Oh come on now. Really?

[bks2100]

^^^^ This is the only reason it hasn't been to rough for me in the feeder department the past several months, for about 2 1/2 months I have been buying mine from a local pet store that happens to be the exception to most pet store horror stories you hear about and they have a class A reptile department. What I like about them the most is that they are all about supporting and buying from local breeders in the area, in all departments Recently they have been getting good clean nice quality feeders in and the smalls have been above average in size so it has worked in my favor since Big C has not had mediums .... However the one thing I can not boast about is their prices, my wallet has been taking a beating

I've seen that too. It seems funny that online there are people all over selling smalls and mediums for less than 2 bucks each shipped, but even my reptile store (sounds a lot like yours, not a horror story) charges 2.50 for a small and 3.50 for a medium. I did hear about a guy that uses facebook though that breeds and makes deliveries to certain places and the prices I've been hearing sound ridiculously good, like $1 for small/medium and .50 for pinky-pups. I just placed an order from perfectprey that's arriving today, but when it runs out I'll probably start breeding my own and just buy a small stockpile from him and euthanize and freeze them.

[wilomn]

And for those who don't know about rodent pro, they don't produce a lot of what they sell. They have breeders drop ship rodents they've never seen. Their quality is poor because of this. Buy local and support your neighbor.

[Lizardlicks]

From my understanding Rodent Pro had problems in the past with sourcing their stock from lab surplus. Peoples where unknowingly feeding their animals rats with tumors, microchips embedded, etc. and deaths occurred because of this. They claim to have resolved it, but that's not a risk I'm willing to take with my animals. I would not trust Rodent Pro as far as I could kick 'em.

[blue roses]

I use 3 different prey sizes, small rats, adult mice and pup rats, for 3 different snakes. I am lucky enough to have 2 reptile supply stores near me, but to buy frozen feeders from them is prohibitively expensive, like over6 dollars per week. I bought from big cheese and love their prices, even with the shipping they are just a little under 3 dollars a week. i also like the way they package in trays, and the feeders are very clean.

[JoshSloane]

The two times I bought from big cheese my experience was great .. HOWEVER ..the other 10 times I have "TRIED" to purchase from them has been nothing short of despicable!! ... They never have enough in stock to make the shipping worthwhile. While $29 per box is excellent, who in the :cens0r: wants to pay that to have the 1 bag of medium rats they do have in stock shipped. I am actually under expressing how I feel about this situation!! While their rats were clean and neatly packed .. those two factors mean absolutely NOTHING if you can't get them! I will NEVER give them my business again ... Ever! They just lost my $600 to $800 every 4 months ... I just placed an order with Rodent Pro two days ago .... We will see how they pan out.

I think you should re-evaluate and give them a second chance. I too was not happy that they kept running out of the sizes that I wanted. I actually called them, spoke to a very nice guy who told me he would let me know the minute that he had more of the size I wanted in stock. Two days later he promptly called me and said he had what I needed, and could ship them right away.

I will never buy from anyone other than Big Cheese. Time and again the rats come so perfectly wrapped, and as healthy as can be. Shipped straight to my door with no issues.

[JoshSloane]

From my understanding Rodent Pro had problems in the past with sourcing their stock from lab surplus. Peoples where unknowingly feeding their animals rats with tumors, microchips embedded, etc. and deaths occurred because of this. They claim to have resolved it, but that's not a risk I'm willing to take with my animals. I would not trust Rodent Pro as far as I could kick 'em.

I find it really hard to believe that this actually happened. IRB and IACUC strictly regulate the disposal and usage of laboratory animals post research. After animals are sacrificed in labs, we sort them into different disposal streams based on what has been done to them. Any change at all to their normal physiology requires them to be sealed appropriately and disposed of accordingly. Our research institution participates in the Raptor Safe program, and any animals that go to them have to be completely unchanged. Even a small dissection of any organ disqualifies them.

If a lab got caught selling lab animals to outside sources inappropriately, NIH, FDA and the Fed would drop a bomb on them.

Also, rats are extremely pre-disposed to tumors, and will usually develop an oncogenic phenotype naturally given enough time.

[Lizardlicks]

It may be hearsay, I'm having trouble tracking down the source, but I remember a tumblr user who's snake died shortly after a feeding and when they did a necropsy there was a microchip found in the snake's stomach contents. The user was incredibly distraught (understandable) and said they'd gotten their feeders from Rodent Pro. Regardless, there are MULTIPLE anecdotes to be found about regurge, diarrhea and death horror stories all over the internet from owners who fed their snakes and lizards with RP stock. Not a good track record and not something I'm willing to risk when there's several better options available.

[JoshSloane]

I am absolutely not defending rodent pro. I have never heard good things about them.

[Lizardlicks]

Ah here we go http://www.reptileradio.net/showthre...-your-reptiles

[JoshSloane]

Im sure there is always the opportunity for a one off issue like you said, with literally millions of rodents exchanging hands yearly.