Online feeder advice, and other babble about getting new snake.

[WhompingWillow]

I've never ordered feeders online, I had a good local supplier but he sold out, when he did (a few years ago) I went ahead and got rid of my BP,can't keep a pet if you can't get food for it! His temperament wasn't that great and I gave him back to his breeder.
My little girl has been missing him alot she says... I have too... I had hope of breeding but that was just a dream...
I'm no where near ready for another snake, we now have a cat, that worries me a bit but as long as my enclosure is secure I don't think the cat will be a bother.
I did have my snake in an aquarium, not the best, i know, but it was a pet and I have several nice aquariums of various sizes and a reptile terrarium with vents.
Obviously I'll need to get a good setup, all of that's basic enough and well discussed around here, and I learned long ago, don't you dare get any pet without having a proper home ready to put them in, that's usually step 1, but after my last experience I've come to realize that having a steady reliable food supplier is step one!
Buying local is just not an option, I always prefer live, but bps seem pretty accepting of F/T, and I know there's numerous online sources, but I've never used any of them.
I know that younger bps are generally cheaper, and watching them mature is great, but they're also more likely to give issues, especially hatchlings. I think I'd like an attractive morph, still not ruling out breeding but that is not my priority... still seems very exiting...so I'll likely be buying a rather small snake to save a buck, but not at the expense of buying from a bad breeder or shop, but that "problem" isn't even on the horizon yet, I'll deal with that in time, maybe ill opt for buying or building a proper rack and getting more than one snake, but I really do enjoy viewing.

Anyway...
I'm wondering at what age/size you might expect a BP to readily accept F/T, I realize they're all different and some snakes just refuse F/T or require training, this is just a general question regarding you own experiences, or what you think, anecdotal or not, please share.

The other question would be about quality and reliability... price too I suppose, I can't just spend like crazy, but after initial setup costs are covered and I buy a snake, feeders are by far the greatest expense. Especially if I'm buying from a shop, which I basically refuse to do... $6-$10 each is absurd but that's what I've seen In the past.

Who would you suggest as a supplier of rats?
It somehow seems like a bad idea to me, but I know many (most?) people here do order feeders so it must work.
I was always concerned about shipping them, I'd hate for them to thaw en route, that seems like a disaster!
In the case of repeated refusal of F/T what would I do aside from over paying for unhealthy "pet" rodents at a pet shop, which would be nearly an hour drive, I've never seen anything smaller than medium rats locally anyway, not ideal if I end up buying a juvi. Are there reliable shippers of live rodents in reasonably small quantities?
I'm not at all interested in having a bunch of live rats to deal with... that seems like a much bigger responsibility than caring for snakes.
Lastly, I have checked a few sites, most have rather high minimum purchase limits, 50 or more seems common.
That's a years worth... that seems like a big chunk of freezer space, it aslo seems like a big problem for a growing snake, if I order 50 hoppers, my snake would likely want larger prey well before I feed it all 50 hoppers, right?
I'm not sure if freezer burn or freshness is a huge concern, but it's crossed my mind, how long could expect them to stay "good" in the freezer ?

I know this is a bit of a rambling post with several questions contained within, sorry, it's just how I am I guess.
Thank you very much for any input.

I've read that generally younger BPs are easier to switch to F/T than mature snakes. I've lucked out so far with ours and was able to switch all of them over on the first try. Hopefully they don't get picky as they age, lol.

There are a ton of helpful feeding threads on this site. The F/T method we use is to thaw in warm water in a ziplock bag so the rodent hopefully stays dry, let feeders warm up for a bit under heat lamp in room with snakes once thawed, then blast nose with a hair dryer right before offering on tongs. Seems to work like a charm.

We order F/T feeders from Perfect Prey. You can order mice and rats (and chicks) in packages that are larger or smaller in size. Shipping is a bit pricey, but it's still a lot cheaper than buying feeders from the store, and you cannot beat their quality. Super happy with them.