F/T Problem

[Pareeeee]

So just went to the freezer. Dumb me, I thought I had one rat left, but turns out I don't.

This is Kahless' (my BP) feeding day...

NONE OF THE STINKING PET STORES HAVE SM RATS IN STOCK and I am so mad. :angry: I have been NAGGING the one store to ORDER them for WEEKS :mad: They always take their freaking time whenever I order anything from them. Bunch of...nvm. I think they pretend they are ordering things when they have no intention to. Great way to keep customers...

The only other place that sells feeder rats only has Pups, Mediums and Larges. ಠ_ಠ

ANYWAY
Is it ok to give him a couple f/t mice or will that make him revert to wanting mice? :sorry: or should I just wait a couple days till I'm back in town and get the rat pups to tide him over till the smalls come in?

[dinosaurdammit]

im sure the snake can handle 2 days without a rat, i would stick to rats rather than mice

[stephanbakir]

im sure the snake can handle 2 days without a rat, i would stick to rats rather than mice
This, depending on the species of snake and its age, but generally with ball pythons... it really won't do them any harm to even go 2-3 weeks off food if they are past the baby stage.

[KORBIN5895]

What do you pay for a small rat?

[Lankyrob]

Wait for the rats, my supplier had an issue (i forgot to order ;)) and all my guys are about ten days late on their feed, should get the delivery tomorow and they will get their normal prey size then :)

[Pareeeee]

ok thanks guys, I'm more angry at the pet store/myself than anything. He's almost 7months now - still young so I don't want to go too long between feedings. I just feel bad for him because he's always super hungry by tge time his feeding days come around. (once per week) He's got such a voracious appetite!

Korbin, I don't actually know the exact price I pay for the sm rats, (just getting out of bed 5mins ago doesn't help one's memory) I think it averages $3 each, I don't always get them from the same store, I know one is cheaper than the other.

[mykee]

Plan ahead; order in bulk.

[Pareeeee]

Plan ahead; order in bulk.

I only have a little fridge-freezer so not much room for bulk other than a dozen at a time. :/ Sometimes I really wish we lived in a bigger apartment.

Also as I said, I had been nagging the store for WEEKS to order more in but they are morons...grrr now I feel like ranting about them again...

[Aaron_S]

You should look for people who breed rodents for a living. You could cut your costs by almost 50 percent.

nearnorthrodent.com

Just as an example.

[Pareeeee]

You should look for people who breed rodents for a living. You could cut your costs by almost 50 percent.

nearnorthrodent.com

Just as an example.

Don't you have to order a lot from those places? Like a lot more than could fit in my fridge-freezer...? Maybe I could convince my parents to store the overflow for me in their big freezer. They only live 15mins away from me.

Anyway, good news is that he's gone into shed and probably won't eat for a week now anyway.

[mykee]

Then order a dozen at a time.

[Chu'Wuti]

The problem I've found here in the U.S. is that some places won't let you order only a dozen; they sell only 50 or 100 per package. There is only one place I've found from which I can order fewer, and I only found them recently. Of course, S & H is more that way.

Fortunately for me, a couple of people are starting up breeding businesses. I will want to assess their product carefully, though, as one of them recently posted that breeding rats is easy and cheap--all someone needs is plastic tubs, a garage, and cheap dog food!!! :no:

Can you imagine the smell in the summer when the temps go over 100 deg. F??? :Wow:

I'm guessing they'll have a lot of dead rats to deal with, as well as low breeding rates from the poor diet.

I will definitely be checking the other one out, though . . . I'm hoping that he'll do the job right! Until that guy is up and running, though, I will keep ordering and paying for the S & H of small batches of multiple sizes because I have multiple size needs. Babies, rescue snakes . . . and the adult Hondurans and Balls . . . only a couple of Hondurans and a couple of BPs eat the same size!

[ilovemypets1988]

if your ever out of F/T rats, why not just buy a live 1 and (excuse the expression) kill it, same product, just alot fresher, its what i used to do

[dinosaurdammit]

if your ever out of F/T rats, why not just buy a live 1 and (excuse the expression) kill it, same product, just alot fresher, its what i used to do

i had to do this last night, i dislike buying live and would prefer someone else do the killing but its not hard to kill a rat and I even have a video showing how to do so

[ilovemypets1988]

as far as im concerned, theres enough rats and mice on this planet and we poison and kill wild rats, so why not do the same (not poison obviously) for our believed snakes, its just nature at the end of the day

[Chu'Wuti]

Yeah, I know . . . just call me squeamish. I don't like killing them; I can't even kill a cockroach, and I loathe them!!

If I had CO humane killing equipment, maybe I could do it . . .

[ilovemypets1988]

Yeah, I know . . . just call me squeamish. I don't like killing them; I can't even kill a cockroach, and I loathe them!!

If I had CO humane killing equipment, maybe I could do it . . .

use your hands and thumbs to snap there necks or just slam there heads against a wall, tbh, anything thats quick and painless is humane, but thats mho

[dinosaurdammit]

Yeah, I know . . . just call me squeamish. I don't like killing them; I can't even kill a cockroach, and I loathe them!!

If I had CO humane killing equipment, maybe I could do it . . .

why not just cervical dislocate? Its 90% quicker than gassing and requires nothing but your hand and a paintscraper/screwdriver ect

[Chu'Wuti]

I suspect I'm not as strong as y'all, and I don't know enough about rat anatomy to know how to do cervical dislocation properly. I'd hate to try that and end up making the rat suffer unnecessarily.

Still squeamish, guys; sorry!

I don't kill my own meat, either . . . :sorry:

[stephanbakir]

use your hands and thumbs to snap there necks or just slam there heads against a wall, tbh, anything thats quick and painless is humane, but thats mho
Slamming their heads against the wall is not a guaranteed instant kill, unless you go hulk on them. It's also not pretty, they tend to spasm and bleed EVERYWHERE.
Cervical dislocation is easy, and its quick. My old roommate and I had a shipment of dry ice get canceled on us and ended up doing almost 400 rats in just under an hour and a half. It's quick and painless, but again not for the squeamish. Easiest way is Dry ice, you can order it pretty cheap, put it in one of those critter keeper plastic containers on its side, inside a sealed rubbermaid (put the rat in the rubbermaid, not the critter keeper) Easy Co2 chamber for pennies. Don't touch the dry ice with your hands, use gloves.

[Pareeeee]

if your ever out of F/T rats, why not just buy a live 1 and (excuse the expression) kill it, same product, just alot fresher, its what i used to do

These stores don't sell live ones o_o SEE what I mean?! It's very maddening. Sometimes I wish I lived loser to a city. The stores here are pathetic.

PS: Cervical dislocation is the best way, that's how I euthanized my mice.

[Chu'Wuti]

Dry ice! Of course! Great idea, Stephan--thanks for the tip!

Now I'll know what to do if I run out of my current bulk order at an inconvenient time.

[stephanbakir]

These stores don't sell live ones o_o SEE what I mean?! It's very maddening. Sometimes I wish I lived loser to a city. The stores here are pathetic.

PS: Cervical dislocation is the best way, that's how I euthanized my mice.
Where are you at in Ontario Pareeeee?

[Aaron_S]

These stores don't sell live ones o_o SEE what I mean?! It's very maddening. Sometimes I wish I lived loser to a city. The stores here are pathetic.

PS: Cervical dislocation is the best way, that's how I euthanized my mice.

You could also check kijiji for anyone selling extra rodents and see if they don't mind them becoming snake food.

You can always inquire about buying a dozen frozen rats. Some suppliers might be able to accommodate. If you can get your parents to hold some I would just order 50 of them. A years supply.

[KORBIN5895]

That's one thing I don't get is bag size orders only. I mean of you want three rats I will sell you three rats. Thry are the one paying for shipping so I couldn't care less how many they want.

[Pareeeee]

You could also check kijiji for anyone selling extra rodents and see if they don't mind them becoming snake food.

You can always inquire about buying a dozen frozen rats. Some suppliers might be able to accommodate. If you can get your parents to hold some I would just order 50 of them. A years supply.

Kijiji, didn't think of that, that's a good idea. Thanks.