PetCo Rasin Prices Again!!!!

Went to petco last night because my feeder store was out. To my disbelief a MED RAT $6.99

Sounds like a good reason to breed your own.

I know, but I dont think I want to do that right now.

I would look on yellowpages.com to check local pet shops. That has helped me a lot.

Try frozen.

Which ever you do, good luck:gj:

Is it for feeders? I assume they are trying to deter people from buying their "pet rats" as feeders by raising the price.

or post where you live or ask people in the chat...you might have a breeder near you. i found one not but 10 miles away from where i live ( coldbloodedaddiction.com ) so i would also try that along with local pet stores...just a hint if they sell reptiles that eat rodents chances are they sell rodents too

Our local PetCo always sells mediums for that price, Pat. They also don't sell live feeders "officially". I've seen them make people sign a pre-printed statement that the rodents they are buying are not for use as feeders.

Heh, you're lucky it's only $6.99...at Petsmart the rats are $10. Mostly because they 'refuse' to sell their rodents as food, but also because their live animal prices are insane anyway. :)

Both Petco & Petsmart DO NOT sell any of their live rodents as "feeders", but as "pets". That is why their prices are so high. Also not to mention, they both are retail stores so of course ALL of their prices are going to be jacked way up. They probably buy their rodents for a dollar or two and then turn around and sell them for $6-12.

Look in the yellow pages for ma and pa kind of petstores, ones that aren't retail. You will find that those kind of stores have better prices and do sell rodents as reptile food.

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Look in the yellow pages for ma and pa kind of petstores, ones that aren't retail. You will find that those kind of stores have better prices and do sell rodents as reptile food.

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That's actually good advice. When I first moved to South Florida, I was stuck buying feeders at the big box pet stores. On my way home from work one day I stopped at a mom and pop pet shop that specialized in birds and oddly enough they sold live feeders of better quality and cheaper too!

the petco near me uses up 90 female mice, and 120 male mice, then 45 male rats (of assorted sizes) and 45 female rats (of assorted sizes) every week. they make good money off them, and yes, they are very open about these being feeders and are quit proud to tell you they are the only ones with live feeders in town.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Our local PetCo always sells mediums for that price, Pat. They also don't sell live feeders "officially". I've seen them make people sign a pre-printed statement that the rodents they are buying are not for use as feeders.

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my guess is that's a managers policy, as corporate petco allows their mice to be used as feeders, however they suggest F/T all the same.

I've never had a problem buying live feeders at Petco. i've even had employees say "what are you feeding these to?" and I answer honestly...and they typically say "oh ok"

Anyway...I stopped going to petco after they raised prices to about 2.29/mouse..yes mouse.

I had one guy down here I was getting small rats for $1 each. He lives too far away for me to go every week, so I stopped going...maybe i'll get things situated one of these days :rolleyes:

$2.29? wow... Although that is pretty darn high for a mouse, it's cheap compared to Petsmart. :) $5-6 per mouse there. I won't even get breeders from them...

And I guess that it does vary store to store and state to state, but I know in the Petsmart I worked at I was the only one to sell mice and rats to people I knew were using them as feeders. Of course, after packing them up, I would always recommend the reptile store up the road for better prices and quality. :D

I was just at Petco tonight and their prices were $2.49 for mice too.. at least they were more plump than the mice ive been getting at my local ma/pop shop.. they charge $1.49 for mice but they are TINY.

thanks everyone for the response. i normally do go to a shop that is literally a block from me. and the nice little mexican lady there only charges me 3.99 for a large!!!!! but she gets a shipment in everyweek, but this week they didnt ship the large rats. so i was forced to go to petco. i had never gone before to by that big of food

I was talking to my friend who works at petco when i bought my breeder rats, she said its a good thing i got them now because they are going to raise ALOT more in a few month. I think she said they are makeing the prices high so they will not be used as food.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

$2.29? wow... Although that is pretty darn high for a mouse, it's cheap compared to Petsmart. :) $5-6 per mouse there. I won't even get breeders from them...

And I guess that it does vary store to store and state to state, but I know in the Petsmart I worked at I was the only one to sell mice and rats to people I knew were using them as feeders. Of course, after packing them up, I would always recommend the reptile store up the road for better prices and quality. :D

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Its good to know that im not the only PetSmart employee thats does that lol.

But I think it may be the holiday season because I know the Fancy and Rex Rats (pets...) went up a dollar or two last week.....

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I've seen them make people sign a pre-printed statement that the rodents they are buying are not for use as feeders.

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That's probably just the local store doing that...I can't see a corporate policy mandating that kind of form to be signed - I don't even think that's legal. I don't see any large corporation suing their own customers.....

i had to buy a gerbil from petsmart once (paid $10 for it) to try to get a snake to eat (long story, but it worked) and they made me sign some paperwork saying i would provide the best possible care for it, etc, etc. i signed and took very good care of it, as did the snake. :D

anyhow, on the rare occassion that i have to buy a few frozen rodents from the local herp store i'm always aghast at the price.

for places that try to push frozen instead of live... petco charges the same for three frozen fuzzy mice as two adult live... I mean... wow...$4.60 for three frozen fuzzy mice?

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

That's probably just the local store doing that...I can't see a corporate policy mandating that kind of form to be signed - I don't even think that's legal. I don't see any large corporation suing their own customers.....

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Nope, that IS corporate policy. Every single bird, reptile, or rodent sold has to have a contract signed with it by someone over 18. That way, they "know that the animal will be a pet and not food or a sacrifice"... sigh. They make the person include address and phone number to have a way of checking up on things...but they never do it. Not even the times I've seen people bring the dead animal back for a refund (14 day guarantee) and it looked rather suspicious did they call up. Like most other things with those companies, Petsmart particularly, the 'rules' are just something that must be done even though they don't understand why.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Nope, that IS corporate policy. Every single bird, reptile, or rodent sold has to have a contract signed with it by someone over 18. That way, they "know that the animal will be a pet and not food or a sacrifice"... sigh. They make the person include address and phone number to have a way of checking up on things...but they never do it. Not even the times I've seen people bring the dead animal back for a refund (14 day guarantee) and it looked rather suspicious did they call up. Like most other things with those companies, Petsmart particularly, the 'rules' are just something that must be done even though they don't understand why.

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Yup that is true everything but hermits need the little contract things. Personally i think its stupid. But eh, its the rules gotta do it I guess even if they are feeding it off to something. I can always tell when its a snake person lookin for food, thats when I reccomend my good friends reptile shop where he has feeders 1/3 the price of PetSmart lol

Heck yeah! I could always tell the snake owners as well :) And I always recommended the store just a few blocks away that sells jumbo adult mice for $1.90 each and has a card system that allows you to buy, say, $20 worth and just have them taken off the card when you come in later. That's where I get my feeders...down with Petsmart! I only continue to get supplies from them because they are close, and because the manager gives me her discount. :)

my petco sells the pet mice and rats as feeders i mean we have more people coming in to feed snakes then to buy rats as pets so my store doesn't make people fill out the 15 day garantee unless it is for an actual pet

my petsmart has mice starting at 6.99 a piece. WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!!!!!! :O:colbert:

My petco, knowingly, sells most of their rats off as feeders and there never is paper work for the rats or mice.

However, at about 4.99 for a small rat, 6.99 for a medium, and 9.99 for a large its not worth going down there when you can breed your own!

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Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

my petsmart has mice starting at 6.99 a piece. WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!!!!!! :O:colbert:

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That's because they're pet quality and it's to deter people from using them as feeders. A local chain of family owned petstores (There's seven stores total. I really wish they'd go national. I've never had any problems with any of their stores) sell mice for about $1.25. That's straight across for feeders, breeders, and pets. They're kept in the back and the employee goes back and picks out the mice for you. About two weeks ago, I requested 'two females with some color on them if possible'. I ended up with a black banded and a gold. Both were and still are healthy.

I recently bought from petco my mice & rats 'cause I didn't had any other option...there were no pet shops near by...the nearest one was like 15 miles away...& petco was just around my house...but I just moved & have a local pet shop that breeds their own mice & rats & I get my mice for $0.50 each & rats $1.99 any size good price...huh...

I don't get why they dont allow mice as feeders. They are a freaking business that is determined to get money, it doesn't add up. They allow goldfish as feeders...:confused:

You peope do realize that I made this thread in 2007 right?! :O

:D It's a controversial topic, Pat.

As for the 'not selling as feeders' thing, as far as I could tell it was a matter of "ethics". :rolleyes: They don't believe that 'sweet little mice' should be fed to 'vicious nasty snakes', so they do all they can to discourage it. They do it wrong, tho, by selling sub-quality frozen rodents for a ridiculous price and jacking up the price of the live rodents until no one wants to buy any because they're too expensive. Heavy sigh. :)