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really that much better? Im not sure if some places will vacuum seal them in small quantities but if they are vacuum sealing 50 per bag what does it really matter? Once you open the bag youre in the same boat. Ive only ever ordered from rodentpro so I dont know how everyone else does it. Am I mising something or do some places seal up smaller orders?

ep

ps: just thought of question 2 that may answer my question 1. How many months worth of food do you order at one time? I guess this can be a poll of sorts.

once again, ep
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Occupants not paying rent:
1.1. balls
1.1 corns
1 everglades rat
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2.1 cats

I ordered from a place that vacuum sealed 10 med rats per bag. And yes, there is a huge difference in freshness. Same for foods. Vacuum seal fruit and it can last considerably longer than that not vacuum sealed. My snakes seemed to eat better on vacuum sealed.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Vaccuum sealing allows you to buy in bigger bulk thus allowing you to buy cheaper and spend les overall on shipping. Also I think plain frozen are good for like 3 months until you start to see freezer burn on them. Vaccuum sealed you can keep them in your freezer for like a year or more and they stay nice and fresh. But yes - once you open the package doesn't matter where it cam from - you still have to get them fed off in the same amount of time!
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.34.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.4 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.0 Lizards of unknown origin

Also, vacuum sealed packages take up considerably less space.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

ok to add to the question. If you have a vacuum sealer can you take a bag of 50 and open it then break it down to what you need then reseal? and keep that minty freashnes lol
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1.2.0 ball python (aragorn, arwen,`eowyn)
1.0.0 100% het pied (frodo)
1.0.0 columbian boa (squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
0.0.2 whites tree frog (trevor, kirmet)
0.0.5 pacific green tree frogs
3.2.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy
"snakes are kind of like potato chips, you cant have just one"

well, I think I lost the point I was trying to make there. I realize that vacuum sealed is much better and will keep freshness longer. I guess I was thinking that if you get a vacuum bag of 50 and that has to last you for a 3 months, that it doesnt really matter if they were vacuum sealed in the first place. Does that make any better sense? LOL But, this would only be for people with just a few snakes. Maybe I should just say nevermind to the whole post. haha.

ep
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Occupants not paying rent:
1.1. balls
1.1 corns
1 everglades rat
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2.1 cats

the easy answer is that even if you use them in the 3 month time period, vaccum sealed is still better. The best thing to do is once you have received your rats to break down the bag of 50 into more managable bags of say 5 or 10 (whatever you can feed at one time). Once a vaccum'd bag is open as long as you re-vaccum seal them before they begin to defrost the freshness is kept. The reason that freezer burn happens is the air that is left in a bag, therefor no air, no freezer burn. I am facing a somewhat similar problem, I breed my own rats and have up until now been able to feed off the offspring at the same pace they were produced, now I have over 100 small/med rats in excess. If I can't find a pet store to buy them by monday next week I will be pre-killing them all and vaccum freezing them.
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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
1.0 Spider Ball python (Ballroom pythons south)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
1.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
0.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

I recently placed my first frozen rat order. I did so primarily because I couldn't find a local supply of the size that my girl will need. I ordered two packs of 20 rat weanlings from Big Cheese Rodent Factory. Both of these packs are vacuum sealed.

Originally, my plan was to feed both my python and my California Kingsnake with these rats. Feeding once a week and allowing for shedding, I figured that the first pack of 20 would last 12 weeks. I would then open the second pack and feed those for another 12 weeks. By that time, I expected my ball python to be big enough for small rats that should be available at local places. I'd then go back to local shops for rats for the ball python and mice for the kingsnake.

Now that I have two ball pythons, I'm hoping that I'll go through each pack more quickly. If both ball pythons will eat these rats, then I may go back to mice for my kingsnake. It's still possible that I'll order small rats online. I was very pleased with my Big Cheese order, but I wouldn't mind supporting local shops if I'm only feeding three snakes. I believe that Big Cheese offers small rats in packs of ten. If so, then each sealed pack would last about five weeks, and they should stay fresh for that long.

Of course, this whole plan depends on my new ball python eating frozen rats. I had given her five days to adjust to her new home. When I took her a f/t rat, I found her sitting under her hide with cloudy eyes and thoroughly blued skin. I knew when I saw those eyes that she wasn't going to be interested in eating. I'll give her a few more days to shed and then start trying to feed her.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.