Texas help.......

[gwb8568]

I just purchased my first pet snake at an Expo on San Antonio yesterday. Their snakes had been on f/t pinkies and after searching the internet ALOT before making my purchase, I found out that 75% of peeps, if not more, use the frozen/thawed method. I came back to my local pet store and they don't carry frozen, only live. So I did buy a live for feeding last night and it ate within 15 minutes (a little coaxing of the pinkie into the hide-away). I did find a PetSmart about 20 minutes away that carries them...........$10 for 6. Does anyone know of any pet stores in N.E. San Antonio or San Marcos that carries frozen? I live in New Braunfels and it wouldn't be that long of a trip for me. I really want to stay with the frozen method.

[Lennycorn]

:-offtopic
You been doing a good job so far with the information about the expo.

Anyway, You might find a cheaper pet shop that sell f/t but it rare.
Check these links for suppliers (on line)

http://www.themousefactory.com/
http://cajunmice.com/
http://www.rodentpro.com/index.asp
http://www.bigcheeserodents.com/
http://www.americanrodent.com/htm/mice.html
http://peticebox.com/

[Lennycorn]

And that was a New Jersey reply. hehehe :sidestep:

[Flagg]

The reptile expo you were at yesterday would have been the best place to get stocked up on f/t mice. I was at a reptile swap i n Illinois yesterday and picked up 50 frozen adult mice for $0.50 each and fuzzies for $0.40 each. The local reptile pet shop charges .99 for adult mice and .75 for fuzzies.

[gwb8568]

Yeah..........and now I know that I screwed up. I could have swore that my local pet store had frozen, but that's usually my luck. Surely with the size of SA there will be some pet store that sells them. I will also check out the links that were mentioned above. Thanks all.

[gwb8568]

My only other problem with ordering bulk instead of buying singles is the thawing process. This might be a stupid question but if you buy a bulk pack of 50, how do you thaw out 1 or 2 and not the whole pack. Most bulks I have seen don't individually wrap each pinkie so you would have to somehow get a few out and leave the rest frozen.

[Lennycorn]

Be thankful that you can get to Expo. Three hour drive for me.
You can get some next time there.
But anyway. If you have a hatchling you get just get pinky live and freeze them for now, buy six to ten at a time. Save a trip to the pet store. Or you can do this http://www.alysion.org/euthanasia/ . But this won't work well on pinky or fuzzy. Now if buying on line you have to call them usually for you first order and then you could request that they packets ten per bag. You could then cut open just one bag per 50 count order. It would help if you ask around to see if someone will split an order to save on shipping and handling charges too. The snake aren't on pinky too long but that depends on you feed and snake growth. But 50 should do until you move to fuzzy.
I hope that helps

Good Luck :cheers:

[BeckyG]

My only other problem with ordering bulk instead of buying singles is the thawing process. This might be a stupid question but if you buy a bulk pack of 50, how do you thaw out 1 or 2 and not the whole pack. Most bulks I have seen don't individually wrap each pinkie so you would have to somehow get a few out and leave the rest frozen.

Simple, you just take one or two out of the pack and leave the rest in. They're frozen individually before they are put into the bags, so they don't stick together in one big block. I've never had trouble separating the mice.

Personally, I've always ordered in bulk. Even with shipping charges, it is cheaper than buying from a pet store. Of the links above, I've ordered from Rodent Pro, Mouse Factory, and Big Cheese. I much prefer Big Cheese.

I envy you. The nearest reptile expo to me is a 5 hour drive away. :sobstory:

[gwb8568]

Simple, you just take one or two out of the pack and leave the rest in. They're frozen individually before they are put into the bags, so they don't stick together in one big block. I've never had trouble separating the mice.

Personally, I've always ordered in bulk. Even with shipping charges, it is cheaper than buying from a pet store. Of the links above, I've ordered from Rodent Pro, Mouse Factory, and Big Cheese. I much prefer Big Cheese.

I envy you. The nearest reptile expo to me is a 5 hour drive away. :sobstory:


Thank you............that is what I was worried about. I thought that maybe they all stuck together and how would I get them apart without thawing all of them. As long as they are not stuck together then it shouldn't be a problem. I will try from the links and see what happens. Thanks again.

[dionythicus]

Even if they are frozen in a block, just keep them in the bag and whack it on the counter like the ice cube tray. They'll break apart unless they're in an iceberg like the 50 pack of nudes I have in my freezer. That's going to take a hammer and chisel to break apart.

[Fatman608]

gwb8568 -- I live in New Braunfels also. The best way to get frozen mice is online. I use Big Cheese. When you order, order more than one size. By ordering more and keeping the rest in the freezer you will save money on shipping. The froozen mice will be vacuum packed so they will keep a year or more. When my corn snake was a baby I order small mice, large mice, and fuzzy mice. Now your corn will out grow the food but all you have to do is feed two or more at a time when it out grows the food size. Hope this helps.

[pcar]

I agree with Fatman. Even if you only have one snake, i would still suggest on ordering in Bulk, will save you money on buying the mice, and on the gas to get to the Pet Store.

If you are worried about the number of mice that you would have to buy to make the price of shipping worth while, then you could always find people like Fatman and myself and make one large order at one time and split the shipping costs.

[kimbyra]

www.apexrodents.com
A guy named Phil owns it and is really nice. His place is just north of Austin, in Round Rock, and shipping should be cheaper for you, or maybe you can come on up every so often to buy them instead of shipping. :cheers:

[Blutengel]

So.... if mice are frozen vacuum, what happens after opening the package once? I guess the package is not vacuum anymore.... so the remaining mice won't be kept vacuum anymore so they wont last for a year anymore too... I assume they are not individually vacuum packed, are they? Or am I really missing something this time of the night (00:23 AM)?

[Lennycorn]

So.... if mice are frozen vacuum, what happens after opening the package once? I guess the package is not vacuum anymore.... so the remaining mice won't be kept vacuum anymore so they wont last for a year anymore too... I assume they are not individually vacuum packed, are they? Or am I really missing something this time of the night (00:23 AM)?
That was basically my point, you order ten mice per bag of a 50 count order so you only have to open a seal bag of ten at a time.

[kimbyra]

Different companys seal them up differently. Like my order from Rodent Pro that has 100 mice in each bag.

[pcar]

if you are worried about keeping the mice in a vacuum so that they keep longer, then go and get a vacuum sealer. They will come in handy for more than just the mice. I have a Foodsaver and it is wonderful. you can vacuum anything and keep it for a long time. Shreaded cheese, left overs, meat, you name it it can be sealed and kept. I use mine to repackage the mice into numbers that I need so when I do feed, I just need to grab a package and open it.

I will offer up the use of my food savre to anyone that is close enough to come and use it if they like.

[kimbyra]

Oh wow! Great idea! Next month I'm getting a food saver to sort and store those 300 mice from rodent pro. :cheers:

[Bobo's Mama]

I got mine for $40 at Wal-Mart. I've seen them for less at thrift stores that sell used items.

[BeckyG]

It isn't likely to take my snake a year to eat up one package of mice anyway. So it doesn't matter if the vacuum seal is broken.

The purpose of vacuum packing is so you can buy ahead to save on shipping. I can buy the size mice my snakes need now, PLUS buy all the different sizes I estimate they will be eating up to a year from now at the same time and only pay for shipping once.

[kimbyra]

In Texas - the Mouse factory is Texas-local online. (As well as ship elsewhere.) So for Texas, I would assume that shipping would be cheaper.

[Penman6668]

In Texas - the Mouse factory is Texas-local online. (As well as ship elsewhere.) So for Texas, I would assume that shipping would be cheaper.
The Big Cheese Rodent Factory is in Texas, too. Hopefully this helps.
I go the the local reptile show but it only about 10-15 minutes away.

[pcar]

Big Cheese is where I buy from, and they usually ship out second day instead of next day to save me on shipping. I have yet to get an order that isn't frozen. I also get mice from local shows when I can, but most of the time I just buy enough from big cheese to last for a long while.

[jenkva]

Even if they are frozen in a block, just keep them in the bag and whack it on the counter like the ice cube tray. They'll break apart unless they're in an iceberg like the 50 pack of nudes I have in my freezer. That's going to take a hammer and chisel to break apart.:laugh01:
Yet again, practical without forgetting humour.
Brilliant!