks-R2
Fuzzy-R2,80
Pups-R3,30
Weaned-R3,70
Small-R3,90
Medium-R5
Large-R7

Wholesale prices would also be available for larger orders/Pet shops and courier would also be available for those that would like to buy from outside Cape Town.
As I have said this is the beginning stages of the whole project and I just want to get a feel of the demand so that I can see how many cages etc I would need.

[Lillypod]

Those prices are very cheap, but what I can add is you should remember your rats and mice will eat A LOT, try and make your prices so that it is still affordable for others, but you don't run a loss, cages and substrate also cost a lot, so keep that in mind.

[gekosin]

Those prices are extremely low from what I have experienced and you will possibly even be spending more on keeping the mice than you ever make...

Cant remember the exact pricing of all I have bought but I paid R6.00 per pinky the other day which was a lot in my opinion I recall paying 3/4 rand each from my previous supplier.

[Reptile Deli]

Thank you for your reply. I have been doing allot of number crunching over the last few months and these prices include feed to get them to that size, bedding etc plus a small profit. I am sure the prices would increase once I have started but it should not be with much.

[Warren Klein]

I would like to know what will you be feeding them to sell for those prices?

[kfc223]

Good luck dude.

I'm in Paarl and I breed rodents. I have been breeding for a while and it isn't cheap. Im interested how you will be able to supply feeders at that price.

You can PM me if you have any questions about breeding them.

[Reptile Deli]

Hello All
I have a family member that works where they make pig and dog pellets. The pig pellets is the same as the “sow care” pellets. I can get all the off cuts for dirt cheap. Those are the pellets that is broken in half etc that is not package quality.

[Warren Klein]

Rodent pellets are specially formulated for feeding rodents. Pig pellets should be fed to pigs and dog pellets to dogs.

[snarf]

Good luck with your project and may you have the greatest of success.

[Reptile Deli]

Hello Snarf

Thank you for your well wishes.

[dobby7]

Rats and mice have been stealing dog pellets from homes for decades and they have thrived on them. We sometimes overthink things andtry way too hard to do things to perfection when it is not neccessary.

[Warren Klein]

Rats and mice have been stealing dog pellets from homes for decades and they have thrived on them. We sometimes overthink things andtry way too hard to do things to perfection when it is not neccessary.

These rodents are ultimately being raised to feed our captive reptiles. If perfection is not necessary then why don't you just feed your snakes on those same wild rats and mice you speak of and see how they thrive for you in captivity? I will strive to feed my animals a balanced, nutritious diet which is formulated for their specific consumption. Not all rodents are created equally and people obviously have different standards for what is considered acceptable food for their animals.

[dobby7]

Our captive reptiles are nothing more than the offspring of once wild reptiles that did eat those same mice and rats and they must have thrived because there are still wild snakes out there eating wild rodents. Dont talk about what you dont know, I treasure each and every one of my reptiles and I dont need your opinion on that. I didnt say anything bad about you and the way you look after your animals. I respect that about you but I have no intention of respecting you as a person after what you just said.

[Reptile Deli]

Ladies and gentlemen

The reason for my post was to find out if there is a market for frozen rodents if I sell them at these prices. I am well aware of the price and time it takes to breed rodents and as I said earlier in my one post I have been crunching numbers for a while now and these are the numbers I came up with. There is no way that I would sell these rodents just to make a loss.
In regards to the food. I said I will be using pig pellets and not dog food. Hundreds of large scale breeders around the world are using the pig pellets for food. I know “ pig pellets for pigs, dog pellets for dogs etc” but the rodent pallets are not always available. Whatever is missing from the pig pellets will be made up with extra feed that will be mixed with the pig pellets.

[it_bit_me]

Use chicken pellets. They sell for R260 per 50kg. They are of an higher standard than rodent pellets.
Chicken pellets are bought from the Landbou mark/Ko-op.

Start with prices just below your competitor. You should be re-investing the extra cash into the project, you will not be able to keep up with demand if you have those prices.