Finding local rat breeder?

[PweEzy]

any suggestions on the best way to find a local rat breeder? Im having a feeling my girl is gunna be picky on switching to f/t and I really dont want to have to buy a rat for 8 bucks from the local pet store. Im looking for a rat breeder in the Houston area. Thanks

[98bcobra]

Local Shows is the way I find out who is out there.

[PweEzy]

sadly, there are very few reptile shows in texas. ill try to goto the next one tho. thanks! any other ideas??

[PweEzy]

speak of the devil and he will show up this weekend. Apparently theres an expo this fri-sat-sunday. thanks for the advice!!!

[bobbittle]

They only list frozen on their site, give em a call and see if they will sell live:

http://www.houstonherp.com/RodentPrices.htm

[PweEzy]

haha sent them an email right before signing back on here! thanks! my parents live really close to the houstonheprs so maybe i'll have an excuse to go visit them, haha. this may be easier than I expected

[mikels]

Try Craigslist, I posted a add and I pay very little money to feed my snakes..
I hope this helps..

[PweEzy]

do you disclose the fact that the rats are for snake food or find a way around it?

[Darkice]

Have you thought about breeding your own rats? They dont take up that much space. Just need 1 tub for the breeders and 1 tub to grow them out.

[rabernet]

Glad you found someone! It took me a few years to find anyone that could keep up with my demand (about 50 snakes). I found a few since then. One through an ad on Fauna to someone local, another through a reptile show, and it turns out that he also supplies the local pet stores, and then a third through a referral from another breeder in my area.

Before that, I begged my local pet store to tell me who he got his feeders from (because I would buy him out and still need more) and he refused to tell me. I finally met his supplier at a pet store. It was sort of mean, but sweet to mention to him that I'd met his supplier the previous weekend! LOL

Besides which, that pet store owner refused to cut me any breaks on volume purchases, even though he was already marking them up well over 100% of what he paid for them (I know his wholesale pricing now).

I do breed my own (that same pet store owner tried to talk me out of that too! LOL) and use local suppliers to supplement my production when I don't produce enough to feed my crew.