Consistency in frozen feeder sizes (with pic)

[PinkPixie]

I've been having a problem on and off where the store I get my feeders from has run out of a certain size of rat, usually smalls, and when I go somewhere else to pick them up, they're sizing seems to be waaaaay off in comparison. (And of course this only happens when I wait until the last moment to go grab them dinner.) I usually stay pretty well stocked up but in any case, I was just curious of what the standard is for sizing frozen feeders. I know I can Google, but I like the collected opinions of you folks much better. The place I buy was out of smalls and they're meds are away to big for my little girl who usually gets one small a feeding, this time I ended up feeding her a couple pups to complete her meal since the second store I went to had smalls that were HUGE and pups that were scrawny and half the size of a pup from my usual store.

I picked up a single pup from store #2 just so I could compare it to store #1s pups, just to prove to myself I wasn't imagining things. Do pups come in sizes similar to the big or little one where everyone else is?



(sorry, couldn't find my ruler)

[Eric Alan]

The size I use for pups is 20-34 grams. The one on bottom looks closer to the fuzzy rat size to me.

[PinkPixie]

That's what I thought, but no one actually sells rats labeled as fuzzies around here, which is moot since I don't ever see myself needing them, they usually only sell the little one there in a boxed four pack marked "pups", the top one they sell out of a bulk box and is more of what I'd consider a pup. But that means I'm not imagining things, the small one isn't a pup, right?

[Sita]

In the stores around here, and even among the employees at one certain locally owned pet store, what they are actually called can vary quite a bit. Out of our collection, there's one snake that we absolutely can't get converted to even pre-killed, and have to get live feeders for. Technically, the size is pup according to every online rodent supplier, but at the store we go to, we have to say fuzzy or they come out with what we would call weaned. We always check the size before we leave though. There was one time when she was on actual fuzzies and they sent us with one way too big. Luckily I happened to have a mama rat with babies almost the exact same size that adopted it, lol.

The bigger one to me looks like what I would call a fuzzy, actually, and the small one looks like an emaciated pinky, O_o

[alucard0822]

I've had smalls from my local store range from 45g-125g, online or breeders are more consistent, but sometimes I have to grab a couple if I was a bit lazy ordering. The local store normally pre-bags 3 together, but let me check and pick them out of the case at the bottom of the freezer so I can get more consistent sized rats. I usually go by the size terms and definitions that rodent pro list, seems about the going rate from breeders at shows or online.

[EL-Ziggy]

I order my feeders from Big Cheese. Their sizes are very consistent.

[PinkPixie]

Huh. Those are extremely neatly packaged, and you're right, consistent. I'm going to have to find an online supplier for my area. Is there anyone in Ontario that might have a company they prefer?

[PinkPixie]

In the stores around here, and even among the employees at one certain locally owned pet store, what they are actually called can vary quite a bit. Out of our collection, there's one snake that we absolutely can't get converted to even pre-killed, and have to get live feeders for. Technically, the size is pup according to every online rodent supplier, but at the store we go to, we have to say fuzzy or they come out with what we would call weaned. We always check the size before we leave though. There was one time when she was on actual fuzzies and they sent us with one way too big. Luckily I happened to have a mama rat with babies almost the exact same size that adopted it, lol.

The bigger one to me looks like what I would call a fuzzy, actually, and the small one looks like an emaciated pinky, O_o

Feeders usually don't get a sympathetic response out of me, but I actually feel kinda bad for that scrawny thing.