Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi folks,

I am breeding mice for reptile feed.
they are in storage tubs in my shed in a custom built storage rack, closed on 5 sides.

The poor little buggers are not dealing with the cold too well so i was contemplating some
light heating... like a 10-20W, 12V downlight, mounted in the side wall facing the storage crate.

thinking if i put a 10w 12v light at the back of the storage crate that should be sufficient??

ideas, thoughts (other than cleaning my shed) questions, queries, comments.. etc etc

i would love to hear from you.

cheers
Steve

hot water bottles under or jammed next to each tub ?

not that its a long term idea but thats what I use when the power goes out and theres eggs or hatchlings in the incubator

heated blanket?

Heat belt from you brew barrel?

I think the light is the best option there Steve. Cheaper to run than the blankets, less fire risk, and you can immediately tell if it's working or not.

Whether that size globe puts out enough heat, you'll have to experiment. The globe probably puts out enough heat in a totally sealed, insulated system, so it just comes down to whether your high tech breeding facility bleeds heat faster than the globe puts it out.

50W halogens put out 50W of heat (pretty much)
So you need to know the losses of your container. If you have any heat source, you can find this out. Put a constant heat in, and measure the temp differential between inside and outside (after inside stops getting hotter)
This will tell you the Watts per degree you need.

I'd do away with LV if you can though, it's a PITA unless you're scared of wiring 240V. The cables must be bigger, they lose more power, and you need a reasonably big power supply to rin them, which also bleeds power.
I'd use a 240VAC reptile heat lamp, with a standard dimmer switch. This way you can get it so that it's just right for the losses of your container.
ie tuned overkill. Overengineering - the right way

Might be worth putting the whole thing in a tent or a hothouse plastic. Should help keep the heat in a bit more..

Hi Steve, where abouts in Perth are you? i am breeding rats and mice for reptile food as well and i have mine in plastic tubs on the bench in the shed and they seam to be fine, if i think they will get to cold i put some tisue paper in there cages and they make a nest and hudle together, my mice usualy breed up lots during the cool weather and i freeze lots of them to feed out in summer.

you could use a heat cord under your containers, a 25w cord would be fine, i use one under the baby snakes plastic contaners and you dont need to use a thermostat.

good luck

cheers.

sorry if this posts twice but something strange is happening.

I heated a 200 l old and broken fridge (for homebrew) to 22 deg C with a 20 watt fishtank heater in a 2 l plastic soft drink bottle full of water.

cheap
adjustable
has thermostat

also just insulating might be enough. a dozen active well fed mice would probably kick out as much heat as 2 l of warm water.

i am in Ballajura... what do you keep grunta? do you sell your mice and rats?

the aquarium heater idea i like, but i figured i have a few 10-20w mini downlights so it just made sense to use them up.

I only have 3 mice 1 male (ron jeremy) and 2 females.. jenna and keeley... named as a joke.. so they probably dont give out much heat. My need for mice is only small so i had no need to get multiple breeding pairs and become laden with offspring. I just thought that $2 per mouse as feed was steep.

I think to heat i will shine the lights from the fermenter side into the pigeon holes this way i can heat 1 corner of each tub... and heat the fermenter slightly with the backs of the downlights..
I will post up some piccies when i get it sorted..

anyone else keeping herps??

hay Steve, i have 1 carpet and a breeding pair of stimis, marbled velvet geckos, spiny tailed geckos,1 berded dragon and a binoes gecko.

$2.00 a mouse is a good price i think i once paid $18.00 for 5 mice thats when i thought it's time to breed my own.

i have found it really easy to breed mice by having 6 femals to 1 male in a tub and simply seperate out the young ones when they are hoppers then when they are big enough dispatch them and freeze in bags of 20.

i am a little over run at the moment with rats so i will be puting some of those in the freezer soon so i will have more space for mice.

I have sold mice for $1.00 each and rats for $2.00 in the past

what do you have Steve?

I'm in Maida Vale.

Hey there.

Two unconventional ways of heating (used in my coldframe greenhouse)

Compost barrels.

Black barrels filled with water (warm up during day and used as a heat sink in night).

Works well with me and no pesky electrical bill.

Thefishingangler