Buying Online VS Buying In Person

[Prahanien]

Hey guys, new to the BP world. Repticon is coming in a couple months and I was thinking about getting my BPs from there. I'll be getting two of them, and they'll probably be fairly young from what I've seen after checking out other Repticon pictures and videos.

I have everything ordered and on the way except bedding, food, and the snakes! Before I continue it's worth noting that these snakes will be pets, not breeders.

So my challenge is this - as far as feeding goes, is it more cost effective to bulk order from a place like Big Cheese, or would it be better for me to pick things up from a pet store? Bulk ordering would have me spending quite a bit on shipping(unless I buy a whole lot, but since I'm only feeding two pet snakes...), but I wouldn't have to run to a pet store every so often. However, pet stores do not have shipping costs though I see that some can be really silly when it comes to their pricing on the prey. Another concern I have is the growth of the BPs. I realize that they grow slowly but I don't want to have a bunch of food stock that's going to be too small for them.

Sorry if this s a silly question! Just trying to weigh my options and figure out what works best for my situation.

Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

[PassionFruitReptiles]

I think you are better off buying from your local pet store since you are only going to have two Ball Pythons, you wouldn't be able to order enough rodents to make shipping worth it without the rodents getting severely freezer burned and/or bad before you can feed them off.

I would check out the rodent vendors at Repticon, you will most likely find a good deal on a package of rodents without having to buy enough that they will go to waste and avoiding shipping costs.

[Prahanien]

I think you are better off buying from your local pet store since you are only going to have two Ball Pythons, you wouldn't be able to order enough rodents to make shipping worth it without the rodents getting severely freezer burned and/or bad before you can feed them off.

I would check out the rodent vendors at Repticon, you will most likely find a good deal on a package of rodents without having to buy enough that they will go to waste and avoiding shipping costs.

Thanks for the insight!
How long do rodents typically last in the freezer before going bad or getting freezer burned? I'd assume it depends on the size of the rodent but if there's a general timeframe I'd be very happy to keep it in mind.

[Eric Alan]

It sounds like you've done a good job weighing the pros and cons. Here's a little more food for thought:

IME, hatchlings typically grow around 100 grams a month for the first 5-6 months when fed an appropriately sized meal every 3-4 days. Assuming you start with a single 100 gram baby, this means that you'll only need 7-10 fuzzies, 7-10 pups, and 7-10 weaned rats before switching to small rats once/week. Most online places sell in quantities larger than that, so you'll need a plan for the rest of the bulk bag. Will your snake take two of a smaller size to get you through the rest of them so they don't go to waste? If so, how will that change the amount of the next size up that you'll need?

It can certainly be cost-effective to buy in bulk online (I like to only make 3-4 orders a year), but don't forget to take your local market into consideration also - not just the pet stores. Maybe you can find a rat breeder in your area that would love to have you as a regular customer!

[Prahanien]

Yeah, my plan so far is to wait until I have the snakes so I can weigh them and figure out what food is appropriate for them, and using a pet store(or even repticon) to get the proper food in the immediate. I'd get them enough food for a few weeks perhaps and in the meantime that gives me a chance to order online and account for processing/shipping time if that's the route I choose to go.

The saving grace as far as quantity goes is that I'll be feeding two snakes roughly the same age/weight (I plan to buy two males). As long as I'm not buying a couple hundred fuzzies it might be alright, but then I have the issue of shipping cost and whether I'm ordering enough to make a $30 shipping cost worthwhile. So much to think about!

I actually used to own rats as pets and even back then I couldn't find a breeder near me to buy them from. I ended up paying a few bucks each for them as feeders from a local pet store near me, but they've since closed and I don't want to feed live anyway. I'm gonna do my best to have them solely taking f/t. The stories I've read about chains like Petsmart and Petco worry me and I don't think they sell frozen rodents... I have one local pet store left that I can ask as they MIGHT sell frozen, but of course they only have live where the public can see (who's gonna show off dead animals in their pet store? haha)

I'll probably ask around at Repticon because certainly people there know where they're getting their frozen supply. Hopefully there will be at least one rodent vendor I can talk to as well.

[Prahanien]

Alright whew - I called around to a few places and found a place nearby that will sell me already frozen feeders. Now I know I have someplace to go in the meantime and I feel a lot better!

[artgecko]

What I did, when I bought my first snakes at a show, was to ask what they were eating / how often, then I went to one of the dealers there and bought that size and the next size up (small quantities). Sometimes sellers at a show jack up their prices though...

Then, I ordered a larger order online. I highly suggest big cheese. They frequently have a flat rate shipping sale ($29) which helps a lot. if packaged in freezer bags or kept in the sealed vacuum packed bags they come in, rodents should last at least 6 months in a good freezer. Be careful about buying pre-bagged feeders from petsmart / petco especially. These are known to have been thawed / frozen several times and can be bad.

I would also be careful buying at a show... Check the feeders, make sure they are packed neatly and not just jammed in there. I recently bought a package of large feeder mice at a show and they were haphazardly thrown in the bag... When I went to feed for the first time, I noticed that many appeared to have been squished flat, one had a head that was disconnected, etc. and they all had a bad smell when thawed... Not good. When I order from bigcheese or perfect prey, the rodents are always neatly packaged, so you can see what you're getting and I've never gotten a bad rodent from them.