Local pet shop's price of frozen rats

[The_Geeza]

Well !!! i got the shock of my life today, I went to 1 of the newish pet requirements store here in Port Macquarie to find out if they had any frozen adult mice, it was just as well i was using my walker coz i had to have a sit down after i was told the price.......$57.90 for a pack of 5 very small and skinny adult mice. my 1st question was is it a bottomless bag or something but no according to the proprieter they were supplied by a specialist breeder, i told him they all are and my regular supplier (also a large pet supplies store) sold 250-300gm rats for $12.50 each, he then told me i was full of @#*% and his 200-300gm rats were $28.00 ea, suffice to say i did not buy anything and won't ever be going back there.

post script-: my reg supplier did not have any mice and i wanted to start my girl off on some big mice when she starts eating again.

Ron

Dont know how they get away with it but they do........but i gota say that was extreme...someone will buy them 2...lol

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A standard 200g large rat if u buy in bulk should not cost more that 5/6 bucks Max

 

[Ramsayi]

he then told me i was full of @#*% and his 200-300gm rats were $28.00 ea

Wow $93 to $140/kg for old worn out breeders.Bet he doesn't sell many if any at all at that price.

 

[Snowman]

Day old chickens haven't had a chance to eat or digest much so the internal organs aren't working.They are fine as a part diet but, one reason for feeding whole food items is to provide a balanced diet including the hormones and trace elements found in the operating organs of living animals.

The study Ozi mid posted up disputes this. Have you got anything to back up these claims or is it just bad business to promote DOC when you are a rodent farmer?

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Suitability of day-old chicks as food for captive snakes | Kevin Arbuckle - Academia.edu

 

[zeke]

I only deal through one pet shop and are friends with the owner so I get discounts on everything and I mean everything co

 

[JasonL]

I'm hearing more and more about snakes being fed chicken knecks as a diet because keepers don't want to fork out the money for rodents , not good for the snake I'm really not a fan of this diet ( if you can't afford to feed your snake should you really be keeping one?)

I know a lot of keepers including myself that feed almost only chicken necks and for many years, and Im yet to see any problems occurring with these snakes or their offspring... Geez, if I wanted I could buy chicken livers and my BHPs would eat them too..

 

[wokka]

The study Ozi mid posted up disputes this. Have you got anything to back up these claims or is it just bad business to promote DOC when you are a rodent farmer?

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Suitability of day-old chicks as food for captive snakes | Kevin Arbuckle - Academia.edu

The nutritional breakdown in Ozimid posted study didn't compare trace elements or hormones between chickens and rodents. It is common sense that since day old chickens are still living on their eggsac, and haven't eaten any external food supply, I expect they would not contain the diversity of minerals and trace elements that could be accumulated in an older bird with a varied diet. I think the same arguement is used in comparing say a pink rat with a hopper mouse, where the more mature mouse is likely to contain a more diverse range of nutrients, as well as trace elements and minerals, developed through metabilising a variety of food. Rodentfarm sell quails of various ages as well as day old chicken and rabbits so i have no reason to be biased towards rats or mice. My opinions are from observations over 50 years of feeding and farming animals including my current collection of hundreds of pythons. I encourage keepers to use a diverse range of feeds as i believe you are more likely to get some of the more obscure nutritive components from a more diverse diet.

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I know a lot of keepers including myself that feed almost only chicken necks and for many years, and Im yet to see any problems occurring with these snakes or their offspring... Geez, if I wanted I could buy chicken livers and my BHPs would eat them too..

I have fed beef sausages to BHPs with no apparent problem although I would use them as a stable diet. We experimented with reptile sausages ( for reptiles, not containing reptiles) but found they were too messy to feed as the skins kept busting, so we didn't continue with the project.

 

[Snowman]

So in other words no evidence or actual studies to support your 'opinions'. Fair enough.
we see tiger snakes on islands that exist primarily on gull chicks. Perhaps we are on different wave lengths. As I was more interested in any negative effects of a doc diet.

 

[wokka]

So in other words no evidence or actual studies to support your 'opinions'. Fair enough.
we see tiger snakes on islands that exist primarily on gull chicks. Perhaps we are on different wave lengths. As I was more interested in any negative effects of a doc diet.

Gull chicks are not necessariliy 1 day old. Once they have been fed and metabolised regurgitated fish i a sure they would be far more nutritious than a i day old straight out of the egg.Just my opinion, no evidence.

 

[The_Geeza]

If my 2 carpets take chicken necks then if it keeps me food bill down im guna nick a few from me staffy from time to time lol...honestly tho i just feed Doc/mice/rats and quail...i think my snakes get a restaurant menu dont ya think????...at the end of the day even if u were struggling to comendate the snakes higher diet then there r cheaper options that work for the short term....DONT YA THINK????????

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Ps...my 3 yr old Stimi wont touch a rodent but he looks well healthy on DOC (i trick him scenting a couple of mice with quail on chicks once a month) making sure ive covered all boundries.........but i really think that in the wild if a regular feed of birds rather than rodents was the main diet then do the wild snakes look any worse OFF?????

 

[Snowman]

If my 2 carpets take chicken necks then if it keeps me food bill down im guna nick a few from me staffy from time to time lol...honestly tho i just feed Doc/mice/rats and quail...i think my snakes get a restaurant menu dont ya think????...at the end of the day even if u were struggling to comendate the snakes higher diet then there r cheaper options that work for the short term....DONT YA THINK????????

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Ps...my 3 yr old Stimi wont touch a rodent but he looks well healthy on DOC (i trick him scenting a couple of mice with quail or chicks once a month) making sure ive covered all boundries.........but i really think that in the wild if a regular feed of birds rather than rodents was the main diet then do the wild snakes look any worse OFF?????

I'm the same I feed rodents and DOC. I like variety, but it sounds like people who feed only DOC or chicken necks have had no ill effects from doing so. It's all very interesting IMO

 

[The_Geeza]

I'm the same I feed rodents and DOC. I like variety, but it sounds like people who feed only DOC or chicken necks have had no ill effects from doing so. It's all very interesting IMO

yes mate it is....10 yrs ago i used to fly large owls and hawks in the uk..NOW...i only fed them the heads neck and legs of the DOC and the main internal organs got thrown at me ferrets....the point is i Knew my birds were not getting the suppliment they needed so i either gave them the odd mouse or some Vit suppliment once a week (when flying birds its a starvation process so u have to make sure they get some Vits)...snakes just sit on there a r s e ...so i recon they need less supliments to keep them in tip top condition....dont effect me but im interested about the chicken necks........Jasoooooooon L??????

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Can i also say i always get a bigger feeding response from all my 5 snakes if i throw a birdy @ them

 

[The Reptile Outlet]

so i went in to a new large chain pet store today just to look at prices and holy crap!!!!!!!!!!! $24.95 for one yes one jumbo rat!!!! surely this isnt normal???

Come visit our shop (Scales & Tails Reptile Outlet) instead....... our shop price for a jumbo is only $14.90........ worth the drive up to Brisbane if you need to grab a few. Phone me if you like on (07) 3278 2888.......
As keepers and breeders ourselves we try to keep our frozen food prizes at really competitive levels.

 

[Snapped]

I paid $14 for a small rat at my local "produce" store. :shock:

Whereas medium rats at a reptile shop were $5.50.


Has there been any studies of feeding snakes chicken necks only?