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breeding mice for water dragons is it cruel


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I don't have a problem feeding something live to something else, it is natural.

As long as it dies fairly soon after being placed with the predator and is done purely for food, not the 'fun' of the owner (like the guy on the NZ fishkeepers doco who was giving feeder goldfish to his vegetarian pacu...)

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It's just like farming... Humans breed animals to feed to other animals everyday... no issue in my opinion.

Just make sure the animals are well looked after while alive... like free range vs barn raised vs cage raised.

But that is a whole other topic that isn't needed in this thread :)

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I breed mice to sell as pets, and a guy once bought one of my males to breed the babies for his water dragons. I was pretty horrified when he told me, and I got him to assure me that he would only feed the dragons the babies, not the adults.

I don't really have a problem with newborn mice being used as a food source, as they are less aware (though personally I don't think I could ever do it, as I'm too fond of mice!) but I would consider it cruel to use adult mice or older babies (eg furry babies) for food.

It is however definitely cruel to be constantly breeding from one female, as previously stated by BigBossPants. A female mouse should not have more than three litters in her lifetime - she should be allowed to retire once she reaches three litters, and should not be bred from once she reaches one year of age. She should also be allowed at least a couple of months break between litters. It is important to separate her from the male before she gives birth and while she's nursing the babies, otherwise she'll get pregnant again straight away and it's not good for her to be pregnant when she's just had a litter or still nursing.

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Well yeah...I'm sure with wild mice the rules of breeding are very different!

Wild mice are much hardier and more durable than those bred in captivity.

I was just stating advice I've read from other experienced mouse breeders - that mice bred in captivity shouldn't be treated as breeding machines.

Though in saying that, my male mice wouldn't complain if I let them breed all the time, being the horny little devils they are!!

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  • 1 month later...

The difference is captive mice can live for a year or two, while the average wild mouse will live for just a few months. This is partly due to being at the bottom of the food chain, partly due to females being exhausted by the energy put into reproduction. Birth and lactation is very taxing- just imagine a female human reproducing to her full potential (a baby every 9 months)

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its not cruel if you dont tell anyone about it :sml1:

everyone here will have different opinions.

i think that feeding lions, tigers and predators int he zoo meat is cruel

i reckon they should put a goat or sheep in there after hours to get their stimulated.

but you cant

mice, baby mice is extremely good for fish and reptiles.

full of vits, calcium, especially ust after a feed from their monther and full of milk - they are extremely full of goodness!

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just for the record. If ya gona feed out mice,less is more!! i fed out 7 adultwild mice (fresh caught in traps) over a season,over an above normal feed n me male was so FAAAAT afterwards,I had to starve him out for half the next season!

P.S starve = half share diet..... :digH:

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