If you have 20 or more ball where do you get your rats?

I am just wondering where people are getting there rats and how much you pay per month to feed. I am thinking of investing in a good freezer and spending around 200 a month to feed my collection of around 30 snakes. Which online rodent breeders are cheapest? does anyone know any wholesale breeders in AZ? Thanks!

if you have 20 plus snakes of any type the people are prolly breeding their own

I wish I was breeding my own...but right now, Big Cheese Rodents.

JonV

Here's a good side question: at what point (number of snakes) does it become more economical to breed rodents as opposed to buying them?

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Originally Posted by simplechamp

Here's a good side question: at what point (number of snakes) does it become more economical to breed rodents as opposed to buying them?

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3 or more snakes.

I bred at two. I don't want to buy one of each size from a frozen bulk, so I make my own and use what I need when I need it.

i get mine from a friend that breeds.. 5 snakes are 10 bucks.. a week.. so about 40 bucks a months

I have 13 ball pythons and 3 boas. I purchase the rodents from The Mouse Factory; they are not the least expensive, but they offer the best product, in my opinion, and after having tried other less expensive alternatives.

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Originally Posted by starmom

I have 13 ball pythons and 3 boas. I purchase the rodents from The Mouse Factory; they are not the least expensive, but they offer the best product, in my opinion, and after having tried other less expensive alternatives.

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So you have 16 snakes. Is it still more economical for you to buy as opposed to breed? Or do you buy for convienience, even though breeding could possibly cost less?

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Originally Posted by simplechamp

So you have 16 snakes. Is it still more economical for you to buy as opposed to breed? Or do you buy for convienience, even though breeding could possibly cost less?

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In my situation, breeding would be pretty difficult. I don't really have the space for rodent racks and the cost of bedding and food and the time to clean and care for them would, I believe, cost more than ordering them.

Also, I really don't feel inclined to be a rodent farmer on top of everything else I have going on in my life.... :oops:

Rodent Pro or The Mouse Factory.

I have some snakes that refuse f/t, and of course hatchlings want nothing to do with f/t, so we also breed rats and a few mice. It would be prohibitively expensive to buy live rodents.
Freedom Breeder rodent racks proved to be the best solution for us--you can buy them by the level, so you can just add on as your snake collection expands.

I breed my own rats.

my breeders were all hand fed as babies so are very friendly. I like to do this because when I clean their cages they don't freak out and eat their babies.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

It would be prohibitively expensive to buy live rodents.

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I've got a rat guy - he's a $1.25 each for med rats. He's not prohibitively expensive for me to buy live rats from. :)

Breed my own rats,asf's & mice for 14 snakes,start up cost was a little high but its paying off now.

I breed my own rats when I hit the 30+ I have to really stay on the ball with the rats

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

I breed my own rats when I hit the 30+ I have to really stay on the ball with the rats

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Ditto, I have 37 ball pythons, and just recently purchased 12 new female rat breeders to get my female rats up to 42 (I think) and I am just now getting to the point where I feed all my Ball Pythons every week off my own rat collection, its a good feeling too, but as Ed says, you really have to stay on the ball with the rats.

The Mouse Factory - buy in bulk - around $1 per rodent and you don't have to feed, water or muck out their tubs. :gj:

I have around 70 animals, 24 of which are BP's. I do not have the facilities to breed that many rodents, plus most of my animals are on f/t. Rodent Pro is who I purchase from, mostly because they carry the x small pinks which I need for my hatchling tricolors.

I have 12 and I get my rats from MiceDirect.com. They're only an hour north of me so I have the ability to go pick them up.

but how do you guys feed FT all the time my BPs will not eat them I only have one or two that will occasionally take a FT.

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

3 or more snakes.

I bred at two. I don't want to buy one of each size from a frozen bulk, so I make my own and use what I need when I need it.

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I agree. I breed rats for my Red tail, my two Boas, and my hognoses (6). They all take different sizes so i breed two sets of rats two weeks apart. They are inbred pups so i dont mind killing the babies (I have pet rats too). They all take different size feed, my hognoses are anywhere for newborn pups to hopper pups who can't bite. My BP's take hopper pups. My RT takes small rats. It takes 2 months for me to get a rat a good small size for my RT, and in that time some of them end up pregnant.
Anyway, i started breeding them for fun, but i started a feed breeding on the size for my Hognoses (I breed hognoses). I still buy mouse pinkies and occasionally toads, but for the most part all of my snakes are a good size for pups. I started breeding rats for my hognoses when i hit 3 hognoses. (should have when i bought two, would have saved me alot of money).
The most expensive thing about breeding rats is the food, because you want to make sure they are well fed and give enough nutrition to your snake. But you can find lab chow (which i don't recommend) for 99 cents a pound at a local pet store, or go buy some hog feed in bulk. But i always recommend buying some seeded rat food for nutrition. They are much healthier that way.
Housing them is the second most expensive part. I was lucky and got some used cages from a pet store going out of business. They also had some nice reptile cages so i use my old 'fish tanks' for my rat breeding. I have also seen people use rubbermaid containers for rat breeding! I haven't tried this because my rats chew anything and have chewed through several expensive plastic bottomed cages i bought.
I'm not one for rat racks because my breeders are great rats and are pets first. Their babies are food, not them. I like to keep them all socialized very well.
Anyway, i agree with 3 snakes to start breeding, but it depends on how much you want to breed. Don't go crazy! You can freeze the pups but only keep them for 6 months or they start to lose their nutritional value.