Mice - Quality

[BPdad]

I've been feeding our juvie BP "hoppers". This past weekend I went to a reptile show and saw that a vendor had mice for sale. They were about half of the price what I pay for at my local pet store so I decided to buy four and try and keep them for feeding over the next few weeks. I fed the first hopper the following night to my BP, no problem. Two days later one hopper died, so I have two left now. The two that are remaining look REALLY bad looking. I have them in a small plastic cage with wood shavings, water, & some food for mice. Their fur looks really strange,it stands up and looks scaggy looking. Do you think these mice are sickly? Can they make our BP sick if he eats them? Should I just get rid of them and not chance feeding my BP with them?

Need some advice!

[wolfy-hound]

Some hoppers are not weaned. Depends on the person who names them hoppers, but that could be the problem. Me personally, I feed off scruffy ones earlier than the healthy ones, since it is a waste to feed sickly rats trying to fatten them. I haven't had a problem with anything crossing species.
** BUT this is all only my opinion, and is not backed up by any great universal knowledge handed down by the powers that make rice crispies crackle, nor should it be taken as vet-qualified advice as I didn't go to vet school, some settling may have occured during shipping, however contents are determined by weight not volumne.
Wolfy