Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So.. I don't breed my own rodents... Why? I don't have the room, money, or energy. So instead, I go out EVERY week to buy a weeks worth food or more. I only have 4 balls, 1 skink, and 1 savannah monitor so really it's not that hard...

The store I usually go to was out... Which was weird because they told me they just got a new shipment yesterday... They have NO RATS... No big deal.. I'll try somewhere else.

I called another store to see if they had any rat pups... And I asked "Do you have any frozen rat pups in stock?"... She responded with "What size?"... And I'm like...what do you mean what size? I want a rat pup. And she's like yea... PInkie, hopper, adult? What size? GAHHH...

So I said I want a size smaller than a small adult... Usually a weaned rat but whatever.... a lot of places I've gone to don't say "weaned rat" they'll say rat pups then small adults. ANYWAYS... She tells me that it's a hopper.... Is there even a "hopper" rat?? I didn't think so...

this is the same Pet store my boyfriend and I went into WITH MONEY to buy a ball python.... they ignored us the entire time. If I wasn't desperate I wouldn't have called them to begin with...

As much as I hate Petco... I think I'd rather buy my feeders from there than be ignored when I'm looking for a morph.

Sorry, I just had to vent. I'm annoyed.
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino

You go to a pet store to buy a ball python? a morph at that? how about supporting one of your local breeders?

The owner IS a breeder. I would buy from local breeders if I knew of any that didn't own pet stores. The problem is the ones who have actually talked to me, aren't that local. I've tried to contact "local" breeders, but most of them never responded to my email, or had no interest in me... Or didn't have what I was looking for to begin with.

At the time I was looking for a male albino to pair up with my het albino female...

It is a local pet store... so at least I would have been supporting a local business. I ended up buying my albino male from a "pet store" that uses a lot of the money for it's rescue as well. So it worked out better for us.

If you know of any breeders in Portland, OR or SW washington, you should let me know. I like to buy local when I'm looking for something, but the few breeders I found on here wouldn't talk to me... Either too busy or maybe I'm just not cool enough (I'm really new to balls... I only have a pastel, spider, albino, and het albino)

A lot of the people who come to the local shows are from out of state. My boyfriend and I are saving up to go to Daytona next year... or one of the other large shows... See if we spend $800 getting to daytona... that's like... the caramel i want.
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino

.......LOL......I love that.....
people come here, get education...then buy elsewhere...and when they give it away later they take it to a pet shop whether they got it here or elsewhere....LOL.......HA....and they bring it here to show off what they got ,or what kind of deal...(even if it was more than my price)....

I hate people.....!!!.....funny stuff......why I have someone else selling my stuff...no delaing with people all day....
(can I see a pic of the underside of the underside of the face,and pics of them copulating three years ago..?...thanxx)..

.....
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........JY

I don't really understand what the previous post was talking about?

I prefer to buy local because I hate paying $50 in shipping. I'd rather save my money and find someone local or at a show to get what I want... I wasn't saying anything about the deal that I got on my albino if that's what you were referring to. I paid $300 for him which I saw a lot that looked good on here for $300 as well. I liked buying local though because part of that money goes towards the rescue that the owner runs.
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino

I prefer to buy local because I hate paying $50 in shipping.

shipping and cheaper prices ad up to the same amount in the end....

I'd rather save my money and find someone local or at a show to get what I want...

local is good ,local is what we want....and your point was you DIDN'T get what you wanted....at 2 places...???

I wasn't saying anything about the deal that I got on my albino if that's what you were referring to. I paid $300 for him which I saw a lot that looked good on here for $300 as well. I liked buying local though because part of that money goes towards the rescue that the owner runs.

Local is good as I said.....I just ranted about people coming to the local guy then going to another shop or breeder to buy ,it was in reference to the other peron moreso then your OP...

...yep....

...............(amels, local , 200$...)and gone>>>

.
.
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........JY

Hey Bro, I feel your pain....lol...that is a direct depiction of most e-mails one gets from potential customers....

Andy
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yea I know...I have a guy selling stuff for me...we are both making out fairly well so far....he is doing alot of adults...the deals are better for all three parties involved...babies have less of a margin $$$ of profit ...for him...LOL...anyways...yea...he tells me alot of the emails he gets and requests....pics of all kinds of stuff requested........

and I love people that want paperwork and all....paper is cheap...my word is easier....why lie....hets and all are cheap as crap right now.....really.....starting right now is way cheaper in the long run than when I started....I waited 10 years to buy some stuff...and will wait 10 more for other...HA!....B a n a n a s .............

.....anyways...good luck..........
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........JY

Rat Pup......you ask me for a rat pup....it won't have it's eyes open yet......(fuzz or large fuzz)

.....pink,fuzz/pup, weaned/hopper, small, medium, large, X-Lg , Jumbo......

actually on my cards....I have
Sm P
P
LgP
V (very sm fuzz)
Z (fuzz)
H
SM
M
N
LM

...and there may or may not be a plus or minus sign behind any of those....LOL....lots of codes and signs...d (dead) U (used)
WK (weak as in anorexic mouse)....LOL

.anyways..this time of year....get what you can....if you use frozen.....?...buy hundreds at a time...?....

...
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........JY

If I could afford to buy hundreds at a time, and could use those in the next 6 months I would. I also don't have the room since I don't have a stand alone freezer (or even my own freezer since it's shared). All 4 of my snakes eat different things so it would be more expensive for me to buy in bulk from rodentpro or any of the other sites and I would be seeing a lot go to waste since my snakes are still growing....
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino

just saying......

I feed live....hundreds of items a week....all kinds of species of prey.........
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........JY

"Is there even a "hopper" rat?? I didn't think so... "
You thought wrong.
"Hopper" is a very well-known size of rat feeder.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

Where does it fall in the chain then???

I think its weird that on their website they advertise frozen rat pups.... but don't acknowledge it as a size.
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino

When I look at rodentpro or any of the other online sites for ordering I see pinkies, fuzzies, pups, weaned, small adults, etc. I've NEVER seen a "hopper" rat.
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino

There are people who call the various rat growth stages the same way they do with mice... pinky, fuzzy, hopper, weaned, small adult, adult, jumbo... for mice... pinky, fuzzy, pup, weaned, small adult, med. adult, adult, jumbo, super jumbo...for rats.

The way I understand it, a rat 'pup' is basically same age as a hopper mouse..2-3 weeks, the between stage from getting fur to being weaned. Mice breeders call this stage 'hopper' because of how much the baby mice tend to jump about (sometimes called popcorn stage). Mice at this age tend to be dare devil brave (or stupid, depending on how you want to look at it) and will jump out of hands at great heights...something an adult would be more hesitant to do.

As for buying from local pet shops, nothing wrong with it, it really depends on the quality of the petshop and their individual knowledge. If its owned by a long time breeder/ reptile keeper...its a good bet the care any reptiles sold in the store would be just as good as any breeder vending at a store would have for his collection. If they have a good price on a reptile that is equivalent to one which needs to be shipped...definitely would buy locally myself too. I rather not have live creatures shipped to me, not when I can easily pick them up locally if I wait for a show to come to town or if I drive to a show myself...2-4 hours in a car is alot less stressful than 24 hours in a box being flown or driven or both and most likely far more roughly handled than I would handle that same creature if I am the one transporting it from a show to my home.

It may be a good idea to order your rats in bulk...some pet stores will put out a large order for you to buy...at a better price than just buying them as you need them per week. As the shipping will be part of their regular shipped order, it may be much smaller percentage than if you ordered from a feeder supplier directly. Then again, the prices may be better if you ordered in bulk directly. Something to look into, a month's supply ordered on a monthly or bi monthly basis may save you money in the long run. Not to mention the hassle of calling around town trying to find a store that has the size you need if your usual store runs out. Ordering frozen rodents is much easier..as long as they are packed sufficiently to keep them frozen. But at least you don't have to worry about them 'dying' in transit or being stressed, if they were live.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

yea, I just thought about talking to the owner. My boyfriend is willing to buy a couple of months worth of frozen if they'd be willing to put the order in for us... Right now because two of my snakes are growing so rapidly, it's hard to determine what to feed them since it changes... I just need to talk to the owner and see if he's willing to work out a deal. I think that his feeders come from a local breeder as well, so I'll just have to talk to him. I'd rather buy from him than anywhere else because some of the money goes into the rescue.
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino

are you in PA???
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........JY

No... I'm in Oregon.
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino

My rodent guy classifies rats as the following...

Pinks,fuzzys, pups, hoppers, weaners, mediums, large, xl
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FireBall Reptiles