petstore rat prices, what do you pay?

[Sasha2]

Im running out of frozen rats from Rodent pro.I hate buying from them because Im at that place were I have alot of snakes but not enough to justify the 35 dollar shipping fee.
Now I buy my mice from the petstore because they have a good deal if you buy a dozen. But rat prices are really high..like 7 bucks for a medium rat and what they call medium Id call small.
smalls are 5.99 and they are weanlings.
large rats are over ten dollars.
This is a mom and pop store, not big name, we dont have a petsmart or petco.

What are you all paying for rats at the big name stores?

[Albert Clark]

Too much! Try " Big Cheese Factory". 29.00 shipping and better quality.

[SnoopySnake]

When you add up petstore prices and compare it to bulk prices with shipping, its usually very worth it. I found I was paying at least 3x more at pet stores even with shipping added. I only have 3 snakes. I second big cheese, much better than rodent pro.

[Minkness]

When you add up petstore prices and compare it to bulk prices with shipping, its usually very worth it. I found I was paying at least 3x more at pet stores even with shipping added. I only have 3 snakes. I second big cheese, much better than rodent pro.

This is sooooo true! I only have 3 snakes right now and I feel VERY lucky I have a local place that actually orders from RP and don't over price for resale. If I didn't have them, I would absolutely buy from RP or Bug Cheese.

As it is, I'm working towards a 4th snake and breeding my own feeders (for the fun of it, not to save money).

If you have the freezer space, spend the extra 35$ on shipping. Petstores just aren't worth it!

To answer the question in the title of this thread....I once paid 13$ for 2 small rats....never went back.....

[Sasha2]

We moved and now I no longer have a place to breed rats or mice and that has hit me pretty hard. I have 11 snakes(although one is my sons). But they are growing so fast its hard estimate what I will need and that can be frustrating since they make you buy like 50 hoppers and the snakes outgrow them way before I finish them.
I guess I will bite the bullet and order online. I'll take a look at big cheese this time.

[SoPhilly]

Depending on what you need, Layne Labs has the option of ordering much smaller quantities, as few as 10 of a size, which can be good when you have growing snakes. Their shipping is usually more, though. It goes by weight. May be worth checking out. Use a calculator,haha.

[prairiepanda]

My local Petsmart sells frozen mice and rats in $8 boxes. The number in each box depends on the size of the feeder. For example, a box of pinkie mice contains 8 mice while a box of adult mice contains 4 mice, and every box costs $8. They're pretty bad quality(often smelly, dirty, and/or strangely injured), and the "adult" mice are barely larger than hoppers...never opened one of their "large" rat boxes to see what it looks like, but it contains 1 rat and looks like it's probably the size of a small, unless they fold the rats over themselves(wouldn't put it past them, really). There are several other pet stores in the area which have very good quality rats and mice for varying prices. Usually adult mice are around $2 each and small rats around $6 each.

But I buy mine in bulk online and have them shipped to me. It always works out cheaper than buying locally. Also, none of my local pet stores have any rats smaller than the smalls, which are several times the size of an adult mouse, so transferring a growing snake from mice to rats, or raising a baby on rats, is impossible with local supply for me.

[SnoopySnake]

A lot of places can do smaller bags if you email and ask them.

[bigsnakegirl785]

My local prices are about the same as your's. ~$4 for a small rat, ~$6 for a large rat, and $1.25 per mouse pink. At Petsmart the small rats are more like $15-17, which is ridiculous, I don't know how people can justify buying those things....they're really terrible quality and the prices are so jacked up it's not even funny.

For two snakes buying from the local pet store, I paid just over $500/yr to feed my ball python, boa constrictor, and maybe my checkered garter. I pay less than $200 for a year's worth of food for 6 snakes now. Granted, that's going to rise once my two babies grow up.

I'd advise buying from Big Cheese as well. :) Layne Labs will work as well if the weight of your shipment isn't too much. For my particular mix of rodents I notice very little difference in price buying from Layne Labs vs. Big Cheese. Big Cheese gets me with the rodent prices, and Layne Labs gets me with the shipping.

[Sasha2]

Well after punching in an estimate at Big Cheese it is def. cheaper even with the sale prices they have at Rodent pro. I dont care for Rodent pro but have been using them off and on for years. The rats stink, but maybe its just because rats stink, LOL.

[Minkness]

Good to know. If I decide to give up breeding my feeders I'll have to look at ordering from BC.

[Sasha2]

Actually its really a toss up, I went back to load up two pages side by side.
Rodent pro is having a 29 dollar shipping sale so shipping is the same. But they only have hoppers and rat pinks in 100ct bags which is far more then I need.
Big cheese cost more but I would waste less and can buy the sizes I need in smaller bags of 50.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Well after punching in an estimate at Big Cheese it is def. cheaper even with the sale prices they have at Rodent pro. I dont care for Rodent pro but have been using them off and on for years. The rats stink, but maybe its just because rats stink, LOL.

They shouldn't stink. I've bought from both Layne Labs and Big Cheese and none of them stink. They have a bit of a musty smell when thawed out, but that's about it. I can't really smell it unless I bring the rat to my nose or smell it on my fingers. The snakes sure can smell it though. :P

The pet store rats smelled a bit. I suspect they were thawed and re-frozen a couple times, which is another reason I wanted to buy in bulk.

[Aaron_S]

Im running out of frozen rats from Rodent pro.I hate buying from them because Im at that place were I have alot of snakes but not enough to justify the 35 dollar shipping fee.
Now I buy my mice from the petstore because they have a good deal if you buy a dozen. But rat prices are really high..like 7 bucks for a medium rat and what they call medium Id call small.
smalls are 5.99 and they are weanlings.
large rats are over ten dollars.
This is a mom and pop store, not big name, we dont have a petsmart or petco.

What are you all paying for rats at the big name stores?

Rodentpro right now has a deal of $1.50 for a medium rat. Let's say you want to bulk order and go with 100.

100 x 1.50 = $150 PLUS $35 shipping. Grand total of $185. Now let's divide that new number by 100.

185/100 = $1.85

Compare that to your medium rat price at a pet store of $7. A 100 lot would cost you $700.

You've saved $515 OR $5.15 per rat.

That's huge savings. Buy the bulk order.

[reptiledude987]

I stopped buying at a pet store 15 snakes ago. I found a local breeder and my price list goes as follows;

Mice
Pinkies .60
fuzzies .75
hoppers 1
weanlings 1.10
adult 1.25
jumbo 1.75

Rats:
pinks .75
fuzzies .85
pups 1
weans 1.5
small 2
med 3
large 3.5
jumbo5

orders over $100 get 10% off

I always end up getting 10% off lol

[Aaron_S]

I stopped buying at a pet store 15 snakes ago. I found a local breeder and my price list goes as follows;

Mice
Pinkies .60
fuzzies .75
hoppers 1
weanlings 1.10
adult 1.25
jumbo 1.75

Rats:
pinks .75
fuzzies .85
pups 1
weans 1.5
small 2
med 3
large 3.5
jumbo5

orders over $100 get 10% off

I always end up getting 10% off lol

Overpaying bro. I pay $2 - $2.50 a medium rat.

[reptiledude987]

Overpaying bro. I pay $2 - $2.50 a medium rat.
Well pm me the contact infor for your supplier. Its worth a drive to the GTA for me.

[Wingbeats]

In my area, there is a local small chain of pet/garden stores. There, I can buy a box of 6 fuzzies for about $14.

Yeah, more expensive than an online breeder, but I only have one snake. So, a box of 6 actually lasts me quite a while! So I don't feel that the shipping for bulk is worth it to me, until I have more than one (or three or four) snakes.

[Aaron_S]

In my area, there is a local small chain of pet/garden stores. There, I can buy a box of 6 fuzzies for about $14.

Yeah, more expensive than an online breeder, but I only have one snake. So, a box of 6 actually lasts me quite a while! So I don't feel that the shipping for bulk is worth it to me, until I have more than one (or three or four) snakes.

That's fine. I think for 1 snake the price is pretty managable for most people. It's cheap compared to many other pets.

We still have to support local good businesses too!

[EL Ziggy]

In my area, there is a local small chain of pet/garden stores. There, I can buy a box of 6 fuzzies for about $14.

Yeah, more expensive than an online breeder, but I only have one snake. So, a box of 6 actually lasts me quite a while! So I don't feel that the shipping for bulk is worth it to me, until I have more than one (or three or four) snakes.

I understand your logic but I disagree with you beats :). Using your math, if you fed your snake just one fuzzy every 7 days the box of 6 would last 42 days. After 4 boxes you will have spent $56 for 24 fuzzys. You can order 50 mouse fuzzys with taxes and shipping included from Big Cheese for $50.65. Thats twice as many feeders for less money. The only sacrifice is clearing the extra freezer space :).

[sophiedufort]

I don't use frozen rodents, only live, and I had troubles finding a reasonable supplier. I used to drive almost one hour to Pet Bazaar in Maitland, as they sold mice for $1.29 and small rats twice as much, as opposed to $3.99/mouse at Petco and impossible prices for rats. A couple of days ago I found a local mouse/rat breeder on Craigslist, and now I'm paying 60 cents for hoppers, 90 cents for adult mice, and a maximum of $2.50 per rat (this price being the jumbo size). He also sells them frozen or freshly killed. If you browse Craigslist, you'll be surprised at what you can find.

[smoothie4l]

I don't buy from petshops or online, I buy bulk at conventions. They had small rats for only 1$ but pinky rats were also 1$ ( supply and demand I guess )
You can bicker with them to, I got a amazing deal were I asked for 20 but they come in bags of 25 and he didn't want to break up the bag. So I got the 5 for free!

[prairiepanda]

They shouldn't stink. I've bought from both Layne Labs and Big Cheese and none of them stink. They have a bit of a musty smell when thawed out, but that's about it. I can't really smell it unless I bring the rat to my nose or smell it on my fingers. The snakes sure can smell it though. :P

The pet store rats smelled a bit. I suspect they were thawed and re-frozen a couple times, which is another reason I wanted to buy in bulk.

The stinky rats I've encountered before haven't had the kind of stink that a partially-decayed rat would have from being thawed and refrozen multiple times. It's the stink of the enclosure the rats were raised in. Dirty aspen and rat pee smell. Those were from Petsmart, though. The ones I buy in bulk online don't have a dirty rat cage smell, just the slight mustiness you described which is to be expected.

[Wingbeats]

I understand your logic but I disagree with you beats :). Using your math, if you fed your snake just one fuzzy every 7 days the box of 6 would last 42 days. After 4 boxes you will have spent $56 for 24 fuzzys. You can order 50 mouse fuzzys with taxes and shipping included from Big Cheese for $50.65. Thats twice as many feeders for less money. The only sacrifice is clearing the extra freezer space :).

Can't argue with the math, haha! I did save Big Cheese for later. I suspect my rainbow boa will outgrow her food pretty quickly (I just upgraded from fuzzies to hoppers this week) but when she's an adult that is for sure worth it!

I just hope they don't get freezer burn in the span of time it takes for one snake eat through a stack of 50. That's a year's worth-ish on a 7-day feeding schedule. On a 10-day adult feeding schedule...that's 500 days' worth....

Stuff to think on, haha :)

[SnoopySnake]

I just hope they don't get freezer burn in the span of time it takes for one snake eat through a stack of 50. That's a year's worth-ish on a 7-day feeding schedule. On a 10-day adult feeding schedule...that's 500 days' worth....

You can take a few out, and put them in a freezer bag. Put the rest underneath everything else in the freezer. Like I said in a previous post, if you call or email they can usually do smaller numbers.

[Sasha2]

The biggest issue is rodent pro makes you buy 100 of the fuzzies or smaller.
Big Cheese lets you buy only 50.
I one snake eating fuzzy rats, I certainly dont need 100 even doubling them up eventually.

[Aaron_S]

The biggest issue is rodent pro makes you buy 100 of the fuzzies or smaller.
Big Cheese lets you buy only 50.
I one snake eating fuzzy rats, I certainly dont need 100 even doubling them up eventually.

Buy with a friend if need be.