Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just placed my order for 100 fuzzies from rodent pro, and they shipped yesterday. I paid $20 for 100 of 'em, then paid them $28 for shipping, figuring shipping 2nd day air plus dry ice costs and such is fairly expensive. I checked the UPS tracking and discovered it shipped ground, went and checked the info on ups' website and found out they it only cost $8.62 to ship this package! Granted they have spent extra on shipping supplies...and i'll be generous and give 'em $10 for that (which is probably double what they pay...) that's still $10 profit where they're just ripping us off...and it doesnt seem to be a standard shipping charge, because it changes via zip code. Just thought i'd vent....and see if anyone else ever realized or got mad at this fact.....
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

You wanna know what I'm mad at, the people at PetCo. They charge $1.19 for a pinky mouse and $1.29 for a fuzzy. And the place where they get them from only charges them .19 for a pinky and .29 for a fuzzy. That makes me so mad, why do they gotta charge an extra $1?? For the stupid bag the mice come in?
You really aren't getting ripped off as bad as me, $48 for 100 fuzzies. PetCo would charge me around $130 for all those.
Michael
Hey where did you get them from?
Michael's Place

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www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Michael_Fedzen@hotmail.com

I understand that they are cheaper than any place I can get them locally, it's just the fact that they hide the charges. I would rather pay say 25-28 cents a mouse vs the bull[bleep] shipping charge.

www.rodentprod.com by the way. their per mouse prices are really good...and they have great customer service, that just pisses me off so bad.....
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

I wouldn't buy from petco anyway. Just gives them more money and I have seen and bought some very unhealthy mammals from them in the past.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: thekingofproduct
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

"A yellow ribbon instead of a swastika. Nothin' proper about ya propaganda. Fools follow rules when the set commands ya. Said it was blue when ya blood was red. That's how ya got a bullet blasted through ya head"- Rage Against the Machine

Herper,

I guarantee you that $20 shipping charge is standard for frozen rodents from just about anyone you buy from. It is not easy to store dry ice (it will sublimate even in your own freezer), and you're also paying for the insulated blanket the package comes in. It's always more cost effective if you can buy more quantity when purchasing frozen rodents via an online supplier. If you don't have a call for buying more at one time, try combining your order with some fellow herpers so you all share the shipping cost. I personally think the shipping cost is worth it for a quality product that is well-packaged.
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Matt Campbell
Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois

Assistant Curator
Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, Illinois

I agree with Matt, in his post . The quality of the product is worth the shipping cost. Also, his suggestion of finding other herpers to share the cost is valid.

When I order from RodentPro, I make certain that my boxes are totally filled (they automatically tell you how much space is taken up in the box by each item ordered.) There are 30 mouths of varying sizes to feed at my house, and filling the boxes definately cuts the price per food item over retail. I saved enough money on my first order to purchase a freezer to store the feeders in.

As to high retail cost, ever wonder who pet stores buy their rodents from? Hmmmm. . .

regards,
althea

did you talk to the people at rodentpro? did you estimate the cost before hand? did you know that you purchased the most expensive possible way (minimum order), that is NOT planning well! >failing to plan is planing to fail

I'm not saying this shipping charge was unexpected, I knew exactly how much it would cost. I was expecting them to have to ship it air or something. I know all about dry ice also, you have to have a special freezer to make and freeze it, however it can be bought at walmart for $1/lb, and when buying in such quantities as this place is, they should be getting it for around 10-20 cents a pound. (i looked into bulk purchasing of dry ice a while back...dont ask). I know that it was the most expensive way to buy them, but I also only have 2 snakes... both eating fuzzies. I don't mind paying $50 for 100 mice, thats cheaper than I could get locally, even if some go to waste in the end (which I am expecting to lose some) it is still much cheaper. That's going back to what I said before, I would rather pay more per mouse than get charged this false shipping.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

>>I'm not saying this shipping charge was unexpected, I knew exactly how much it would cost. I was expecting them to have to ship it air or something. I know all about dry ice also, you have to have a special freezer to make and freeze it, however it can be bought at walmart for $1/lb, and when buying in such quantities as this place is, they should be getting it for around 10-20 cents a pound. (i looked into bulk purchasing of dry ice a while back...dont ask). I know that it was the most expensive way to buy them, but I also only have 2 snakes... both eating fuzzies. I don't mind paying $50 for 100 mice, thats cheaper than I could get locally, even if some go to waste in the end (which I am expecting to lose some) it is still much cheaper. That's going back to what I said before, I would rather pay more per mouse than get charged this false shipping.
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>>The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

Do you know 3 or 4 other people near you that also keep snakes? Maybe you could pool together and split the shipping?
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

lol this is the south, I live in Panama City, Florida. This is also known as "The Redneck Riviera." Nobody here is intelligent enough to not kill any snake they see, for the most part, lol. Even the reptile guys at the local pet stores don't keep snakes and hate them...therefore no local pet stores sell snakes, lol.

yeah, this town is miserable.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

>>lol this is the south, I live in Panama City, Florida. This is also known as "The Redneck Riviera." Nobody here is intelligent enough to not kill any snake they see, for the most part, lol. Even the reptile guys at the local pet stores don't keep snakes and hate them...therefore no local pet stores sell snakes, lol.
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>>yeah, this town is miserable.
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>>The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

There used to be a bunch of herpers in the P.C. area. Of course, that's going back 25 years or so. As a matter of fact, there was a place there called the Snake-A-Toreum, run by a guy named Denny Seabolt. Whenever I was herping around Apalachicola, I'd stop in there and hang out with him for a while. There was always local herpers in and out of his place.
He bred some mice and rats there and would sell them to the locals. I haven't been there in years...don't even know if Denny is still around, or if the place is still there.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

You are still saving some $$ in the long run. Local pet stores near me sell frozen/live pinkies for 89 - 99 cents and hoppers/adults for 1.29 to a 1.49! I only have 3 snakes at the moment who all eat different sized rodents. The yellow eats small fuzzies,the king is on hoppers and the corn is eatting large adult mice. My wife does not want frozen mice in the house after our disaster with petco. She went and got me a few frozen mice from there so I let them sit out for awhile and then we noticed a very foul smell. Decaying flesh! So I open one bag with the pinkies and they were ok,the adult mice on the other hand were FOUL LOOKING with missing fur patches and black spots where the fur once was and smelled horrible.

Of course she had a fit and said NO MORE FROZEN MICE,THEY LOOK HORRIBLE AND SMELL EVEN WORSE. I assured her that these were a bad batch but she didn't want to hear it.Of course I took them back to petco and pretty much threw a fit but of course some mornon working there said they all look like that so I threw a even bigger fit. I really can't complain about my wife not wanting frozen mice in the house because my reptile area is talking up a large chunk of space and she has been cool about that! So I buy live rodents and prekill them before feeding my snakes to ensure that they do not suffer any bites.(I dont kill the pinkies or fuzzies that I buy because they won't bite the snake back!) I know there is a small chance the mice will have some parasite but what can I do? I mean I have never once before had a snake get ill from eatting a live rodent so I am really not all that worried about it.

Anyway it is cheaper to buy your rodents from rodentpro. You are getting good feeders that a lot of pet stores only dream of having! Actually one local pet store does in fact get their frozen mice from rodent pro! That's who I use to get my feeders from but the day my wife bought them they didn't have any more feeders in stock because the order was late. So petco ruined it for me and now the woman can not be reasoned with..LOL.

lol i actually talked with the owners of 3 local pet stores to see if they wanted to order some mice from rodent pro with me and we could both save on shipping (mainly me, lol). none were interested...nobody here they say likes to feed frozen mice...they all want live. dumbasses. but yeah as i said i dont mind paying $50 for 100 fuzzies, it's just the way that they overcharge on shipping that irks me.

and snake-a-torium is no longer in business apparently. i checked the online yellow pages, no such thing.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

down the cost. I bought 300 mice different sizes and 20 small rats for $117. Do the math. That is cheap. RodentPro has excellent service and a competitively priced product.

Mike B

I dunno if yall aren't reading my whole thread or just dont want to take what i'm saying...they gave me great service i know their prices are very good. i dont mind paying 50 for 100 fuzzies. thats a damn good price. i just think the inflated shipping is bull, it should be absorbed into the cost of the rodents.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

................that buying frozen feeders in your type of situation it might be wiser to buy vacuum packed rodents.the last time i checked rodentpro did not vacuum pack.i've been told that vacuum packed feeders should last at least two years,that being the case you could buy a year or more supply and GREATLY reduce your shipping cost.have fun!

...I guess some posters have been missing the point that you're complaining about inflated shipping charges. I don't quite understand why you think the $20 shipping charge is outrageous. So it didn't go out by some form of air shipping. Shipping by air is usually more costly than ground shipping, and depending on where you're at may not save any time. I live in Chicago, and RodentPro is located in Evansville, IN so every shipment from them is a ground shipment.

Also, since they ship with dry ice and package with an insulation blanket, it doesn't need to be shipped via air because they shipment will remain frozen under average conditions for at least two to three days or more. I had one shipment come from RodentPro and due to a mistake with the delivery company it took one extra day to arrive [total of 4 days]. All rodents were still frozen solid and there were still chunks of dry ice left to play with.

I can see where you'd be irked at paying $20 for shipping and not getting it quicker and by air, but like I said in my previous post, look at any other company selling frozen rodents and you'll find that is a fairly standard shipping charge. The only company I ever found cheaper was buying frozen rodents from Fluker Farms. They were individually vaccum packed in lots of three, however they quality of the mice was bad [rough-looking and many would begin to disintegrate upon thawing], so I never ordered from them again. They were also more expensive per mouse even though the shipping charge was cheaper than RodentPro. It's all a trade-off. One solution would be to buy more snakes, then your rodent order will be more cost effective [just kidding].
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Matt Campbell
Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois

Assistant Curator
Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, Illinois