A few reasons I can think of, and probably more that I haven't. I breed my own mice, but not rats. The mice smell, no matter how often I change their bedding. We installed a ventilation system that pulls air from the rodent room, and vents it outside.
Also, high-quality feed is expensive, as is bedding, and other supplies. I spend several hours a week feeding, watering, and cleaning. There are also utilities that have to be paid for. Lights, heat, water, and electricity to run the fans; and this is just to supply food for my own snakes. I couldn't imagine trying to produce enough to satisfy market demand.
I'm seriously questioning if it's worth it. The cost, the odors, and the physical labor that is required to keep them happy and healthy, is not trivial. I suppose, for me, I like having feeders of all sizes immediately available, as I have snakes of all sizes. I euthanize with Co2 before feeding, so it is nice not having to pull frozen feeders from several different bags, and deal with buckets of water for thawing. For my larger snakes, I buy live rats from a guy locally, and euthanize before feeding.
If I thought breeding and raising mice was a lot of work, rats are far worse! They need a lot more space, more food, and their odor is much worse than mice.
So, I can certainly understand why rats aren't a dollar anymore. I honestly don't know how these guys make much of a profit, after paying all the overhead. Not only all the stuff I mentioned, but also outside help to clean and feed. Employees are probably the largest expenditure of all.
I hope that shed some light on the seedy underbelly of the rodent breeding business!
Kathy
