Deadly Rats???

[butterballpython]

OK, my favorite store in town is closing its doors, a great place run by one enthusiastic herp and fish person. I always knew I could count on him for high quality feeders and advice. This is the same person who let me meet his snakes and convinced me they're not awful creatures.

This left me with only two options in town for buying rats. Several people have told me that one of the stores in town (Petco) has had on and off issues with their f/t rats killing snakes. The other place sells boxed rats, and a box of two small f/t rats goes for between $12 and $13. That's over $6 per rat. I consider this price gouging, and have an issue with supporting something like that. After looking through this forum for good on line sources of rats, I bought a decent supply from Big Cheese.

But my question is, how could f/t rats kill snakes? With a big box store, I'd guess that they would get their supply from some major supplier. Mammal diseases shouldn't affect snakes, right? And as long as the rats are thawed, they probably wouldn't hurt the snake, who wouldn't eat a frozen one anyway, correct? So how would a f/t rat kill a snake? Is there something in some of them to watch out for? The rats from Big Cheese look real good, but I'd still like to know if there's an issue somewhere so I don't make any mistakes. Or is it likely the snakes died from other reasons, and Petco rats took the blame?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

But my question is, how could f/t rats kill snakes? With a big box store, I'd guess that they would get their supply from some major supplier. Mammal diseases shouldn't affect snakes, right? And as long as the rats are thawed, they probably wouldn't hurt the snake, who wouldn't eat a frozen one anyway, correct? So how would a f/t rat kill a snake? Is there something in some of them to watch out for? The rats from Big Cheese look real good, but I'd still like to know if there's an issue somewhere so I don't make any mistakes. Or is it likely the snakes died from other reasons, and Petco rats took the blame?

On of the main cause of death with F/T his human error, people feeding preys that are not properly thawed. Bad feeders (thawed and froze back) can lead to regurgitation as well which is not usually fetal but can be if not addressed properly.

As for diseases and viruses tthere was a "recall" a few years back http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...=334751&page=2 ) this however was geared toward human safety as said virus could affect human.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Yep, F/T can kill if not "cooked" correctly.

[paulh]

How were the rats killed? Nitrogen or carbon dioxide should not be a problem, but ether or chloroform or other chemicals can carry over and kill the snake.

[bcr229]

But my question is, how could f/t rats kill snakes? With a big box store, I'd guess that they would get their supply from some major supplier. Mammal diseases shouldn't affect snakes, right?

IIRC it was a few years back but the brand they sell - Arctic Mice? - had some distribution issues where the stock wouldn't be shipped in a refrigerated truck and so the rodents would thaw during shipping, then get re-frozen at the store. This could allow bacteria to build up on the outside of the feeder. When I had two snakes I fed them (this was before I knew about online suppliers) and on several occasions the feeders definitely smelled "off".

From a price and quality standpoint you'll do better ordering from a reputable online vendor.

[Erikamc]

I started buying my mice in bulk for my lonely little corn snake. Prior to that, I would get my frozen mice from petco. I switched to getting a big order because I wasn't thrilled with the quality of the ones at petco. I would have to root through what they had to find ones where the three pack wasn't a block of mice. The rat selection seemed much better though. One time I opened the mice and they smelled off. I defrosted one and it smelled really off. I admit, for a minute I thought "maybe it would be ok..." then everything I have learned about feeding F/T kicked in and I chucked the whole batch. thats when I started getting a shipment. Anyway, I think you'll be ok with buying from petco, just choose carefully and don't be afraid to toss away a little money if you have to. Also, maybe someone in your area would be willing to go in on a big order with you?