Went ahead and got the smaller versions of his favorite brand and he gulped it down. Made a point to smell this one and it was nothing like that bad one. I should have taken it back to the pet store and tried to return it. I'm sure they would refuse but it would be fun to watch them squirm.

I've bought rats there before and they come in these chincy plastic bags that are half the time ripped open at the seams, I even seen some with blood on the outside of the package. I usually took them out and give them to a clerk. Yes the looks are as you would imagine.

I checked this one carefully before buying and it looked intact. However, I have a feeling they are:
1. not careful cutting open the box and nick packages with a blade (I used to work in a Grocery store in high school, happens all the time when stocking shelves) 2. leaving them sit too long between coming into the store and getting into the freezer.

The ones I get from the other pet store come in a box and have the rats inside in a ziplock type bag, my wife will even go in and buy those ones. Guess I'll stick to feeding him smaller ones when they are out of the 100gram mediums.

Yes one of these Pet stores is a Co and the other is a Smart. Really not sure which is which.