Worth it?

If you do decide to breed rats, definitely, definitely try to find someone local who also breeds rats.
I breed my own, however, if I'm ever short on rats, I have someone I go to. I get smalls and mediums for 75 cents each.
It's nice to have someone you can go to other than a pet shop or reptile shop. I know the rep shops around me charge $2 for a sm....which isn't too bad except for when I have to buy a lot. I prefer to save money when I can.

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Originally Posted by lucylove

yall are paying too much. I pay only 2.25 in the San Francisco Bay Area and even cheaper fr frozen. There is also a guy who sales wholesale live rats for 1.50.

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My point exactely....

I laugh when I see people selling medium rats for $0.75 each.

I have sold some that cheap in the past. To tell you the truth I would rather light them on fire than sell them at that price any more.

This is the problem with the hobby. People are cutting each other's throats at every opportunity. This is why an albino burm is $75 at a reptile show. You are buying a snake that will be 16+' long and over 100 pounds and you don't even have to drop a Benjamin to get it?

The guy who is selling medium rats for $0.75 is MAYBE breaking even on costs and that is ONLY if he doesn't count labor costs, in which case he is losing money every time. People who are in this hobby to lose money make me laugh.

On the original topic breeding rats is worth it if you can do it correctly. You will save money

Get into ASFs instead. I have a guy coming this weekend to give me $10 per small pregnant female. Should feed my stock for a couple of weeks.

:rofl:

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Originally Posted by tomfromtheshade

I laugh when I see people selling medium rats for $0.75 each.

I have sold some that cheap in the past. To tell you the truth I would rather light them on fire than sell them at that price any more.

This is the problem with the hobby. People are cutting each other's throats at every opportunity. This is why an albino burm is $75 at a reptile show. You are buying a snake that will be 16+' long and over 100 pounds and you don't even have to drop a Benjamin to get it?

The guy who is selling medium rats for $0.75 is MAYBE breaking even on costs and that is ONLY if he doesn't count labor costs, in which case he is losing money every time. People who are in this hobby to lose money make me laugh.

On the original topic breeding rats is worth it if you can do it correctly. You will save money

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His normal prices are higher. He'd be crazy if he did that price normally.
He just gives me a really good price because I buy a LOT from him.

When i was shipping rodents to people that needed my extras, my average 15x15x12 boxes would hold about 30lbs of rodents and cost about $35 FedEx Ground.

Big companies overcharge on shipping to make up for their so called low prices, yea right.

No need to ship next day air unless its small order since FAA regulates shipments to 5lbs of dry ice per box when shipped next day air. Shipping ground theres no limit on amount.

if you breed your own, 1.2 is plenty. Females will drop 6-18 per litter about every 2-3 months.

1 snake fed once every 7 days will only consume 52 rats a year. You would have all that after 4 big litters from the rats.

I have a local breeder who I buy from. He usually sells me a vacuumed bag of 25 small/medium rats for $25. Works for me since I only have two snakes at the time.

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Originally Posted by lasweetswan

I have a local breeder who I buy from. He usually sells me a vacuumed bag of 25 small/medium rats for $25. Works for me since I only have two snakes at the time.

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I sell my small rats for $1 each live or frozen. Helps keep the freezer from over filling

If your just feeding one snake if it will eat F/T and your not trying for fast growth to breed I think you could do it with just fine with 1.1 rats and keep your BP healthy. You may not be able to feed every 7 days depending on how many pinkies you get per litter but for a BP to be healthy I don't think you have to feed every 5 or 7 days that feeding regimen is more for fast growth to breed 1.2 would give you some extras.

Well I mentioned the idea to my girlfriend and she said that she's putting her foot down and I can't do it. For some reason a dead rat from some company is different than a dead rat from my own living room and its inhumane. Not to mention she likes rats, so that's probably the main reason. Oh well...