Buying frozen mice (RodentPro)

[KORBIN5895]

Originally Posted by Dave Kelley

Rodent Pro quality is probably the poorest of all the rodent providers I have ever purchased from. To paraphrase another breeder with the same observation "the rodents look like they were dropped from space, forming into a giant smashed ball of rat." With that mangled ball comes trying to pry apart rodents, watching some break apart. Some have been missing tails, legs, and the occasional head. The odor is beyond aweful...even for rodents. The rodents don't look nearly as robust as other providers, and with the disease scare they had recently (that they didn't alert others to until they were called on it!) I won't purchase from them ever again.

Here are the two that get A+++++ in my books.
Layne Labs Snake Food, Reptile Food, Feed Carnivores, Birds of Prey : Layne Labs.com
Loxahatchee rodents Loxahatchee Rodents, E-commerce site

The rodent's are robust, along with packaged neatly, aligned side by side on trays. Some of the mice have been tossed in a large bag minus the tray, but they are not mangled together....they almost look like they fell asleep and had their legs tucked into their sides , lol. No disgusting odors, clean, prompt, good pricing. If you are on the west coast, or in that region, I'd recommend Layne Labs, and Loxahatchee for the east coast. Shipping kills if you're ordering large shipments across the country....

Hope this helps!

I will challenge your description of rp and post pics of their packaging tomorrow.

That being said I am very interested in Loxahatchee.

[Dave Kelley]

By all means, post them. I'm glad your experience has been positive, but for the year or two that I put up with it, I was never grandly impressed. Had I not been a naive keeper, I certainly would have branched out.

Maybe they cleaned up their operation a little bit...

[KORBIN5895]

Originally Posted by Dave Kelley

By all means, post them. I'm glad your experience has been positive, but for the year or two that I put up with it, I was never grandly impressed. Had I not been a naive keeper, I certainly would have branched out.

Maybe they cleaned up their operation a little bit...

Over 18 months with a order every month and I've never had a quality issue.

[Dave Kelley]

Like I said, glad you've had a great experience. I never did.

Here's the disease scare I mentioned....couldn't remember the name but it was lymphocytic choriomeningitis, a zoonotic disease (transferable from animal to human.) The thread was started an employee of the Kentucky Reptile Zoo. Even if the quality has been improved, the fact that they did not pass an alert about this breakout at the time was the final straw.
Bad Guy RodentPro- Zoonotic disease warning - FaunaClassifieds

[sweatshirt]

I can give a sort of review on South Florida Rodents which is also in FL.... the rat crawlers/pups I got are really healthy and clean, and their fur is soft with no feces. The packaging was great too. =) They're good if you're looking for quality but not really quantity... they're more expensive than RodentPro, especially their hot deals.

I've also heard really good reviews about Loxahatchee rodents, and they're a bit cheaper than SFR, and I hear they have the same quality. =)

Unfortunately, even having only one snake, we need to buy online because the breeders around me suck, and the pet stores don't have anything smaller than a medium rat.

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

i belive rodent pro ships only one size box, about 2x2x2 feet, which when full of feeders and dry ice weighs about 30 pounds. a smaller order ships i the same size box, hence they tell you how much room is left in your shipping container at checkout. shipping cost is pretty standard (75$), its up to the customer to maximize cost efficiency.
the raptor center i volunteer at gets bi-weekly shipments of frozen quails, 3 boxes. they are always frozen and exceptionally well packed, though expensive.

You are corrected.

Originally Posted by Dave Kelley

Rodent Pro quality is probably the poorest of all the rodent providers I have ever purchased from. To paraphrase another breeder with the same observation "the rodents look like they were dropped from space, forming into a giant smashed ball of rat." With that mangled ball comes trying to pry apart rodents, watching some break apart. Some have been missing tails, legs, and the occasional head. The odor is beyond aweful...even for rodents. The rodents don't look nearly as robust as other providers, and with the disease scare they had recently (that they didn't alert others to until they were called on it!) I won't purchase from them ever again.

I could see this with mice but i never had a issue with rats.

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Over 18 months with a order every month and I've never had a quality issue.

Around two years for me and i love them.

Originally Posted by Dave Kelley

Like I said, glad you've had a great experience. I never did.

Here's the disease scare I mentioned....couldn't remember the name but it was lymphocytic choriomeningitis, a zoonotic disease (transferable from animal to human.) The thread was started an employee of the Kentucky Reptile Zoo. Even if the quality has been improved, the fact that they did not pass an alert about this breakout at the time was the final straw.
Bad Guy RodentPro- Zoonotic disease warning - FaunaClassifieds

We actually have a thread on here about this. I did receive a e-mail warning me that the rats i got might carry it. If you store them properly and wash your hand properly there should have never been a real concern.
I am a bit of a clear freak. I wash with antibacterial soap and use hand sanitizer every time i hand my snakes or their food..

[formica]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

its up to the customer to maximize cost efficiency.

fine if the company doesnt want to do small orders, but they are missing out on allot of business this way - there is no reason for them not to offer more reasonable shipping costs for smaller orders, dry ice, pacaging and logistics are cheap these days. Even with a 20Kg order I dont see how they are not making a huge profit on the 'shipping costs'....tbh I'm amazed any one uses them at that price

You can order 5 or 50 bags of food from a supermarket and get free delivery in a frozen goods vehicle, which includes packing in dry ice