Online vs Local F/T

[FireBaby]

Hi all, new to the forum and wanted suggestions. I have a single ball python at a little over 300g right now, and have been debating whether I should keep buying frozen rats locally or online. The price would only be a little less if I ordered online, and I’d have to get a few packs which would last over a year. Locally they don’t vaccum seal, so I’d have to go a few times a year.

It’s no big deal, but I keep wondering if I should get them shipped. Thanks for any input!

[CottonMouth]

I always preferred locally for a few reasons:

1) Whenever I can, I try to help local businesses. And by helping a local breeder, you know in case you ever needed food immediately for whatever reason they'd still be in business.

2) I don't like having a hundred rodents in my freezer lol.

3) With a growing snake, their food sizes are going to be getting larger over time, so you'll have to take that into account if you go ahead and place a large order.

I have heard some people say they were concerned with the transportation of the feeders, thawing in the process. But I have no knowledge on that so best to wait to hear from someone who actually has experience with that.

Oh and unless I've been doing it wrong all these years lol I never had my feeders vaccum sealed. Always in a zip lock bag, so you can still buy a lot at time to safe you a trip.

Good luck on whatever you pick. I'd wait to hear from members who prefer Online to hear their points.

[Mstuppiello921]

I prefer local because Im a huge supporter of local business ( my family has owned numerous restaurants). However, I don’t have any local places that sell good quality frozen so I buy online. To me, even though I love local business, I love my snakes more and getting the best quality feeders is most important. I get my feeders from perfect prey in southern florida and they are great. I live in northern florida so I love that they are semi local.


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[CottonMouth]

Yeah good point Mstuppiello921! Forgot about that.
I think priority should be a quality, clean feeders, a place you trust. 99% of breeders I found are very good, and they actually care about their mice/rats, don't just see them as a money maker. So you should be safe, unless your local breeder just looks like a shady person haha and his set up looks dirty.

[FireBaby]

Those are some really good points, thank you!

I think the two places here order in bulk online, but I’ll keep buying from them because they’re still locally run. Don’t have to worry about size as she grows.

[Mstuppiello921]

Agreed cottonmouth. Im originally from new england and had access to a lot of quality breeders. However, after moving to northern florida I had trouble finding a good one. Although I am the type of person who really values customer service. Their are a couple local breeders that had good quality but had really off putting service so I passed. My biggest complaint with online is shipping cost. I am not a breeder and I don’t have a ton of animals so I don’t get to order huge qualities for one shipping price. Most of the time the shipping is the same cost of my order....


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[Craiga 01453]

If I had a reliable local source who produced quality prey, I would go local. I like to support local when I can.

But...since I don't, I use perfect prey. Very happy with them. Pricing is fair, quality is second to none and packing/shipping and customer service are fantastic.

[bcr229]

I patronize several local private sources who can fortunately supply me with bulk feeders at prices lower than online.

[JRLongton]

The local snake store sells frozen mice and rats and I prefer buying from them. You can keep rodents frozen for weeks and months, but personally, I wouldn't eat fish that had been in the freezer for a few months, so why feed something like that to another animal?

But the best reason is just to occasionally connect with the local snake keeping community. You never know, maybe the snake store has a nice new cage for sale for a reasonable price.

[EL-Ziggy]

I don't have any trusted local suppliers so it's Perfect Prey all the way for me. I have (8) snakes and a separate freezer for their food so it works our perfectly. The pet store feeder prices in my area are ridiculous.