If you can find someone who breeds rodents that'll be your very best option. I buy from a friend and he prekills all the rats and mice for me and then I put them in my freezer. This way I don't have to make the drive very often and the rats won't eat my snake haha. I use the f/t or prekilled also because there is a wedge in my cages that the balls like to be in and not come down, so leaving a live prey item is not an option. Not to mention I don't want to clean up urine and poo from rats.