One of the pet stores called us wanting 100 mice and when we delivered I found a cage full of young Gerbils and bought a male and two females--that was 2 months ago they have since matured and have a total of 13 little ones in 3 litters I shudder to think what they would be in a year--LOL.I think we can now supply bait for all of the folks in our Falconry group.One of the other apprentices stoped by Monday to pick up a rat he got a brown one and I thought he wanted it to feed but he was picking it up for bait.I like Gerbils myself they are alot more active and catch the Hawks attention alot quicker.--Jim
Dodge Truck,Blue Dog,Treed Coon dont get much better!
Jim, you are fortunate indeed. I haven't the time, space or inclination to breed gerbils, but i too think they are the best bait animals. I'm at the mercy of the pet stores! it seems that they could use a man like you. They don't seem to be able to keep gerbils in stock for very long. I have two gerbils (Rat and Bait) that i have used for quite some time. Bait got a talon in the ear about 3 weeks ago but she's good now. Rat is a black gerbil and, as strange as this may sound, he has caught more hawks that Bait (he's kind of a soft beige, almost a taupe color ;D)! I once talked to a man who claimed that used the same gerbil for over four years. I hope to beat his recard!
hehehe....when Melissa went and bought some Gerbils, she had to sign a form stating the safety of the animals would not be jepordized ........noooooooo....not us?
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
PETSMART will not sell you any animal for bait or to feed.Their one exception is crickets or at least at our local one. I went in trying to buy some feeder fish for a Garter snake and was told they didnt sell feeder anything and the lady wasn't all that nice about it-LOL.I swore I wouldnt do anymore business with them --but-- they got purina Hi Pro dog chow for $14.99 and with my rebate coupons from Purina for buying so much feed I end up paying $8.99 for it. I know I am weak but I have to give $16.99 for regular Dog chow at Wally World.--Jim
Dodge Truck,Blue Dog,Treed Coon dont get much better!
They ran out of feeders when I wanted to go trapping, but still had some "fancy" mice, which were the brown ones (some of 'em) anyway. And they sold them to me for the cheaper feeder price. ;D
Sometimes you have to sign a little contract/ health guarantee form though...
Hey Aaron, don't mean to get off subject, but how are ya'll doing this year with the new " no leg hold trapping" thing. Is everyone useing bownets and Dho Gazza's?
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
Weasel i think there are little loopholes on that one. Thats a thing i think you 2 should PM about [nudge nudge hint hint]
Anyway my first year i went to petsmart and asked for a "feeder mouse or rat or rabbit". They said they dont sell things as bait. So i go "ok i need a brown fancy mouse and a black fancy mouse". Lady- "What are you going to use it for?" me- "oh just as pets..." LOL what morons! If i ask for a feeder mouse, and you say no, then i ask for a fancy mouse, what the hell do you think im gonna use it for! ;D
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
FB wrote...:"Weasel i think there are little loopholes on that one.".....That's what is on a BC isn't it? ;D I guess Pun intended
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
Pretty tolerant they can take the moderate heat and cold pretty good. As long as they aren't in the wind, rain,snow and direct sunlight they can survive pretty easily. My sponser has breeder rats tht he keeps all year long in the garage here in Florida.
I used to think i knew some things. But i'm not so sure anymore.
I thought I could just breed them in the summer because the winters gets -20 degrees and Im not going to heat a bunch of rats. I know this is a really stupid questions but how do you kill them humainly (sp) so you can freeze them?
grab the tail, smack the back of their head hard on a blunt surface [walls, counter top, etc.]. You gotta smack them alot harder than you'd think though.
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
I never liked doing that. I always snipped the spine at the back of their neck with scissors, but that was kinda bloody. You could probably break the neck with slip-joint pliers though. I kept mice last winter in an aquarium on the back porch. They bundle up together for warmth and I fed them cat food so they could fatten up a bit for insulation. I also gave them about five inches of bedding to bury into. They were doing great til I gave them that celery that I hadn't rinsed off first. They all passed away in their sleep that night. ( damned pesticides!)
Catch them by the tail, put a pencil flat 90 degrees across their neck and while you push the pencil down you pull the tail. It's instant decerebration and it is considered a humane method of euthanasia. But it's hard to do!