Feeding question~switching to live~

So my girl is getting pretty big now and the place I go to get her rats I have to buy the 'large rats' which are now 4.50 a rat.Well I feed her frozen and that is all that she has eaten her whole life but they are getting to expensive for me. I mean I am running low on money $20 only gets me 3 rats! So I was thinking of switching her to live because I think that they may be cheaper but do you think she will take them live or know when it is for sure dead because she has never eaten live before. Or for those who feed live are live feeders generally cheaper or more expensive then frozen? P.S.My mom suggested breeding the rats but I only have one snake and I would think that it would cost more to breed and then have to take care of rats,buying food and what not, that will only be food in the end. I appreciate the help thanks!

Live is more expensive.

Order your f/t online.

I was paying $4 per small rat at the pet store. If I go through a feeder company, I can get 16 for $28.

Sorry to jack the thread a little, but is that with shipping? I'd order online but shipping costs so much from the sites I've looked at.

You could watch CL a lot of the time people will have frozen feeders on there. Breeding your own is way cheaper when feeding multiple snakes IMO but with only 1 snake you would probably be overflowing with rats & have to sell some off which becomes a pain in the a$$ dealing with people on CL.

Here live rats are $10 and frozen are $6.75...I think if you are trying to save money ordering online is the way to go. But sometimes you can find a snake breeder that sells cheaper feeders.

Don't buy live! They are sometimes twice as expensive as frozen. What you can do is bulk order online. Now, shipping is usually $40-$50, so in order to get the most bang for your buck, you'll need to order a lot in bulk and just store them in the freezer until you need them (That's what I do). The other option is trying to find a rat breeder in your area that charges less or see if there's a large frozen rodent supplier near your area.

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Originally Posted by eskye

Sorry to jack the thread a little, but is that with shipping? I'd order online but shipping costs so much from the sites I've looked at.

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Shipping is so expensive because it requires an insulated box with dry ice, and they have to be overnighted.

The key is to buy a few months at a time I buy 6 months of rodents at a time and save $250-$350 per order vs buying local. You have to buy enough that you overcome the shipping price with the savings per rodent that you get.

Live rats are much MORE expensive than f/t. Order in bulk for a better price.

Live is more expensive than f/t. Breeding your own is great, but for one snake probably not cost effective. As far as worrying about him going from f/t to live, I would say zero worries. I haven't met a bp yet that didn't prefer his food alive over p/k or f/t.

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You could always ask around locally to see if other people would like to go in on a bulk shipment of rats. That way you can order more and save more on shipping.