Which way to invest?

[Jay_Bunny]

The pet store where my fiance and I get our feeders is shutting down in September. Even if it wasn't, it would be a 45min drive from where we might be living come September. There are a few other pet stores that sell frozen feeders, but they are very expensive and all are 20+ min from where we will be living.

So, we have two options when we move.

A) We could buy a freezer and buy in bulk online.

B) We could buy some breeders and breed our own.

Upon moving we will have 3 snakes. A king who is currently eating pinkies and might be up to fuzzies by the time we move. A corn who is on hoppers. And a corn who is on full grown mice. We might get a fourth snake and most likely it will be on fuzzies or pinkies.

[JLC]

With a small collection of snakes, it's really not practical to breed your own rodents...unless you just really love the little critters and can get as much enjoyment out of keeping them as you do your own snakes.


If I were in your shoes, I'd opt for buying frozen online. You may not even need a separate freezer. Unless you're buying tons of them, they don't take up that much space in a regular freezer...especially as you're not going for jumbo rats or anything.

[Jay_Bunny]

Well, my mini fridge is currently broken and I don't think the other two roommates would like frozen rodents in the community fridge. So, a small freezer would be necessary.

I love all types of rodents and I personally would not mind having them around. I was just wondering what the best option would be. Not to mention, my collection will get larger, just not right away.

[SatanicIntention]

If they will eat frozen, definitely go that route. I get live feeders from Big Cheese Rodents and they are very high quality. Medium mice are only $0.45 apiece(and they aren't tiny either).

If you can find someone that sells them in bulk near you(like Rodent Pro or Mouse Factory) then you could probably just go pick them up.

You could always breed the mice and euthanize a few litters of the appropriate size you need every so often. That works well too. You'd be up to your eyeballs in meece soon though

[Jay_Bunny]

If we went the breeding route, we would euthenize and freeze whatever we got as soon as they became the right size.

I don't know any rodent suppliers that are close by. Most are a few states away, so overnight shipping (to make sure none thaw too much) would be expensive.

A question, do online rodent suppliers ship the feeders completely frozen or do they pack them with cold packs and hope they don't thaw all the way? I have heard of people receiving feeders that had thawed during the trip.

[SatanicIntention]

If you buy from a reputable place(I personally do not like Rodent Pro, their rodents were dirty and thin), they pack your rodents with dry ice in a very insulated box. They arrive very frozen. The dry ice is enough to last a few days at least, so even if the package got delayed for a day, they should be fine.

Overnight shipping may seem expensive, but if you figure it into the cost of the rodents, they are still much cheaper than if you got them at the pet store. It's usually $30-$40 depending on the weight.

[Jay_Bunny]

Adding in $50+ for the actual rodents, thats about $100+ for one shipping of rodents and that would last around 6 months. Which would be cheaper? Breeding my own or buying online?