I have always relied on what is available from my local pet store. Yes, they sell frozen rodents (I usually buy a six pack) and just about anything else I might need, even live feed - but after looking over the internet and Reptile magazine, I began to wonder where everyone else gets their reptile chow - and when I need them, other forms of food for the lizard variety. What is preferable - pet store or ordering on line? How much of a bulk order is needed to be economical? How are frozen rodents sent? Is there a quality difference? Fill me in, please! An aside - long ago I had a blue tailed skink. Anyone else with experience with them? I have not noticed any mention of them on the board.
I breed all of my own insects for the insectivores: A variety of feeder roaches make up the bulk of most of the diet. I'll also purchase silkworms, superworms (zophobas morio), crickets, and some other feeder bugs from time to time to vary the diet as well. I used to breed all of my feeders; but space and time constraints made it much easier to just buy the non-roach feeders from time to time. I usually pick up my stuff from reptile shows; but online works too. I tend to avoid pet stores simply because they are often overpriced for the smaller quanitites they sell: I would much rather spend $20 with shipping to buy 1000 crickets than pay $0.10 a cricket at a store... but being economical depends entirely on your needs. For example, if you only have one insectivore eating a few bugs a day, its probably not worth it to buy up a huge quantity of bugs that you then must house, feed, etc and see many of them go to waste or go uneaten before they perish. As for quality difference - there can be. But in general an insects metabolism is rapid enough to where feeding them quality food "gutloading" can substantially increase nutritional value. I can elaborate on gutloading if you'd like... think I have a post or thread somewhere going into detail about it... Feeder Rodents: I typically buy my rodents from Rodent Pro ( http://rodentpro.com ). Its best to get a supply of feeder rodents that will last you less than 6 months - and always be sure the rats are kept in freezer safe bags and properly sealed to ensure freshness. Buying online is usually cost effective per rodent, but shipping makes it impractical if only keeping a small number of snakes. Shipping fees usually run $35 due to having to be send priority and with Dry Ice to ensure that the rodents stay frozen in the insulated box. You'll have to break it down to see if its worth your while to pay for the cheaper rodents online and with the added shipping fee for ~6month supply vs buying every month from a pet store. Another consideration is age of the animal: if you have a young ball python for example, he may move up from rat fuzzies, to rat pups, and up to rat weanlings in those 6 months; making it hard to judge what quantities and sizes to buy in such long term preparation. Easier if you have an adult that only feeds on one size prey item (or many snakes). Breeding rodents generally isn't worth the cost, time, and energy/effort unless you are keeping a good number of animals...perhaps a dozen or so is about that time where buying F/T tapers off in being as cost effective as breeding. Benefits are you can ensure absolute quality and it can be fun to raise rodents (they are quite cute, and many have color and pattern mutations that can be bred for). If I had the space and resources, I would breed my own rats - those dumbo eared variety are absolutely adorable! A Blue-Tailed skink? Or a Blue-Tongued Skink? The latter is a somewhat common species kept in captivity and makes a good captive pet. Most of the smaller blue-tailed variety are US species - such as the juvenile five-lined skink who eventually develops are more drap adut coloration... these aren't common in the pet trade due to native wildlife restrictions. I might have missed some aspects of you post; and I'll move this to the Feeder Forum where it will get more views based on the topic = ) I apologize if I missed anything, my mind is a bit scattered right now.
You wrote, "I apologize if I missed anything, my mind is a bit scattered right now." You didn't walk into the shower with your socks on again did you? And out of curiosity - what did you do when you did that? leave them on thinking that you wouldn't have to put them into the laundery? lol. I can't see that you missed anything! As thorough as usual. I have copied it all into my reptile files for future reference. I now will continue to buy from the pet store until after we move and I can increase my flock to the point where bulk buying makes sense. A plan for now and a plan for the future! How good does it get? I am not waiting on getting the Rainbow, however, when I find the right one. On the blue tailed skink - I obviously had mine before they had the wildlife restrictions. I still have his picture hanging on the wall. Thanks for all!Sharon
try looking up exotic pet stores or reptile stores in your area. there was a great exotic pet shop just down the road from my old apartment, i live an hour awya now but i still go there once in a while to stock up on feeders becasue the prices are good i love blue tail skinks, we have them here but i dont know anything about how to care for them
There is only one pet store in this area that caters at all to reptiles (half an hour away) - and one other that does dogs, cats, and fish. Another reason why I am moving back to civilisation. I too must travel an hour to get anything more - and that is made more difficult in having to keep things frozen until I get home. The one store is failrly good though - but I must stock up even with them as often I can go and they are out of the right size rodent - and I am at their mercy when it comes to the price. Yes, you are in Vrginia, Shanna, where I got my blue tail skink. To be honest, I cared for mine with whatever resources I had. I had to rely on my own ingenuity with whatever reptiles I had since they were not then in favour in the least. I even had small snakes who ate warmed catfood off the end of a popsicle stick. I do remember catching insects and getting mealy worms for the skink. Somehow, we all survive with a little love and caring. Sharon
i made so many mistakes with my beardy. she was my first reptile and i didnt do much research when i got her. i fed her wild caught bugs all the time. luckily the internet is full of wonderful information and when i got my leo a few years later i discovered reptile forums and joined this one
Sharon, have you tried any of the online sources? Also, i've had success with creating a personal relationship with the person in charge of the reptile department at a local petstore and whenever I hear of something new or want to try something (like when pheonix worms came out) they can get larger bulk items for a cheaper price, sell some to me, and sell the rest in the store Especially if you are driving so far to go to the reptile pet shop I would try to give them a call and explain that you live farther away and was wondering if they could order you (for example) 20 medium sized frozen rats and set them aside and call you when they come in I know people do that all the time with grocery stores and the like.... might be worth a try Think of it this way... they're going to be making more money by selling you something, therefor they might as well sell you what you need! Lol. Just give them a heads up on what you need and when Good luck!!!
Hi Lauren, I am slow getting back to the boards. It has been a horribly busy week, but I survived. Whoever put end of the year reports and meetings at the end of the year with the holidays wasn't thinking. Now, a bit of something to think about ourselves - we who get flack for feeding poor little mice to those reptiles should realise that it could always be worse. The following appeared in a San Fran newspaper: "To all you hunters who kill animals for food, shame on you. You ought to go to the store and buy the meat they make there, where no animals were harmed." A comment was made that this person probably drives and votes, and may have laready reproduced. It is quite amazing how far some people are from the reality of the food chain. I appreciate you suggestions on a personal relationship with someone at the local pet store. I have managed that already with an employee who is a herp person himself, but the store owner is a real stinker and not cooperative. By Jeff's earlier suggestions, it does not seem smart to buy in bulk online until my guy is big enough to settle on one size. I would have to buy quite a number apparently to justify the shipping fee. I am going to check out the possiblity of a deal with a store that is an hour away and figure out a clever way to keep everything sufficiently frozen until I get home. When we move next spring (assuming all goes well and according to my plan) it won't be an issue since I will be back in an area with multiple good sources. Got to count the blessings - after all, that is the season. My mind works in strange ways, but I was wondering. I had a cat that absolutely loved hot and spicy, as in lamb vindaloo or hot peppers. I have a dog who loves sushi and even Japanese baked seaweed as treats. I wonder if reptiles might like particular tastes added to their food. I am not going to try it not knowing what kind of unexpected reactions might be possible, but it did cross mind mind to dip a mouse in shoyu or a Thai fish sauce. The kids say that I have enough curiousity for nine or ten cats. I suppose that is true.
I wouldn't worry about the mice defrosting on the ride back from the store. If they thaw out a little bit, they will just taste even better(for the snake of course) when you refreeze and thaw them again. lol! I know that my beardie likes different kinds of food, but I never thought of dipping a mouse in something for my snake! I wonder how it would react to something spicy like hot sauce!
Well that stinks that the owner is a stickler! Maybe you could at least inquire when their shipments arrive and make sure they set aside one or two for you... Good luck!
Well that last post got screwed up - it looks like dogking wrote both parts - and one under an assumed name. Someone needs to give me a hint on how to quote from someone else's post. Sharon
That would be great if I could get to one. There aren't too many in my area, and for the one that is coming up, I will then be about 5000 miles away. In addition, they are usually on weekends my days off are Tuesday and Wednesday. You have no idea how much I would like to get to a show!
I am in upstate New york, near Lake George. There is a show in Boston the end of January when I will be in Hawaii. Still, many of the shows require weekend travel and I would have to take off from work and consider it a vacation week. Quite frustrating.
I've used rodent pro in the past, and also The Mouse Factory. At present, I get all my rodents from a local breeder, reptilerodent.com I get my CGD for my lizards (I have mourning geckos and Lygodactylus) from Pangea Reptile Supply, online. I have a colony of Dubias started--the plan is to expand it and get a few tubs going and then get into leopard geckos. I rarely buy things from pet stores.
Are your sources reasonable for ordering smaller numbers of rodents? The problem I have in just starting out with herps again (after far too many years) is that I currently only have the one snake - and as he is growing, the size of his rodent increases. I had deternined that it would be illogical for me to order in bulk until he has settled on a size and the order is worth the cost of shipping. Pet stores seemed to be the only choice until that point. I will add that I am hesitant to increase the number of snakes that I have until we move in late spring - unless I find that Rainbow Boa I am longing have.
I had not gotten the idea that you could do that. Would the sources you suggested be open to that? I would be interested in a three or four month supply since I don't want to have to deal with transporting "frozen food" when we move back to civilisation. It is interesting how our mnds get into one way of thinking. I saw mice at a Petsmart store while I was out of town this week and immediately thought of them as snake food.
