Why I like freezing snake food myself

NennaMeerkat · 05-02-11, 10:36 PM

Recently I found a bulk supplier of live feeder rodents. They are a local couple of guys and they are great at what they do. Not only will they deliver to my door but their prices are MUCH cheaper than those prepackaged rodents you can buy.

Now I don't know about the rest of the stages of a mouse, but the pinkies in the "blue box" look like little blobs. Sometimes it is hard to tell what they were/are. Not only that but more times than not I have tried getting them out of those tiny little bags that they end up becoming "degloved" (the skin removed) all over leaving a total mess.

Here are a few pics to show you the difference between "fresh" frozen pinkies and those ones in the blue box. Sorry if the pictures are disturbing for anyone for any reason.

Here is a group of fresh pinkies and the prepackaged ones:

Here is one of the prepackaged ones outside of the bag next to a fresh pinkie:

And last but not least...here is the same prepackaged pinkie in the picture before turned on its side. Gotta love the "flat" pinkie:

infernalis · 05-02-11, 10:52 PM

I have always been very pleased with my orders from rodent pro.

Frozen Mice, Frozen Rats, Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Chicks and Quail

thomas1123 · 05-02-11, 10:53 PM

wow that is crazy! they fresh frozen ones look like they actually have meat on them instead of the blue box ones lol

NennaMeerkat · 05-02-11, 10:54 PM

Ah well see the "blue box" people I am talking about you buy at big chain pet stores. Arctic Mice or Arctic Mouse is the name. Their quality is sub par from all I have seen.

NennaMeerkat · 05-02-11, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomas1123

wow that is crazy! they fresh frozen ones look like they actually have meat on them instead of the blue box ones lol

Ha ha yep no blobs of goo...which is what the blue box ones remind me of after thawing. You ought to consider snagging a reputable local breeder of mice.

thomas1123 · 05-02-11, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

I have always been very pleased with my orders from rodent pro.

Frozen Mice, Frozen Rats, Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Chicks and Quail

how many snakes do you have because i only have one and i just looked on that website and they were selling like 100 pinks in a bag! lol are they pretty good looking mice that you get? do they ship all around the U.S.? How long does it take for you to get them to your house?

RandyRhoads · 05-02-11, 11:13 PM

I see they sell quail, too. Is there any problem with feeding chickens, pheasants, quail to your snakes? Like salmonella?

infernalis · 05-02-11, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomas1123

how many snakes do you have because i only have one and i just looked on that website and they were selling like 100 pinks in a bag! lol are they pretty good looking mice that you get? do they ship all around the U.S.? How long does it take for you to get them to your house?

I order 800 (minimum) at a time, about every six weeks.

I also breed my own rats, so in all I feed close to 1,000 rodents per month to our reptiles. Not counting the huge amounts of night crawlers, fish, roaches and shrimp.

My milk snakes, corn snake & python are all on rats, the garter snakes are all on mice.

currently maintain somewhere around 70 or so snakes, babies due soon, so it will go up into the hundreds for a while.

they ship on Mondays, I receive on Wednesday, with plenty of dry ice left over to spare.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

I see they sell quail, too. Is there any problem with feeding chickens, pheasants, quail to your snakes? Like salmonella?

No, they are euthanized and immediatly frozen...

thomas1123 · 05-03-11, 12:00 AM

wow that is crazy i have never seen so many frozen pinks lol

TeaNinja · 05-03-11, 12:13 AM

me either lol. at least you have almost all small snakes right? makes it easier to buy HUGE backs of pinkies because the snakes for the most part stay small.

RandyRhoads · 05-03-11, 12:14 AM

I'm rasing and breeding pheasants soon. Would they be ok as feeders?

NennaMeerkat · 05-03-11, 12:14 AM

Those are some great healthy looking pinks! Great place you found Infernalis, but as I have only one snake my local people do great enough for me.

infernalis · 05-03-11, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeaNinja

me either lol. at least you have almost all small snakes right? makes it easier to buy HUGE backs of pinkies because the snakes for the most part stay small.

99% garter snake morphs, 18-24 inches average.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

I'm raising and breeding pheasants soon. Would they be OK as feeders?

Yes, as long as you have a snake that will take birds.

sickvenom · 05-03-11, 09:10 AM

um, the blue box ones look like pinkie jerky. bravo, NennaMeerkat, for actually caring about what you put down your snake's throat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

I'm rasing and breeding pheasants soon. Would they be ok as feeders?

i personally wouldn't recommend feeding any avian to snakes. they carry nasty parasites and diseases. if you are breeding them, then you would need to keep them indoors, in a controlled environment to make sure they don't contract anything nasty. if you are keeping them in an outside enclosure, then i wouldn't risk it.

NennaMeerkat · 05-03-11, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sickvenom

um, the blue box ones look like pinkie jerky. bravo, NennaMeerkat, for actually caring about what you put down your snake's throat.

Well when you have only one thing to eat your entire life it pays to have that one thing be worth eating. That and the availability and price of the live pinks that I am buying from these guys are perfect.