Yeah,....rats have ALWAYS been way over-priced at pet stores, if you buy from any of the several frozen rodent companies, you get a MUCH better deal. The main reason the pet stores price them much higher, is because the rat has the potential to get much bigger, so of course, the stores take full advantage of this marketing ploy.
Gram for gram, the rat probably has only maybe a slight difference in nutritional value as opposed to a mouse of the exact same size,.....the only "real" difference most likely being the calcium content of the animal, sice rats have a slightly more robust skeleton when compared to mice.
It really depends on where they are bought, as to which ones are a better value,....sometimes buying a big "small" rat out of a pet store tank is cheaper than a smallish "medium" sized rat from the bin next to it,....it really depends on what animals are in their bins at any given time.
When you figure my last purchase of rats were huge XXLarge Rats weighing in the 400 gram range, 14 of them cost only $17.50(plus shipping of course) which would have cost a fortune at a pet store at $9.00 per rat!....that would be $126.00 not including tax!!!!
The last small shipment I got was .......
1) 14 XXLarge rats 375-425 grams each
2) 100 peach fuzzies
3) 100 hoppers
grand total including shipping....$100.19....hard to beat!
~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"
