Mice in bulk?

Starting some time around September we will have the freezer space to keep some mice in bulk at last. We only have a ball python that eating large mice and then a corn snake that is eating small mice. They eat weekly and I do not want to get tons and tons of mice so they get freezer burned or whatever. But we are sick of paying petsmart prices for mice. So what companies do you people use and can you give me any suggestions for someone that has not bought mice in bulk before.

I used Layne Labs for my last order, and was very happy with the quality of the mice. They will do smaller quantities, too, which is nice for people who only have a couple snakes to feed, or growing snakes who will need to move up in size before long, like your ball python. Here's their website: http://www.laynelabs.com/

Just be sure to look at the weight of their different feeder sizes, as some are different than you would find elsewhere. (This is true for any company, just especially true for Layne Labs.) For example, their small mice are about what other companies would call large hoppers/weanlings. If your corn is on "small" adult mice, you'll probably want to order mediums or larges, and for a ball python on "large" adult mice, you'll probably aim for the jumbos (and/or, if you wish to switch him to rats now and save the trouble when he's big enough to eat 4 mice in a sitting, rat weanlings).

Hope this helps.

EDIT: I almost forgot, in case you hadn't already thought of it (though you probably have). To make the shipping worth it, you should try to order at least a few months' worth in advance. Mice should last in the average freezer for around 6 months before you have to start worrying about freezer burn. Longer if they're vacuum packed and/or stored in a chest freezer. My last Layne Labs order is at 9 months in a normal freezer with no signs of freezer burn on the remaining mice.

Thank you for your reply. I am checking them out now. The smaller amounts looks very nice. It will be nice to go from like $10 a month to feed the ball python down to about $35 per year. Talk about a difference.

No kidding! It would be completely infeasible to have more than just a couple small snakes if it weren't for the availability of bulk. I'm currently sitting at 27 snakes ranging from tiny new corn snake hatchlings to an adult Woma python. Pet store rodent prices are NOT an option, lol!

I had not heard of a Woma python before so I Googled it. Pretty snake but wow the site I landed on sold one for $1,600 and one for $1,800. If your eggs hatch you could go out and but a cheep car. But the wife really liked the looks of them too.

Wow, I wonder what site you ended up on? Hatchling Womas tend to go for around $200-250 these days, at least from what I've seen. Their close relative, the Black-headed Python, is the one that goes for $1000 or more. (And goodness are they impressive, stunning snakes--A BHP is at the top of my "if I win the lottery" wishlist!)

Womas are excellent snakes. Very laid back and docile when being handled, but active in their enclosures. Excellent appetites, which is always nice! Great personalities on a gorgeous snake. Perfect size, too--they're slender by python standards, but still decently heavy-bodied, and tend to get around 5-6 ft. My male is 5 ft and around 2200 grams (about 5 lbs). He's fantastic. (And, yes, I have been exceptionally tempted to get a female for him. Lol!)

I went to my local small pet shop and bought 10 weeks in one go - chances are he'll have grown out of them by my next order. My guy gives me a discount for buying in bulk and i can get further discounts if i 'subscribe' (i can change the order size whenever).

I go to the reptile expo's and buy in bulk there, saves on shipping prices!

ashleyelsha":gwytlysk said:

I go to the reptile expo's and buy in bulk there, saves on shipping prices!

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Good idea. However if I did that I would save on shipping but spend at least 3 times the amount on some new animal for sure.

daddyburgi":z7uuqy65 said:

ashleyelsha":z7uuqy65 said:

I go to the reptile expo's and buy in bulk there, saves on shipping prices!

Click to expand...

Good idea. However if I did that I would save on shipping but spend at least 3 times the amount on some new animal for sure.

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he he, yeah I bought another snake and my bearded dragon at the last expo. Unfortunately we aren't going to make it to the one this saturday, but we will go to the next one.

I just wanted to update this post with another thank you. We now have our deep freezer and it is running in the garage. Within the next couple of days we will be ordering our first bulk mouse order. It sure will save money over buying the Arctic mice at petsmart. I think for our first orders we are not going to go to awful big. Maybe around 25 mice for each snake so 50 in total. It will be very nice to know that we always have mice on hand and so forth. This is something we have been wanting to do for quite some time. But with only having the freezer on the fridge it was just not something we could really do. I will update this again when we have the mice to give my review for anyone who is interested.