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Frozen mice order

M

Malkingray

Certified Vet Tech
I was going to place an order with The Mouse Factory (1st order) about 2 weeks ago, but decided to wait until after my SerpenCo order arrived to make sure I order the right # of sizes for all to eat. I also found a Ball Python breeder who I will be purchasing a normal male from so the order is going to be much larger than previous orders and I was looking at other sites for price comparisons.

I did a search and the three companies I am most interested in doing business with are The Mouse Factory, Big Cheese Rodents and Cajun Mice. Everyone who replied in those searches seemed pretty happy with the orders they received. I won't use RodentPro because I really don't need 100 of every size and the other companies allow you to order 50 of a size. I also want to use only vacuum packed mice to feed. I used RodentPro previously when almost all my snakes were eating the same size, but now I have quite a range in sizes I need to feed and I don't want to waste any mice.

So my question is, has anyone had any problems with any of these companies? Did the orders arrive frozen, no signs of thawing? I am willing to pay more $$ if the product is better, but if all are about equal I will order from the one with the best price. My order will be about 500 mice ranging from pinks to adults.
Thanks, :wavey:
 
I am very happy with the products I've ordered from Big Cheese. They came still frozen solid with a huge chunk of dry ice that lasted for 2 weeks after getting the mice (so fun to play with =P).

The product was clean, no smell, no debris in bags, and not in a huge brick of contorted mice. I really detest having to "barbie-doll" all of the mice back into a shape the snakes can eat relatively easily. And when thawed, I never had a "busted" one.

And when I've ever asked for something a little more custom, like newborns with full milk-bellies, or my mice packaged into 25 per bag...no problems. They also use a reasonably sized shipping box. Rodent Pro always used a huge box for a small amout of product so the shipping cost was more than it needed to be, imho.

They are more expensive than some, but I really like the quality so I plan on sticking with them whenever I need to use frozen mice again. I currently raise all of my own. I hope that helps. :cheers:
 
I've been using "The Mouse Factory", and I have no complaints. The product and packaging look more hygenic than the stuff they offer for human consumption at the grocery store. I've been tempted to pop a freshly thawed fuzzy in my mouth, they look so good. Ok, I'm lying about the temptation part, but they do put out a good product.
 
i want to watch this too to see what sites others have used and how satisfied they were because im going to order online next time i think.. once Salazar moves up to fuzzies.
 
I've ordered from Mouse Factory, Big Cheese, and Rodent Pro. I was very satisfied with the products I received from MF and BC, but I will never order from RP again. Quality and customer service between MF and BC are comparable, but Big Cheese seems to have the best pricing.
 
why would you never order from rodent pro again? what happened? Just bad service, bad packaging? Just curious. thanks.
 
Well, first of all, it took two weeks for my order to even get here. The size difference in the mice I ordered varied tremendously. I'd ordered fuzzies, and the sizes ranged from pinky size on the small end, to almost adult sized mice. The mice were packaged in quantities of 100. They were not vacuum sealed, but just tossed into gallon size ziploc freezer bags. In addition to that, both ziploc bags were torn. The mice were dirty, with bits of shavings and feces in with them. Also, about half of the mice in one bag were clumped together in a large block of yellowish ice which looked and smelled suspiciously of urine. Unfortunately, I've also heard from too many others who have had this same experience with Rodent Pro to believe it is an isolated incident. Both Mouse Factory and Big Cheese have much better quality, with the mice vacuum sealed in smaller quanitites, cleaner, and more uniformily sized. Of the two, Big Cheese is cheaper; they are even cheaper than Rodent Pro and much better quality product.
 
I too had similar experiences with RP that Becky had. :puke01:

Link to Old Rodent Pro Post I Made

And some pics I took for that post..

Rodent Pro Rat Pinks:
RodentProRatPinks.JPG


Rodent Pro Weaned Rats:
RodentProWeanedRats.JPG


Big Cheese Pinks and Hoppers:
BigCheeseHoppersandPinks.JPG


And my own home-grown and frozen weaned rats:
HomegrownRats.JPG


After a few experiments I believe that Rodent Pro stuffs the mice in the bags while fresh before they're frozen, so they get contorted and glued together with the fluids that leak out.

I freeze all of my mice/rats separately (like berries on a cookie sheet) and then arrange them in the bag and vacuum pack them. No fluids to leak out and get frozen all over the rodents, and the rodents retain their shape a lot better. I get the impression that the same is done with BCRF, as their rodents come out looking like mine and come apart easily like mine from the group in the bag. :shrugs:
 
And why are Big Cheese's rat pinkies with a 500 discount 38 cents, while Rodent Pro's with a 500 discount is 24 cents?

14 cents difference per rodent? That's ridiculous. I'd love to see how anyone can say that they save money ordering from Big Cheese.

500 rat pinkies from Big Cheese would be $190, while that same order from Rodent Pro would be $120.

$70 more expensive for Big Cheese----absolutely ridiculous.
 
I don't have much experience with online suppliers (I just recently recieved my first order from Big Cheese). I was very impressed with the service and product. They even sent day old pinkies upon request.

As far as price goes: Yes, just looking at the numbers Rodent Pro would be cheaper, but I think alot of people factor in service and product in the "price." At least for me, I will pay a bit more if I know that the company is willing to accomodate any special needs I have and that they have a very good product (mice, packaging, etc). And in the end I still feel like I am getting a better deal even if it costs a bit more. :cheers:

And in the end ordering from Big Cheese still cost less than half of what it would have cost me to buy the same amount from my local shop.

But like I said I don't have experience with Rodent Pro. Just offering some thoughts. :)
 
just from what ive seen online, rodent pro is cheaper when you buy like 500 but if you only want to buy 25-50 youd have to go big cheese or mouse factory. Personally, when only buying a small amount, im gonna go for the quality.
 
ashleynicole said:
just from what ive seen online, rodent pro is cheaper when you buy like 500 but if you only want to buy 25-50 youd have to go big cheese or mouse factory. Personally, when only buying a small amount, im gonna go for the quality.
Click to expand...

Well, 500 is a small order. It really makes no sense to buy a frozen order for less than 100---the cost of shipping ruins the savings you get.
 
Joejr14 said:
Well, 500 is a small order. It really makes no sense to buy a frozen order for less than 100---the cost of shipping ruins the savings you get.
Click to expand...

well that is true with rodent pro because they charge you the same shipping for however much you buy... but the other places adjust their shipping for the actual amount you get.. which i think is very reasonable. I only have one snake, and sometimes I have a hard time getting the Pet stores to order the frozen ones for me, and when they do.. they are not very good quality, they are all clumped in one big bag, they have urine frozen all over them and they stink.

My pet stores in the area sell frozen pinkies for the same amount as the live ones, about 64-68 cents a piece. I averaged that with the shipping i would be paying and the discounted price from buying online and its about the same, and of course it goes down as your order more in bulk. I for one would be more likely to pay a bit more to get good quality product. And i don't want to buy 500 mice, i don't know what id do with them.
 
If you go by the rate chart, 100 pinkies from Rodent Pro is $17.00 and from Big Cheese is $19.00--only a two dollar difference. This would be MORE than made up for in the difference in shipping charges--$24 from Big Cheese, and $30.96 from Rodent Pro. You have to count shipping charges into the total price, because you still have to pay them.
 
BeckyG said:
If you go by the rate chart, 100 pinkies from Rodent Pro is $17.00 and from Big Cheese is $19.00--only a two dollar difference. This would be MORE than made up for in the difference in shipping charges--$24 from Big Cheese, and $30.96 from Rodent Pro. You have to count shipping charges into the total price, because you still have to pay them.
Click to expand...


yes, i agree thats why i said the average of the price WITH the shipping is cheaper at big cheese than Rodent Pro.
 
Like I said, every order I made from Rodent Pro no matter how many mice I ordered, the packaging was still the same: huge box that all 3 of my cats could fit into.

They spent more money on the box and the insulation to fill it than the quality of the product within, imho. I honestly had enough fiberglass insulation to insulate a dog house last year, no kidding. And when you factor in that most frozen rodent places use UPS/Fedex 2nd Day Air most of the time, it doesn't NEED to be that big, pure and simple. Now that all shipping companies dimensionalize the boxes, no matter how much they weigh, Rodent Pro always ends up being more.

The last two orders I received from BCRF was in a box not much bigger than the boxes Don @ SMR uses to ship his snakes (for those of you who've received from him). I'd have to dig the box from BCRF out of the closet to get the exact dimensions.

Most of us don't order 500 or more, I don't think. I may order 100 pinks, 100 fuzzies and 50 or so adult mice and 25 rat weanlings. And if I did order over 500, I'd want them to come vacuum packed so they could withstand the long storage in the freezer to by the time I got around to using all that many. Sure you have a vacuum packer, so do I. But having to go through and repackage things is retarded.

To most of us the quality of the product by only having to order it once and them getting it right the first time is also factored in. Sure if you're not pleased with your order, RP will send another box. But why have essentially two boxes of a useless product? Its a waste for them and me.

BCRF is a pure pleasure to deal with. Trying to get good customer service out of Rodent Pro, in my experience, is like pulling teeth. Especially for us peon customers that they could take or leave.

Until you've ordered from BCRF, I don't think you can really argue about if its "cheaper" or not. Until you've sampled their far better product, you really have no leg to stand upon. Sure you can look at numbers on a webpage, but seeing the product in your hand and seeing the difference is the clincher. Half the time I've ordered, the price wasn't the same as on the webpage from what I remember. I think their slightly higher prices reflect the better diet and conditions that the rodents are kept in as well. Rodent Pro looks like they'd be feeding their rodents cheap-ass dogfood no bigger than they were and the cheap prices they sell them for.

I want my snakes to eat the best food I can get. BCRF is that, or was that until I started raising my own. I don't feed my snakes the equivalent of Kibbles 'n Bits. Sure its cheaper, but it doesn't mean its better. No more snakes than you have, you couldn't go broke just trying BCRF. ;)
 
Thank you all for the responses and input! :cheers:

I think I am going to place an order with each company. I placed an order with The Mouse Factory today and in a few months I will try Big Cheese. After that I will compare and and continue with the one I like best. Both responded promtly and had similar prices for the sizes I needed. I probably will pick up a pack or two of mice for my Ball Pyhon that I will be getting soon at the Hamburg show since he is eating f/t adults now I am sure he will be moving up into the next size meal soon.

Thanks! :wavey:
 
i live in Whittier CA. and have 4 diffrent size snakes so i would need 4 different size mice/rats is there anyone who would want split the cost with me? :shrugs:
 
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