Price of frozen vs live

[jncoclub]

I went to get frozen rats from a pet store and they were more expensive than live. I questioned the reasoning behind this and the workers didn’t have any response for me. My understanding is that live should be more expensive because you should be paying extra for the fact that the shop needs to feed, house, temp regulate, clean, supply, have more space for live. With frozen you should be paying for the morgue space and temp.

Do you agree or disagree with me?

:medfrown:

[burmer]

Yeah that is a little strange. The store I get my rodents is cheaper on frozens. It works out ok though. A small rat is $2 for live and $1.50 frozen.

[reptilez]

The stores around me are all the same. Live is the same price as dead.

[Lisa]

basicly the store is going to try to make a profit on them. you have the cost of feeding them (rat food isn't expensive) or the cost of keeping them frozen plus what ever they pay for the rats

[elevation24]

It's the same price for frozen or live where I get them from. I was a little surprised and thought that a live animal should be more expensive than a dead/frozen one, even if just a little bit, but then I wonder if maybe it's because of the cost of keeping the frozen ones frozen is higher than it is to keep them alive in tanks.

Plus, when people go and buy a live rodent, there's a good chance it will be kept as a pet. And if it's a first pet, there's a good chance those same people will also purchase an enclosure, bedding, a water bottle or bowl, food, etc., etc., etc.! So they are most likely making more money off of the live rodents as it is, and don't need to charge a higher price.

[Big Mike]

You are missing one of the benifits of feeding frozen...buying in bulk. There are some good rodent supply companies/websites that will ship you frozen feeders at great prices. The more you buy, the cheaper they are.

Plus you won't have to go back to the evil pet store.

[drewlowe]

yep i buy mine off a breeder no stores to go to and i know i'm buying quality mice off this person. I pay no more than 45 cents for an adult mouse. frozen or live. and 30 cents for a pinkie. In a pet store i would pay 1.00 - 2.00 depending on size and what store i go to.

On a side note i went last night to pick up my order and they didn't have any adult mice ready so i got to watch him gas them. First experince kinda neat. They also had a black rat snake break in (lol) and it ate 5 mice and killed 11. They offered the snake to me but i'm so unlucky i have no extra space.

[jncoclub]

One small frozen rat was $2.99!!
I would buy in bulk except I need to find new homes for my girls (4 snakes) within about a month's time. No need to buy that many. When I asked the workers they really didn;t know. I think they were thinking that I was right- but none were going to speak up.

[reverendsterlin]

The place I get frozen charges the same for live, but they will not ship live. Price right now on jumbo rats $1.25 when you purchase 30+. Factor shipping in and you find your spending a bit more. I'm ordering 550 mice, paying $303.00 but 20%($60) is shipping so it's about 0.56 each. I could never afford the $1.59 per mouse at the pet store, 303.00 vs. 875.00(plus gas and time).