Upped the prey size :)

Aw, I remember when I was just buying pinks for my boy... now he's up to small adult rats! :) I fed him on the 8th and he was out hunting around again last night, so I went to get him some supper and figured it might be time for something bigger if he's getting hungry so fast. I was asking for the biggest crawler they had, now I'm getting the smallest adult.
I need to start ordering frozen online. (I looked at PetSmart the other day for frozen-$8.99 for a single small adult!) He does eat them- Jackson is an excellent eater. Never refused a meal. (He has refused seconds, but never the whole meal.) It would be better for me for two reasons: I kind of hate paralyzing the rats; and this could get pretty pricy quick with multiple snakes. I don't want to breed my own, I'm just not in to breeding anything... and I don't really want to take care of the rats. For those of you who order online, can you recommend a particular "brand"?

I get my frozen small rats from RodentPro.

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Originally Posted by ballpythonluvr

I get my frozen small rats from RodentPro.

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x2 Rodent Pro is great

rodentpro.com

Although I have not used rodentpro, I've read mixed reviews with them. I have used Big Cheese Rodents and they seem great.

I do recommend finding someone locally though either on Craigslist or through your local herp club. I personally like establishing a more personal relationship with my rodent supplier as well as saving on shipping. :) just my $0.02

Hmmm... I do get my rats from a local breeder now, but I have to stun/kill them myself, and I hate doing it. I know this is gonna sound awful- and it is- but it took me a few tries to get the technique down and I would just end up hurting the rats instead of killing them. Which made me feel terrible. I mean, I can do it on the first try now, but I still hate it. :( I think I will try Rodent Pro...

You might be able to find a new local breeder whom will sell Frozen to you. I am not knocking the large scale operations at all. But for my own personal sensibilities I wanted to actually visit the breeding facility and look at the rats and how they were housed and looked after. More importantly how they were euthanized, to me it is important that the death of food is 'clean and stress pain free as is reasonable. (yes I buy from a local butcher whom keeps his own farm animals and slaughters them himself too) The added bonus is I get to buy local, in the global economy cash moves a lot and if I can keep some circulating in my city the better it is for me. (I work as a photographer so local sales is 90% of my income) If I can't buy local, buy regional, and than national, then Americas.

Having a relationship with a local breeder really helps out too. I have a very stubborn mouse eater she will not switch and feed consistently. So she gets mice, it is nice to ask for the jumbo mice to be raised for her and have the breeder set them aside and raise up some especially for me. That and those oh.. I thought I have more... moments being able to call up and drive out and pick up what you need at 8 pm sunday is nice too. All that for an extra 11¢ a rat over ordering in.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

(yes I buy from a local butcher whom keeps his own farm animals and slaughters them himself too) The added bonus is I get to buy local, in the global economy cash moves a lot and if I can keep some circulating in my city the better it is for me. (I work as a photographer so local sales is 90% of my income) If I can't buy local, buy regional, and than national, then Americas.

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That is cool. We have a local butcher shop that buys all of their meat from local farmers. It is the best, but also the most expensive. I love buying from there.

I have used Rodent Pro (never shipped though, I picked up from them at a local show), Layne Labs and Big Cheese. I thought Big Cheese was cheapest overall and I was satisfied with the quality of their product.

Before I moved, I had a local guy who'd euthanize, package, and freeze them for me. It was nice.