Question I can't seem to find the answer to. :C

I just paid $21.50 today for four small frozen rats. I got them from the "cheapest" place I know of on Cape Cod that sells feeders. My head is ready to explode, because no matter what I do, I seem to be spending more and more money on smaller amounts of rats. I've only got three bp's, and no other animals I own eat rats beside them, so ordering a 25 count bag of sm rats with a shipping fee of 30-50 dollars is out of the question. Can't afford it, and it defeats the purpose of saving money. In my current situation, I am not able to breed rats myself. By fall, I should have the space and time, but for now it's not possible... Sooo I'm in a bit of a bind.

Is there a wholesale place in Massachusetts I don't know about? One that's preferably in the boston/cape cod area?

I would have posted this in the feeder section, but I figured that doesn't get looked at as much, and my wallet is crying. So I'm sorry if this just annoys you, but I'm kind of getting desperate.

Halp me? :please:

im from western mass so i cant help u find a place, but maybe u can start breeding a lil bit and euthanize them when they are they right size and just freeze them for later.

shipping is always that high when ordering online. You have to order enough to make shipping worth it.

Gah! I suppose I'll just keep it up as best as I can until I'm able to splurge a little more and start breeding my own. Thanks anyways guys! Sorry to be all whiny and stuff :oops: I'm just cheap! :D

I'll try hunting online some more and see if I strike gold.

ask around to your local other reptile people and see if you can all go in on a big order, that way shipping will be worth it.

sometimes people post on craigslist and freecycle to see if other people want to go in on a bulk order.

Two words...reptile show. ;)

I stopped buying them online because the last third of the bag (25 rats in a bag at one a week) always seemed to lose their scent and get wasted but if you have 3 balls I think you should be able to finish a bag of 25 with little wastage.

Ok im lost here.

You paid $21.50 for 4 small frozen rats? Thats $5.375 per rat.

Say a bag of 25 frozen online is $30 shipping is $30 thats $60

Thats $2.40 per rat.

I dont see how "so ordering a 25 count bag of sm rats with a shipping fee of 30-50 dollars is out of the question. Can't afford it, and it defeats the purpose of saving money." makes any sense what so ever. Not to mention if you buy 2 bags your only paying $1.80 per rat.

Just lost as how "it defeats the purpose of saving money" when ur paying 2.975 less per rat. And thats not including the gas money and time u spend to go to the pet store.

Online quote from RodentPro (where we get ours)

Qty Description Unit Total
20 Rats - Small $19.80

Subtotal: $19.80

Shipping & Handling (Zip 02650)


UPS $41.40*

Grand Total: $61.20

61.20/20= 3.06

Still only paying $3 per rat. And if u order 2 bags even less

http://rodentpro.com/qc.asp

I got some really good deals on mice at a reptile show today, maybe there are some on rats in your area?

+1...just go to a reptile show and buy in bulk next time you get a chance

Or, you could ask when the frozen rat delivery occurs at the shop you're buying these rats from. Then camp out in front of the store during that time. Talk to the guy making the delivery, maybe he'll deliver right to your door. Might be worth a shot.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

You might want to see if there are any local herp societies or people you could hook up with. Also check Craigslist or the Recycler for your area. Often times feeders are on one or the other of those.

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Ok im lost here.

You paid $21.50 for 4 small frozen rats? Thats $5.375 per rat.

Say a bag of 25 frozen online is $30 shipping is $30 thats $60

Thats $2.40 per rat.

I dont see how "so ordering a 25 count bag of sm rats with a shipping fee of 30-50 dollars is out of the question. Can't afford it, and it defeats the purpose of saving money." makes any sense what so ever. Not to mention if you buy 2 bags your only paying $1.80 per rat.

Just lost as how "it defeats the purpose of saving money" when ur paying 2.975 less per rat. And thats not including the gas money and time u spend to go to the pet store.

http://rodentpro.com/qc.asp

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I just don't see how paying double the price of the actual bag of rats just for shipping actually saves money. And they all eat about 1-2 rats a week, so if I buy two bags of 25 rats, that's roughly two months that rats are sitting in my freezer, losing scent and getting frostbite. They'd just be wasted. I know, it's happened before.

That wasn't the exact price, there were some pennies in there, and I forgot off the top of my head. I'm suprised you went as far as to do the math just to prove me wrong.

The pet store is two feet away from my house. I could throw a rock out my front door and break one of their windows, so I'm not really wasting gas. And even if I did find a place that sells wholesale that's farther away, I'd much rather spend the money on the gas to get there (it takes $15-$20 to get to boston and back from my house... a lot less than $40 in shipping) because I'd be able to buy in bulk and save more money anyways.

I'll probably just end up breeding my own in a few months anyways, like I said earlier, so yeah. I'm not trying be be an a**, and I do realize that you are trying to help and I thank you for it. It's just frustrating when you get a paycheck, and it's gone in a few hours. I'll look around on rodentpro because you're right, it does cost less, but spending that much money at one time tends to cause problems sometimes. Thanks, and sorry for the misunderstanding.

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Originally Posted by MissLeMew

I just don't see how paying double the price of the actual bag of rats just for shipping actually saves money. And they all eat about 1-2 rats a week, so if I buy two bags of 25 rats, that's roughly two months that rats are sitting in my freezer, losing scent and getting frostbite. They'd just be wasted. I know, it's happened before.

That wasn't the exact price, there were some pennies in there, and I forgot off the top of my head. I'm suprised you went as far as to do the math just to prove me wrong.

The pet store is two feet away from my house. I could throw a rock out my front door and break one of their windows, so I'm not really wasting gas. And even if I did find a place that sells wholesale that's farther away, I'd much rather spend the money on the gas to get there (it takes $15-$20 to get to boston and back from my house... a lot less than $40 in shipping) because I'd be able to buy in bulk and save more money anyways.

I'll probably just end up breeding my own in a few months anyways, like I said earlier, so yeah. End of story. Sorry to have pissed you off.

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if your rats are getting freezer burned in two months they aren't being stored properly. Look into one of those economy sealer things (i can't remember what they are called) but they vacuum out the air and stuff. There a are few affordable models that work really well available.

Frozen rodents should be able to last 6 months in the freezer.

Here is what i do with mine:

I buy a bulk amount of rats. Lets say there are 30 in the bag. I take the bag when i get home and separate it into 3-5 smaller bags of rats. This way when I am taking them out for my snakes only the rats that will be used that month even leave the freezer. When that bag is done i just keep it in the freezer to refill with my next purchase. This limits the amount of rats that come into contact with the air that i'm not planning on using.

Alrighty, thanks. :3

Sorry for being testy! I try not to get frustrated about a lot of things, but it's rather hard when you've got a short fuse. :oops:

I usually keep my rats in the bag they come in, and then I'll put them in another ziplock and a paper bag, and just throw them in there... I should probably not let the air in, as it probably helps the scent die. I'll look into the airlock bags as soon as I can. My work uses them, and the month old rats that come out of them are still pretty stinky... I'll see if they don't have any in the storage room that are not being used :P

I went ahead and ordered another bag from rodent pro. I figure my snakes being healthy is way more important than the price I spend on their food. It'll be easier once I get rats to breed, though.

Thanks for the help, and sorry for being a grouch!

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Originally Posted by MissLeMew

I just don't see how paying double the price of the actual bag of rats just for shipping actually saves money. And they all eat about 1-2 rats a week, so if I buy two bags of 25 rats, that's roughly two months that rats are sitting in my freezer, losing scent and getting frostbite. They'd just be wasted. I know, it's happened before.

That wasn't the exact price, there were some pennies in there, and I forgot off the top of my head. I'm suprised you went as far as to do the math just to prove me wrong.

The pet store is two feet away from my house. I could throw a rock out my front door and break one of their windows, so I'm not really wasting gas. And even if I did find a place that sells wholesale that's farther away, I'd much rather spend the money on the gas to get there (it takes $15-$20 to get to boston and back from my house... a lot less than $40 in shipping) because I'd be able to buy in bulk and save more money anyways.

I'll probably just end up breeding my own in a few months anyways, like I said earlier, so yeah. I'm not trying be be an a**, and I do realize that you are trying to help and I thank you for it. It's just frustrating when you get a paycheck, and it's gone in a few hours. I'll look around on rodentpro because you're right, it does cost less, but spending that much money at one time tends to cause problems sometimes. Thanks, and sorry for the misunderstanding.

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But the math doesnt lie. The math i provided was for a bag of mice + shipping to cape cod and still was about half the price your paying now. You figure $2 less on 20 mice is $40 you save. Im not trying to prove anyone wrong. You dont want to do it and spend $40 more buying from a pet shop so be it. But i wont argue that its a rip off to pay $40 for shipping with the mice cost $20 i dont disagree there. But in the end its cheaper.

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Originally Posted by MissLeMew

Alrighty, thanks. :3

Sorry for being testy! I try not to get frustrated about a lot of things, but it's rather hard when you've got a short fuse. :oops:

I usually keep my rats in the bag they come in, and then I'll put them in another ziplock and a paper bag, and just throw them in there... I should probably not let the air in, as it probably helps the scent die. I'll look into the airlock bags as soon as I can. My work uses them, and the month old rats that come out of them are still pretty stinky... I'll see if they don't have any in the storage room that are not being used :P

I went ahead and ordered another bag from rodent pro. I figure my snakes being healthy is way more important than the price I spend on their food. It'll be easier once I get rats to breed, though.

Thanks for the help, and sorry for being a grouch!

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Also rodentpro attends local reptile shows. They attend the ones in ohio thats how i buy em locally and dont pay for the shipping. I would still check around at a local pet show.

And once again im not trying to prove you wrong, make you feel stupid im just simply saying that paying the $40 shipping for a $20 bag of rats is still saving u money in the end.

Best of luck sorry if i came off the wrong way :gj:

If spoilage is a huge concern, get your rats here:
http://www.themousefactory.com/

They vacuum pack them, and I've never seen such gorgeous mice and rats--they look like they went to a beautician before they were frozen, lol.

They're only a bit more expensive than RodentPro, and EVEN WITH shipping costs, they STILL cost less than what you paid for yours.

Buy 6 months worth--they'll keep perfectly, and you won't have to worry about it.

I use RodentPro, but I have 41 snakes. If I only had a few, I would use Mouse Factory, because the quality is higher and they keep longer.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I use RodentPro, but I have 41 snakes. If I only had a few, I would use Mouse Factory, because the quality is higher and they keep longer.

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I use RodentPro only because it comes to Columbus reptile show :P

Like a lot of others that can't or don't want to go to the trouble of breeding my own rats I also order online in bulk. I've never run into an issue with buying 6 months worth of food at at time for my 2 boas and always repackage them in better ziplock bags when I order from any of the suppliers that don't use the best sealing methods. Never ran into an issue with freezer burn or the snakes refusing because the rats have gone bad.

Thanks everyone! Again, sorry for being a testy brat. :oops:

I'll look into mouse factory, as I've heard nothing but good things about them... but not for a bit anyways. I've got 50 rats coming tomorrow. :3

Thanks again for the help!

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Originally Posted by MissLeMew

Thanks everyone! Again, sorry for being a testy brat. :oops:

I'll look into mouse factory, as I've heard nothing but good things about them... but not for a bit anyways. I've got 50 rats coming tomorrow. :3

Thanks again for the help!

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OH I JUST GOT A BRIGHT IDEA!!!!

Your worried about spoilage? Best idea ever! Buy 2 more bps to take care of em!! You know u want to ;) Its like an addiction :gj:

Sometimes not being able to afford has to do with budgeting. I can budget $15 for mice/rats every week. I can't normally budget in $60 or $75 or more up front or the freezer space or the potential wastage down the line.

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

OH I JUST GOT A BRIGHT IDEA!!!!

Your worried about spoilage? Best idea ever! Buy 2 more bps to take care of em!! You know u want to ;) Its like an addiction :gj:

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Oh holy gods, no. Not until I get a raise... I do want to, though. :D

My next target is a butter bee, or a honeybee. I <3 those.

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Originally Posted by MissLeMew

Oh holy gods, no. Not until I get a raise... I do want to, though. :D

My next target is a butter bee, or a honeybee. I <3 those.

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aha :gj:

Math rules! ;)

On a side note, I have found a couple local breeders on Craigslist. They don't advertise all the time, so you might want to go back a couple weeks before deciding you can't find one.

I'm not sure these are around you (I just clicked on "cape cod craigslist", but this is what I found....

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/pet/1660896950.html
http://southcoast.craigslist.org/pet/1646008098.html
http://southcoast.craigslist.org/pet/1622824676.html