Selling excess feeders to pet stores?

Curious if anyone is doing this. I started a small colony for our 9 ball pythons and some of the breeder rats I picked up were already pregnant. I already had a male in with a female for about a week, so now I possibly have 3-4 pregnant rats which will give me way too many babies. The pet store I’ve been buying feeders from has been SUPER low on their stock. I explained my situation and asked if they would buy what I don’t need. Of course I’ll have to speak with the owner, but any ideas on what would be a fair price for them at various sizes? Is anyone else “wholesaling” their rats?

Can't quote you any prices as I stopped doing this some years ago & it also depends on your location, etc. But for some years I had a pretty good side business
selling rats, mice & hamsters to local stores, a museum & a few private individuals. Even though I had a house-full of snakes to feed, my rodent production was
way more than enough for my own needs. It helps to figure out what it costs you to produce them- it's likely to be more than a larger scale source they may be
using, so unfortunately you'll have to be competitive in your prices. (& they may or may not tell you the truth about what they're paying)

The other thing is that pet stores need reliable sources...you may not have enough to be their constant supplier but it wouldn't hurt to talk it over with the owner.
(Do they only want live, or can you also sell them frozen excess?) If you plan to do this as more of a business as I did, one thing that helped me is that I could
give them what other sources could not. Example: They had been selling hamsters sourced from a large supplier that paid NO attention to inbreeding, which resulted
in "c/b" but inbred hamsters that behaved as feral ones would have, biting viciously & virtually un-tameable; they lost money on them, because instead of selling
as pets, they had to reduce prices & sell them as snake food. They also lost the trust of some unhappy customers...no one wants a pet hamster that attacks their
children & bites hard! As a hobbyist, I produced healthy, tame AND attractive hamsters that they "sold like hotcakes", & in addition, since I had :snake: "customers"
that could consume any that didn't measure up, I even guaranteed free replacement (on my next weekly delivery) of any hamsters whose temperament was less
than perfect. They rarely took me up on that- they didn't need to- but it assured them they never lost money, & it cost me nothing while gaining good will & trust.
If you work with them, both you and locally-owned pet stores will come out ahead...good luck! :gj:

I don't what I do is I keep part of my collection on live part on F/T so when I over produce I euthanize everything that is 6 to 8 weeks and freeze it.

One thing I learned is while you might over produce at times other times you might fall short.

I went downstairs to check and one is giving birth right now lol. One of the girls she’s in with keeps taking the kittens and putting them in “her” nest. Just spoke with the store manager as the owner isn’t in today but he said they would prefer live, so I guess I’ll call on Monday and see if they want something consistent or just a booster to get the back up to demand. I appreciate the tips. The community here is small and spread out, so I may be able to sell my extra privately. There’s 3 pet stores selling live, one is low, one has bad husbandry, and the other doesn’t sell anything other than mice and nothing smaller than small rats live. That store feeds all their snakes mice until they can take small rats, so that’s how they run their shop.

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Originally Posted by Stewart_Reptiles

I don't what I do is I keep part of my collection on live part on F/T so when I over produce I euthanize everything that is 6 to 8 weeks and freeze it.

One thing I learned is while you might over produce at times other times you might fall short.

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That’s something I’ll have to look into. My wife hates rats in the house. If I start loading the freezer....

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Originally Posted by KSballer

That’s something I’ll have to look into. My wife hates rats in the house. If I start loading the freezer....

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That's why spending $150 in a chest freezer was a great investment for me.

Gotta have a good freezer when you live with snakes. :gj:

New laws actually prohibit this if the store follows policy. Since the outbreaks with rat bite fever all rodents that are sold to stores were supposed to be have been from testing animals only. I even had a problem with a mom and pop store that wouldn’t buy from me. I wanted to get rid of hundreds of rats and even though they wanted them they just wouldn’t risk it.


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I posted an ad on craigslist for my area selling mice and ASFs. I now have a few repeat customers who come to me monthly for their mice. I sell my mice for just $1 each and they sell fast. I actually still profit off the mice, after buying supplies and using some for my snakes too.

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Originally Posted by CALM Pythons

New laws actually prohibit this if the store follows policy. Since the outbreaks with rat bite fever all rodents that are sold to stores were supposed to be have been from testing animals only. I even had a problem with a mom and pop store that wouldn’t buy from me. I wanted to get rid of hundreds of rats and even though they wanted them they just wouldn’t risk it.


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Hadn't heard about this (it's been some years since I sold rodents). Is this a nationwide law? Sounds like something that might vary according to state & local laws, but
we sure don't need more outbreaks of rat bite fever anyway. Thanks for information. :gj:

I have no intention of supplying rodents, just like to stay 'current'.