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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[prairiepanda]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

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.

[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.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by 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?

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.