Buying live food at Petco

when we had some bp's that we had not switched over to rats we did purchase mice from petco I thought on a whole they were a decent deal. For one snake It really shouldn't be any problem and they sell feeder rats as well. Though if you can find a feed or farmers supply store that sells feeders you may get a better deal.On the other hand I find the comment about f/t being more economical when you have more snakes to be a little false hood it's convient if you don't have space to raise your snakes food supply but that would be it. Feeding 40 + snakes at any given time I frimly believe that live is the way to go as thawing out that many prey items would just be way to time consuming as well as having to deal with refusal's and refreezing and such.Personally I am a frim believer in rats or asf's being a better or more practial food source for bp's.

petco sells mice mostly as feeders. They just can't say so. There was a time when some of the stores even required you to fill out the form even just for a feeder, which was ridiculous. Their prices are too high, for one snake its not a big deal. At a local reptile store, I pay 1.30 for a mouse, including tax. At petco, its 2.29 for a mouse, before sales tax. Now when you are buying more than one mouse at a time, it gets pretty costly...

I work at petco...and we are definately allowed to admit where these mice and rats are going. We've never made people fill out forms. 90% of the mice and rats we sell are feeders...the only animals we're not allowed to sell as feeders are guinea pigs and gerbils. I've heard from one of our customers that we're the only people they can come to in the area, because if you get mice from petsmart or some other general pet stores...mice are given medicine for their own health as pets, that makes them really bad for snakes to ingest. Petco is a bit costly if you have many snakes.

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Originally Posted by Myenia

I work at petco...and we are definately allowed to admit where these mice and rats are going. We've never made people fill out forms. 90% of the mice and rats we sell are feeders...the only animals we're not allowed to sell as feeders are guinea pigs and gerbils. I've heard from one of our customers that we're the only people they can come to in the area, because if you get mice from petsmart or some other general pet stores...mice are given medicine for their own health as pets, that makes them really bad for snakes to ingest. Petco is a bit costly if you have many snakes.

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Myenia, are the people that bring the mice in local people that each store has some sort of contract with? I mean, is there a joe blow that breeds mice in his back yard in each city where there's a Petco and sells them to Petco? or does Petco have contracts with a HUGE breeding facility and ships mice out to each petco around the U.S.?

I'm very curious about this because you, as a ball python owner..or prospective owner..have got to know that the $2.29 per MOUSE is an absolute rip off and I would much rather go straight to the source rather than deal with an overpriced middle man...

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Originally Posted by Nate

Myenia, are the people that bring the mice in local people that each store has some sort of contract with? I mean, is there a joe blow that breeds mice in his back yard in each city where there's a Petco and sells them to Petco? or does Petco have contracts with a HUGE breeding facility and ships mice out to each petco around the U.S.?

I'm very curious about this because you, as a ball python owner..or prospective owner..have got to know that the $2.29 per MOUSE is an absolute rip off and I would much rather go straight to the source rather than deal with an overpriced middle man...

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I agree.
I have to buy 2 mice from petco a week until I can get them on ASFs..
One for my ball who is almost big enough to eat a small ASF, and one for my new corn snake, who only eats live and ASFs are too big.

I think I'm going to start a bin on mice again. :[

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Originally Posted by Myenia

I work at petco...and we are definately allowed to admit where these mice and rats are going. We've never made people fill out forms. 90% of the mice and rats we sell are feeders...the only animals we're not allowed to sell as feeders are guinea pigs and gerbils. I've heard from one of our customers that we're the only people they can come to in the area, because if you get mice from petsmart or some other general pet stores...mice are given medicine for their own health as pets, that makes them really bad for snakes to ingest. Petco is a bit costly if you have many snakes.

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i didn't mean that petco employees can't admit it, just that they don't treat them the same as they would if they were openly sold as feeders. A lot of independant pet stores i've been to that sell mice keep them in the back room, not on display as the pet animals are. Sort of like how the crickets are kept at petco. they aren't marketed as feeders at petco, although honestly, probably 90% of them do end up as food.

So how much do F/T cost? I thought $2 for a mouse wasn't bad. I only have a single snake to feed, though.

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Originally Posted by Nate

Myenia, are the people that bring the mice in local people that each store has some sort of contract with? I mean, is there a joe blow that breeds mice in his back yard in each city where there's a Petco and sells them to Petco? or does Petco have contracts with a HUGE breeding facility and ships mice out to each petco around the U.S.?

I'm very curious about this because you, as a ball python owner..or prospective owner..have got to know that the $2.29 per MOUSE is an absolute rip off and I would much rather go straight to the source rather than deal with an overpriced middle man...

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Yes, they come from huge breeding facilities. We are not allowed to do anything but 'adopt' out animals that come from anywhere local. I have a ball and a RTB, but as I've only had them for a little over a month, I hadn't realized the "rip off". 2.29 a week may be more than you can get elsewhere...but its not alot for 2 snakes, especially since I get an employee discount at petco. I can't speak for others on here who aren't breeders or collectors, but to me...saving .50 cents to a dollar is not a big deal.

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Originally Posted by Myenia

Yes, they come from huge breeding facilities. We are not allowed to do anything but 'adopt' out animals that come from anywhere local. I have a ball and a RTB, but as I've only had them for a little over a month, I hadn't realized the "rip off". 2.29 a week may be more than you can get elsewhere...but its not alot for 2 snakes, especially since I get an employee discount at petco. I can't speak for others on here who aren't breeders or collectors, but to me...saving .50 cents to a dollar is not a big deal.

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Well, just so you have an idea of what I'm paying, have paid before, and expect to pay...

A used to purchase rats from a local back yard rodent breeder... and I don't mean that in negative terms....he just had a shed in his back yard that he bred rodents in, and they were great quality rodents!!

Each week I went to his house and paid $1.00 for a small rat. A small rat is twice the size of a large mouse. I moved away...too far for me to go to this guy any more...and I also found out he's giving up the breeding biz. So i'm stuck with petco.

As you can see, I pay over twice as much for half as much....

I have gone to Petland...and there's a place around here called Pet Bazaar that I go to that sells mice for $1.29...that's fine and dandy...I can deal with that...but still, it's almost half the price of Petco.

I think the reptile market is picking up in size, and Petco realizes this and is cashing in pretty big.

Can you sense my irritation? :D

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Originally Posted by crystal

im in spokane and i get all my feeders from northwest seed and pet on sprague and altamont.

good luck

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AGREE with Crystal (and not just because I have to)!!!
NW Seed and Pet is also a little cheaper than Petco, and they know that most of their mice and rats are feeders...I even get guinea pigs and chickens from them for my Argentine Boa. Of their 2 stores here in Spokane, I highly recommend the Sprague/Altamont store over North Division. I think the staff is way more knowledgeable and alot more friendly. Also, if you have any questions are just ever wanted to get some ideas...I am in Spokane and now that the collection has grown to 9 snakes, I kinda would love to show them off.