Where do you get rodents from?

[sattva]

I ordered my first online rodent purchase from Rodent Pro...
50 Rats: Fuzzies @ $.75 ($37.50)
20 Rats: Small @ $1.50 ($30.00)
20 Rats: Medium @ $1.75 ($35.00)

Sub-Total: $102.50

S&H: $29.00 (Cost of packing materials, dry ice, and insurance are included.)

Order Total: $131.50

I had been getting my rats from my local reptile store and last time they asked me to preorder my rats so I don't run them out... So I called last week and they said they could not take my order over the phone... Well.... I have been wanting to try Rodent Pro so they made it easy on me.... I didn't want to spend $131.50 this time of year but this will last me 4 to 5 months...

It got me think! Where is everybody else getting their rodents from?

[trailblazer295]

I've bought from local stores but now I stock up at expos. We don't have the same shipping options you do south of the border. Expos are much cheaper, last expo small rats were $1.75 and they are $6 at local store. So now I have a deep freeze in the basement for feeders and my own food lol

[bigsnakegirl785]

I usually get them from Big Cheese, but Big Cheese is currently out of all rats small or larger, and my back up Perfect Prey is also out of small rats...which is extremely inconvenient for me as I have 0 rodents atm thanks to a fridge failure. I can get everything BUT small rats at Perfect Prey, but the only other source I trust is Layne Labs and their prices are ridiculous. Just to order the small rats will give me an additional $170. I could probably get all of my food for half a year at Perfect Prey for right around $300 with the small rats included, but Layne Labs everything will run me over $500 for half a year.

With Christmas coming up if I don't order them this week, I won't be able to get any in until January, and many of my snakes will have gone a month without food now. :/

At this point I may have to trust Rodent Pro won't kill my snakes and get at least the small rats from them because $170 for a handful of small rats is excessive.

[sattva]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

I usually get them from Big Cheese, but Big Cheese is currently out of all rats small or larger, and my back up Perfect Prey is also out of small rats...which is extremely inconvenient for me as I have 0 rodents atm thanks to a fridge failure. I can get everything BUT small rats at Perfect Prey, but the only other source I trust is Layne Labs and their prices are ridiculous. Just to order the small rats will give me an additional $170. I could probably get all of my food for half a year at Perfect Prey for right around $300 with the small rats included, but Layne Labs everything will run me over $500 for half a year.

With Christmas coming up if I don't order them this week, I won't be able to get any in until January, and many of my snakes will have gone a month without food now. :/

At this point I may have to trust Rodent Pro won't kill my snakes and get at least the small rats from them because $170 for a handful of small rats is excessive.

What do you mean when you said that you may have to trust Rodent Pro won't kill your snakes? Am I missing something here?

[dave himself]

Wow I didn't realise I lucky I am I just pick mine up any Saturday when I'm in the shop

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by sattva

What do you mean when you said that you may have to trust Rodent Pro won't kill your snakes? Am I missing something here?

They've had reports of zoonotic outbreaks that killed snakes, so I'm just supremely paranoid about using them. Some people say it's fake but when the other facilities I use have no such allegations I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Originally Posted by Aayrick

I get mine a few at a time from a local store. Shipping them to Alaska through the suppliers others have mentioned is prohibitively expensive for me. Shipping is stupidly expensive when coming to Alaska. I looked into it, order itself was about $100.00, shipping was around $150.00.

I live in NC and that's about the average shipping cost I pay (except nearly double at Layne Labs). Then again I'm ordering for like 13 snakes. haha Not sure how much you're buying.

Originally Posted by Humble308

I prefer Rodent Pro myself. I know their reputation is not highly regarded by alot of folks but they have provided clean rodents every time I've bought them.

I've tried Big Cheese twice and I was initially excited about them as I only live about 15 mins away from their facility, but I doubt I'll ever be using them again. In both cases when I opened up my bags the stench of urine was overwhelming. The rats were dirty as well and several had feces on their feet and fur. Not to mention local pickup is a major PITA mostly because of their odd business hours.

I had an order put together on Layne Labs and went to go check out only to find that shipping was around $70, which is ridiculous

RP seemed to be the only place that had everything I needed rodent wise as well as trying some quail.

All the best

Yeah, variations in experience with companies seems to vary a lot from what I've seen....

I usually order from BC, but when I had to order rats BC was out so I used PP. The rats smelled heavily of urine and had feces on them, which I don't like too much but it's whatever. I just washed them off. After a few months the smell went away. I've never had even a whiff of urine or a drop of feces in my BC orders, but as others say they're out of rats A LOT and most of my snakes are on rats now that they've grown some.


I ended up ordering a small order of rodents from Perfect Prey because with the holidays coming up I won't have a chance until they start shipping again in January. Layne Labs is too expensive to justify, and Big Cheese is out of the things I need most: rats. We'll see how this order turns out!

[aaron_cg]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

They've had reports of zoonotic outbreaks that killed snakes, so I'm just supremely paranoid about using them. Some people say it's fake but when the other facilities I use have no such allegations I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Right now the most common Zoonotic is Strep Zoo. Unfortunately its going around the shelters right now and there is no cure.

[ThirteenRavens]

If I order online, I order from Layne Labs (I think they're located in California) I can order smaller quantities of different types (mice and rats) since I have 7 snakes of various sizes...good quality, quick shipping with dry ice still in the box upon arrival (which is fun to play with!). Since I have moved back to my home state I've been getting my rodents from PetSmart (so expensive...) for the time being as both of my freezers are full of other things so I don't have room for big bulk orders atm.

[EL Ziggy]

Good luck with RP sattva. I didn't have the best experience with them. I use Perfect Prey as my primary supplier and I'm very happy with them. I only wish they carried quail. Big Cheese is great too but they're often sold out of the medium and large rats I need. Layne Labs was the first online supplier I bought from. They're top notch but a bit more expensive than the others.

[Minkness]

I am also a perfect prey advocate. Even tried to sell my local reptile store on them but they stay with RP because they get a killer deal and get massive loads. I goto them when I need to fill a gap, but mostly, Inonly go through Perfect Prey.

[Tsubaki]

And here I go driving for 3h to get my snakefood...

[akane]

Local breeders. For now I don't use that much and my snakes are growing so I buy about 6 of a type at a time. Within the month they might be ready to go up a size or switch from mice to young rats.

[eminart]

I'm lucky enough to have a good local reptile store. They're nice people who do things the right way. I like supporting them and I really don't have enough snakes to make it worthwhile to order online anyway.

[serpentgirl123]

1st: Big Cheese
2nd: Reptile Deli
3rd: Rodent Pro
4th: Perfect Prey
5th: American Rodent
6th: Local Herp Show (only comes twice a year and others are States' over and not at convenient times for me).

[Minkness]

Why is rodent pro before perfect prey? Just curious. =)