help please! can't decide!

[python.princess]

i'm thinking about breeding feeders but i'm really not sure yet. we only have 2 bp's but the nearest place to get rats is a 45min. drive. very annoying. i really don't like mice so i'd rather not breed them. but on the other hand, i'm afraid the rats will grow too fast and i'm stuck with a bunch of full grown rats i can't use. is there something in between rat and mouse size that would work for me? my cousin and a friend each have a snake that could use some feeders too, so if i end up with too many i can always get rid of some that way. i'm just mainly concerned about the size issue. my bps will eat either 2 adult mice or 1 small rat every feeding (7-10days). i haven't really been able to put them on a feeding schedule because of the driving issue, which is why i'd like to breed..

i thought i saw a thread semi-recently about some kind of rat that doesn't grow as big as most but i can't find it now so maybe it was just wishful thinking....

any info or advice would be helpful! thanks!

[qiksilver]

the thread was about african soft furred rats
have you tried f/t? because then you wouldn't have to worry about driving or breeding, but then again I'm biased all my snakes are on f/t.

[python.princess]

i've tried f/t and they will have nothing to do with it! but, yes, that would solve all kinds of problems!

[crisstyle21]

Why dont you buy frozen and have them delivered to your door. Youll prob end up saving a few dollars,gas and time. Hope that can solve your promblem

[wolfy-hound]

With a small number of snakes, I'd probaly try really hard to get them on F/T so you can just buy frozen and store them. With several people to split an order you could get cheap rats from Rodentpro and really save a lot of money, without having to clean up after rats or mice or ASF rats.
With maybe a pair or trio of rats you might be able to feed the snakes, but you will have a issue with rats getting too big, unless you euthanize and freeze them. But if you can use frozen then you might as well buy them already frozen. Of course, you may end up breeding rodents as a sideline, as I think a few folks have done that. Started out breeding for their own snakes, then sold a few extras to friends... then a few more to the local pet store.. next thing.. it's a business! LOL>
Good luck!
Wolfy

[Flagg]

Most of my snakes eat f/t but I breed my own and euthanize and freeze them. It still ends up much cheaper than buying frozen in my case. Plus the one that does eat live is always easy to take care of, plenty of the right size available on feeding day.