PDA

View Full Version : If you've never seen large-scale breeding....


Emma
04-22-2006, 10:45 AM
Browsing ebay came across this, thought that if you've never seen large-scale rodent breeding, that the photos might be worth a look at. These are the sort of cages used in labs and commercial breeders for hamsters, rats etc.



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/small-rodent-cage ... dZViewItem (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/small-rodent-cages-rat-mice-guinea-pig-hamster-cages_W0QQitemZ7761060808QQcategoryZ116888QQrdZ1QQ cmdZViewItem)



eta: another one from the same seller, smaller cages for mice http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mice-Small-Rodent ... dZViewItem (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mice-Small-Rodent-Cages-in-Rack_W0QQitemZ7755655150QQcmdZViewItem)

SnuggleHam
04-22-2006, 11:10 AM
:( *frowns* Wow... sure they get fed and have their bedding changed (as least we can assume these people do /at least / that) But I still can’t help but get a bad feeling about it. It must be quite smelly. I can’t imagine not treating an animal like a pet and just using it to breed more rodents and make profit. Perhaps I'd feel different if they were given wheels and things to chew things to stimulate them :( But if that were the case, no profit would be made I suppose *shrug*



If people only knew...

Skwee
04-22-2006, 12:13 PM
By the looks of it, they are actually Lab cages...



They have the plastic cage with a wire lid that is angled down at the front. The bottle can be put in the dip and the food put in the dip too so it sits or falls through the bars and the animals pull it through.



I have seen these cages first hand and know people who use them, not permanently but as breeding cages for mice or dwarves. They aren't actually *that* small and do come in different sizes.



The metal is admittedly a huge pain to get off on some of them! i wouldn't ever use them myself... but not everyone can afford to house their hamsters in 3 storey cages... or mice... when breeding mice you need such small bar spaces and in areas that don't have decent pet shops.. it's not easy to find mice cages with small bar spacing... especially if the mice are feeders... and yea I know... noone likes the idea of feeding mice to snakes but it happens... so it had to be said :roll:



I wouldn't put Syrians in these cages though and no one I know would :?

Emma
04-22-2006, 12:45 PM
Yes skwee as I said they are the sort of cages used in labs. Although they conform to minimum requirements laid down for laboratory animals, I don't consider these requirements satisfactory at all - I have seen Syrians in the cages conforming to requirements, it's not a happy sight. I wanted to share the pictures as many people won't have seen this kind of thing.

SnuggleHam
04-22-2006, 12:51 PM
Something like this would certainly make a good article, and with similar pictures, perhaps it will make people think twice before purchasing from a pet store thus supporting the mass breeding industry where the health of animals is compromised for the sake of cash.

Emma
04-22-2006, 12:53 PM
but not everyone can afford to house their hamsters in 3 storey cages...



It depends on the primary reason you're breeding - if it's for numbers of animals for sale or for show rosettes, then maybe the animal's welfare isn't the prime concern and the breeder is happy to use minimum standards like this. Personally, I aim to keep my animals to the highest standards - and if I can't afford more cages, I won't be able to increase my numbers! These lab cages are very expensive for the space they provide anyway, you could use storage bins for cheaper I reckon





or mice... when breeding mice you need such small bar spaces and in areas that don't have decent pet shops.. it's not easy to find mice cages with small bar spacing... especially if the mice are feeders... and yea I know... noone likes the idea of feeding mice to snakes but it happens... so it had to be said :roll:



Well Pets at Home sell the Savic Mickey Max cage now, which is thankfully going to make finding a more suitable cage for mice easier;) ? About feeder mice - it's the same as what I said above, the reason for keeping those animals is maximum numbers, so minimum welfare standards.



My main reason to post this was to show people the kind of place that pet shop animals may have come from, as like I said it's not something that many people get the chance to see.

babyboos
04-22-2006, 03:34 PM
these "cage" set ups appear from time to time on eBay and I know some "hobby" breeders use them which I find personally really sad. (I am restraining myself from saying something a lot stronger). the ones for dwarf hamsters are tiny (shoe box sized), and the ones for Syrians not much bigger, about the same floor area as a small one level wire cage. I have seen some Syrians being kept in ones intended for guinea pigs - these are about the size of a basic Ferplast one level cage like the ones you see masses of in Pets at Home. I agree Candace these are no life at all for a rodent - absolutely no stimulus at all. The babies produced in them may escape to pet shops but the poor adults live in these their whole lives. There is no need for such enclosures in a non-laboratory situation, and maybe you are right Emma if people saw the conditions their little one came from, as opposed from a decent hobby breeder using bin cages, or large wire cages they may think twice. Even feeder mice deserve a bit of a life surely?