Big Cheese Rodent Factory - First Order Obversations

[Stingray74]

Hey All,
Just wanted to provide some feedback on the order of rat pups I just received from Big Cheese. First off, the rats are super clean and packaged very nicely. No smell at all and just a tiny bit of blood on a couple of them. Very happy about the visual aspect of these rats.

So, I just pulled them all out, weighed and separated them. Definitely bummed with the weights that I received, especially since I emailed prior to my order and was told that they would be in the middle of the range and up. Per their web site, the range of weights is from 20 to 34g for pups. The 25 rats averaged out at 25g and only one pup was above 30g. Definitely on the small side and not even close to "middle of the range and up."

I really don't want to complain because technically they're all in the advertised range. But having 4 of them weigh in at exactly 20g, and even one at 19g is a bummer. I would've ordered weaned, but the email I received convinced me to go with the pups. Anyways, I see a lot of questions about frozen feeders here and just wanted to let you know of my experience. Peace.

[EL-Ziggy]

Big Cheese has great products, pricing, and packaging but they have been on the lighter side lately when it comes to feeder sizes. As previously stated they're within the advertised weight range but almost all are on the lower end of the spectrum. They're often out of the medium and large rats that I need too. Big Cheese has been my go to supplier for the last couple of years but Perfect Prey made a great first impression and will probably get my next order as well.

[mwolf]

I've been ordering from Big Cheese for a couple of years now too and can say they're the best that I've tried so far for the price. The sizes can be inconsistent sometimes, although that is not a huge deal for me because I order every size between pups and mediums. I can see how it could be a problem if you only have one or a few snakes though.

[uwidinh]

I was looking at Big Cheese earlier and the shipping cost isn't that bad either, but I was wondering how much does everyone buy in bulk because if you're only buying a bit at a time the shipping cost will add up. I was also wondering about buying in bulk if you only have one or two bp.

[AlexisFitzy]

Big Cheese has great products, pricing, and packaging but they have been on the lighter side lately when it comes to feeder sizes. As previously stated they're within the advertised weight range but almost all are on the lower end of the spectrum. They're often out of the medium and large rats that I need too. Big Cheese has been my go to supplier for the last couple of years but Perfect Prey made a great first impression and will probably get my next order as well.

Big cheese and perfect prey are my two go to suppliers. If big cheese is sold out or doesn't have the type of feeder I need, Perfect prey is my back up. Both of them are great

[stickyalvinroll]

Big cheese is really good. I order from them too based in Texas

[Reinz]

Looking at things from the business end you may understand the small items better.

High demand comes and goes. When demand is really high, animal growth still stays at a constant rate. They have to make a decision on the orders; do you provide feeders on the low side to get the order to the customer or do you place the order on back order?

People hate back orders and there is a good probability that the order will be canceled. After all, your snakes have to eat, right?

By shipping the requested item out even though on the small side, you have met the order and keep it in the weight range advertised.

It's just a business decision, they are not trying to sell short.

In fact my one of past orders had all rats on the big to huge side. I must have caught them during a low demand time and they had a surplus of rats which continue to grow. I was buying everything from hoppers to XL rats.


Punch, Common BI

[Willowy]

I was looking at Big Cheese earlier and the shipping cost isn't that bad either, but I was wondering how much does everyone buy in bulk because if you're only buying a bit at a time the shipping cost will add up. I was also wondering about buying in bulk if you only have one or two bp.

I only have 2 snakes and I still find it to be cost-effective (well, doesn't take much---a small rat costs $6.99 locally!). I order a year's supply at a time. If they're vacuum-sealed and kept in a deep freeze they last that long at least.

[Stingray74]

Update -
I shot Big Cheese an email and expressed my liking for the quality of the feeders, but my dislike for the weights received. I'm not a complainer and would definitely not usually do something like this, but I wanted them to have the same feedback that I provided here, especially since I emailed them ahead of time of what to expect size-wise. I didn't attack them at all and just laid out the facts. Received a response a couple of hours later from Chris and was happy with what I read. Seems like a good guy. He told me to ask for him when I place another order that he'd fill the order himself to be sure I got some fat ones. I'm fine with that.

[distaff]

Received our second order this Tuesday.
Perfect shape. No issues.

We were trying to source mice locally back a few months ago. What a nightmare. We would call ahead, etc (20 min. drive), then, they wouldn't have any available after all. When BF once finally came back with three baby mice - I didn't feed them to the snake, or freeze them, I painstakingly fed the mice themselves. Sadly, they all turned out to be males. I still have two - they are big and sassy (one escaped). Such is my "breeding colony." Oh well, they are entertaining to keep.