Best place to get frozen rodents?

Want to switch my ball python to F/T rats where's the best place to go?

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Not PetSmart/Petco. I've heard of people having issues with their supplier from smelling like pee to being improperly frozen.

I got mine from pet supplies plus and they were much cheaper as well as... Not gross. I don't know if there are any in California. I would just look for a smaller pet store, Craigslist for a local supplier, or order online.

Big Cheese is pretty good. My only problem with them was I had one snake, and buying bags of 25. My snake was growing fast, and I felt like I was ready to move up in prey size before I ran out. I fed two rats per feeding a time or two, which isn't that big of a deal really. Underground Reptiles sells in smaller quantities and their feeders were pretty decent. No complaints here. Depending on how many and of what size I need, If I can't get to a local expo, Big Cheese is my first choice, followed by Underground Reptiles.

I've heard others are good also, it's just the shipping you have watch out for. I'd say check out a few and find out what shipping to your area is, and go with what you feel is best.

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Originally Posted by LittleTreeGuy

Big Cheese is pretty good. My only problem with them was I had one snake, and buying bags of 25. My snake was growing fast, and I felt like I was ready to move up in prey size before I ran out. I fed two rats per feeding a time or two, which isn't that big of a deal really. Underground Reptiles sells in smaller quantities and their feeders were pretty decent. No complaints here. Depending on how many and of what size I need, If I can't get to a local expo, Big Cheese is my first choice, followed by Underground Reptiles.

I've heard others are good also, it's just the shipping you have watch out for. I'd say check out a few and find out what shipping to your area is, and go with what you feel is best.

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I see there fairly competitive with rodent pro I used them 8 yrs ago and had no issues but the large quantities they came in I had to at some point feed my snakes 2-3 rats too just get rid of the over stock of rodents.. Ill check out underground reptiles as well. Thanks

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What's the best way to get snake to switch over to rats f/T

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I use Perfect Prey and Big Cheese. They're both really good. I use Perfect Prey a little more because Big Cheese is sometimes out of the larger feeders that I need. You may be able to call them and see if they'll sell you the smaller quantities that you want.

I've only used rodentpro, ARS and Loxahatchee(perfectprey) for my frozen food needs. Rodentpro has the best prices(especially if you buy under "hot deal") but the other two have far superior quality control and consistent packaging - RP seems to do a lot of outsourcing. The last year or so it's been almost entirely perfectprey for me and they have yet to let me down. All three do mice, rats, chicks. Perfectprey includes ASFs and some insects on their menu. Rodentpro includes guinea pigs, quail and rabbits on theirs.

I've also started using reptilinks but I imagine it would be a chore switching a royal to this prey type. I like their product because they use the whole food item(in most cases - they tell you what is included/excluded in each sausage description) ground up and stuffed into 100% natural collagen casings that range in size from 1/2g to 100g. Prey options include rabbit, quail, chicken, venison, frog legs, insects and combinations like frog/rabbit, rabbit/quail, venison/chicken, etc. They even have some with fruits/vegetables for critters that require such variety.

Since you're in CA, I would go with Layne Labs. You can order small amounts, the feeders are the best around and the shipping is reasonable within CA

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Originally Posted by xcjumper

Since you're in CA, I would go with Layne Labs. You can order small amounts, the feeders are the best around and the shipping is reasonable within CA

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Layne Labs is great too. I used to use them all the time. Their shipping costs to GA became too prohibitive and that's when I switched to Big Cheese and Perfect Prey. Same quality but the feeder and shipping costs were considerably less than Layne Labs.

I asked the same thing. The 2 sites that people suggested were big cheese and perfect prey. There shipping and cost were the best. Unless u can trust clist

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Big Cheese Rodent Factory for me! Their prices are good, not one rat was unclean or out of place, and they're neatly lined up in vacuum sealed bags.

I also tried Rodent Pro only once, and it was bad. The quality just can not compare to Big Cheese. The rats weren't even in vacuum sealed bags, they were just in a pile in a bag, some of them were dirty (black specks in their fur... no idea), and to top it all off, half of them were partially defrosted upon arrival. Bad. I didn't bother asking for a refund, because I just... didn't want the trouble. But I could have.

Soon I will be shipping rodents. Just need to up production because I can barley keep up with local sales. I'm getting a much bigger area to breed but the key to any good breeder spotless conditions and Mazuri 6f or equivalent food source. I'm also a fan of spring water cause I have access to unlimited amounts no chemicals that way.

Thanks for the info the big cheese factory seems the way too go...

Any helpful hints to switch to rats from mice?

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Originally Posted by robert7107

Thanks for the info the big cheese factory seems the way too go...

Any helpful hints to switch to rats from mice?

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What worked the best for me is getting some dirty mice substrate from the pet store, from the mice enclosure... you know, with their scent and poop and everything. Then after the rat is defrosted, roll it around in the dirty mice substrate to fully coat it with mouse scent. And I just keep the bag of the stuff to use this way for many feedings, until the snake is taking rats consistently.

One of mine actually still won't take a rat unless it is coated in mouse scent in this way.

Redshepard nailed it on the head! Follow those steps you should have no issues with the switch. I personally would try a white rat if you were feeding white mice

Repeating what other people said, but I've done both Big Cheese and Rodent Pro. (I have only one snake, but I usually make large purchases with 3 or 4 of my snake owning friends to split shipping costs).

In terms of packaging, Big Cheese is great. They are all vacuum packed on a styrofoam tray. My order came completely frozen (although I ordered in the middle of December). Mice were all consistent in size and very clean. For me, the packaging and overall product trumped Rodent Pro. Their stuff came frozen for me, but were packed in large bags full of air, which I thought would eventually compromise the freshness of the mice. They're okay still right now (it's been about two months) but I have my doubts on whether or not it'll stay nice and unfreezer burned. Both the mice and the rats I ordered were consistent in size and mine were on sale (whee!). I guess in terms of pricing, Rodent Pro might be a little cheaper. Customer service was great for both companies.

I had another friend who orders from Layne Labs. They are a little more expensive, but from what I hear, a good product.