Frozen Thawed Mice

[HenryTheSnake]

Hey All!
I am an avid supporter of mom and pop shops and seriously dislike the way big stores like petsmart and petco treat their animals and handle them!
That being said, I am looking to switch my 5 month old ball python from live food (from a mom and pop shop) to frozen thawed mice. The shop I usually go to doesn't have frozen thawed, they breed their own mice/rats, do you guys think it's fine to buy frozen thawed mice from the big stores, like the brand arctic mice?
Thanks,
HenryTheSnake

[ItsAllNew2Me!]

Personally i use fresh kill. Since you like the mom and pop shop why dont you still support them but kill the mice\rats at home yourself. I use a euthanasia tank that i made myself. All you have to get is a CO2 tank (paintball tank) attach a valve and hose to it ($20 i think of amazon). Then get an air tight tupperware container and cut a hole in it big enough for the hose to fit in on the lower side of the tub. Cut a small hole in the top for O2 to come out of and there you go essentially. Add rats\mice, allow co2 to trickle slowly into tub and leave them in for about 5 minutes to ensure death. There you go fresh kill. Or you can just break their necks (bit more practice cheaper).

Also since they were never frozen, if your bp doesn't take it you can always drop it into a ziplock and freeze to retry next feed day.

[Yodawagon]

I would just order mine from Big Cheese rodent company. If you wanted to try and not commit to buying so many, why not just take some live ones from the store kill them freeze them and see if the snake will take them after they' have been thawed.

[redshepherd]

I'd also buy a couple frozen thawed mice first from your local shop first to see if your guy can convert, before committing to buying a large amount. You can buy a couple live from your local shop, and euthanize and freeze them yourself at home.

I like Big Cheese Rodent Factory. http://bigcheeserodents.com

It's much cheaper to buy packs of frozen thawed online in the long run, if you just have a couple snakes! Unless you really want to support your local shops.

[EL-Ziggy]

Even with just one snake I still believe it's more cost effective to buy from an online source if you can't get your frozen feeders at an expo or have a trusted local supplier. I was paying $13 for 4-6 pet store feeders. I also use Big Cheese. If I ordered (25) rat pups, (20) weaned rats, and (15) small rats from BC it would cost me $105 with taxes and shipping included. For one BP those (60) feeders are almost a year's worth of food. A (4) pack of Arctic Mice rat pups are $13 and (2) small rats are also $13. The same $105 would buy (8) boxes of pet store feeders. That would only get you (16) rat pups and (8) small rats or (24) total feeders. It's kind of a no-brainer to me .

[Crowfingers]

I also use big cheese rodent company. I also have experience with rodent pro, for the wildlife center I volunteer at and have not had an issue. I have found that in an emergency when I've gotten the "Arctic Mice" from petco (petsmart - don't remember which) they were almost always soaked in urine and had lots of blood leaking from the nose/mouth, they also smelled much more "ratty" than either of the big online companies (what I mean by this, if you don't have a lot of experience with frozen thawed rodents; is that they all have a distinctive smell no matter what company sells them, but the arctic mice brand make the whole room and anything that touches them smell strongly of thawed rodent >_< ewww). While the blood isn't too unusual it usually does not leak until the prey is thawed, this makes me worry some that the arctic mice may have partially thawed at some point and been re-frozen...I wouldn't even feed them to the opossums at that point

[bproffer]

I was just looking into this so perfect timing. I have a local source for live. Rat pinkies up to weaned rats are 1.50 ea. $2.00 for small rats, 2.50 for medium and 3.00 or 3.50 for large if they have them.

Currently I have 2 snakes but I plan on getting more next year. My little girl is currently eating rat fuzzies and the boy is eating pups. After I priced everything out, Big Cheese was actually a few dollars less expensive than the local source. This was before the supplies I need for the euthanization tank. I previously used dry ice for my co2 source but will be switching to a co2 tank.

Since I don't know how fast my current snakes will grow out of eating their current prey size, I am ok paying a few dollars more to not have to buy in bulk quantities. That way I won't be stuck with excess prey that is too small for my snakes. If I knew that my snakes would be eating the same size prey over the next 6 months, I would definitely buy in bulk. Much less hassle.

[gaitedappy]

Word of warning, do not go with the f/t at Petsmart! They tend to be carrying mite eggs that survive the whole process and then hatch once passed through the snake. It happened to me, I've talked to people who it has happened to as well, and one of my friends works at Petsmart, and confirms that they often have mite outbreaks after new feeder shipments.

[ItsAllNew2Me!]

I was just looking into this so perfect timing. I have a local source for live. Rat pinkies up to weaned rats are 1.50 ea. $2.00 for small rats, 2.50 for medium and 3.00 or 3.50 for large if they have them.

Currently I have 2 snakes but I plan on getting more next year. My little girl is currently eating rat fuzzies and the boy is eating pups. After I priced everything out, Big Cheese was actually a few dollars less expensive than the local source. This was before the supplies I need for the euthanization tank. I previously used dry ice for my co2 source but will be switching to a co2 tank.

Since I don't know how fast my current snakes will grow out of eating their current prey size, I am ok paying a few dollars more to not have to buy in bulk quantities. That way I won't be stuck with excess prey that is too small for my snakes. If I knew that my snakes would be eating the same size prey over the next 6 months, I would definitely buy in bulk. Much less hassle.

CO2 tank is the way to go. I have a 20lb tank that will last for years on 1 fill! I think fresh kill gives you the safest (vs feeding live) and quickest (vs thawing) way to feed. It will also allow the OP to continue to support his local mom and pop store if he would like. The other benefit is that if the snake goes off feed for that day you can freeze it and save it for the next feeding. This is a win all around. I currently breed my own rats and supplement from a local pet and garden center. This works great for me. It is a bit more expensive than ordering bulk but the fiance doesn't want a freezer full of rats either lol.