Pinky prices

[EasternGirl]

Did anyone notice the bulk pinky prices going up? When I ordered before from RodentPro and MiceDirect, a bag of 100 pinks was $16...plus shipping. The order total usually came out to $60 with shipping. Now, RodentPro wants $40 for a bag of 100, and MiceDirect wants $25. The shipping makes it come out to $85 with RP and $70 with MD. That is a lot of money when you have none.

[guidofatherof5]

Prices went up after the mouse virus that occurred with one of the breeders.

[Steveo]

I think there's a bit of a shortage. Layne Labs doesn't have any of their mice sizes available in quantities larger than 100. Anything above fuzzies are only available in groups of 50.

[RedSidedSPR]

Crap.

[twgrosmick]

American Rodent Supply has them pretty cheap but again it is hard to get them right now. Talk to Jason. He might know when they will be getting some in

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Mice prices over here haven't changed.

[BUSHSNAKE]

Suckers!!!! Haha....im just kidding...i raise my own i spend pennies compared to you guys and have a constant supply:p

[kueluck]

Guess I'll be picking up some pinkies at the ReptiCon in W-S to save on shipping.

[RedSidedSPR]

I would. But I never get to go the damn things


Suckers!!!! Haha....im just kidding...i raise my own i spend pennies compared to you guys and have a constant supply:p

I'm very close to doing so myself.

[Invisible Snake]

I think the prices may even go up more within the next few months..

[ConcinusMan]

Prices went up after the mouse virus that occurred with one of the breeders.

That's what I was going to say. They lost millions. Guess who pays for it?

Also, fuel prices go up. everything goes up, like shipping. Hurricane Sandy is going to also make things go up. Everything goes up except wages, that is.

[guidofatherof5]

I think this was the culprit.

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphocytic_choriomeningitis)

[Steveo]

I just ran out of mouse pinkies last night. Thought I had another bag of 100 in the freezer, but no. I still have about 80 rat pinkies that I could cut up, but I might go to guppies and worms for a while. At present I'm going through about 100 pinkies a month for just 6 2012 garters.

I'm not doing any breeding next year, so that helps. I think I'll start producing my own pinkies before I do any breeding.

[Lisa4john]

Are there any companies you need to avoid cuz of quality/health issues? I noticed that shipping has a huge swing from one site to another and I just wanted to make sure it is not cuz they are selling garbage. Thanks.

[guidofatherof5]

I use and trust Mice Direct.

[Lisa4john]

Ok thanks :)

[ConcinusMan]

At present I'm going through about 100 pinkies a month for just 6 2012 garters.

Seems rather excessive. Especially given that they are so young. Either that or you are using extremely tiny pinkies. I certainly couldn't afford to do that and it's not really necessary. One or two pinky meals a month is plenty. Worms and fish the rest of the time. Also, very economical is chicken liver and/or thigh meat. As long as it's not treated with anything (most of it isn't) you can give them a few meals each month of that too. I know radixes just love the stuff.

[thamneil]

Richard, I have been curious in regards to feeding meat and organ meat. How often do you feed them with this and do they take it readily?

[Steveo]

Seems rather excessive. Especially given that they are so young. Either that or you are using extremely tiny pinkies. I certainly couldn't afford to do that and it's not really necessary. One or two pinky meals a month is plenty. Worms and fish the rest of the time. Also, very economical is chicken liver and/or thigh meat. As long as it's not treated with anything (most of it isn't) you can give them a few meals each month of that too. I know radixes just love the stuff.

They are rather small pinkies. I get them from Layne Labs. Each snake gets 2 every 3-4 days. They're up to ~18" now. I have some guppies I can feed but not nearly enough for a steady supply. Nightcrawlers are not that easy to get - the only place I have found them is Walmart, and they don't order more until they sell out, no matter how old they are. It's usually a couple months between orders.


I'll have to try chicken parts. There are some hippie organic grocers around with their own meat rooms, so getting innards should be pretty easy.

[ConcinusMan]

Richard, I have been curious in regards to feeding meat and organ meat. How often do you feed them with this and do they take it readily?

I've done it from time to time basically when I was just strapped for cash and/or couldn't get pinkies. Can't feed them cheap tilapia fillet forever and I buy tubs of chicken liver (about 2 dollars a pound) /thighs anyway for myself. Just went through the freezer one day and decided I would give it a try. My snow/albino radixes, and checkereds accepted both liver and thigh meat readily. It was hit and miss with the concinnus' and the northwesterns wouldn't touch it. Anyway, they seemed to like it and it seems to me like it would be good for them too. In fact, one treatment I've heard for early stage thiamine deficiency is to feed them liver, supplemented with the vitamin. And garters do eat birds in the wild. Why not chicken thigh muscle. Just make sure it's all natural. No salt water, preservatives, etc. and get the meat from inside the muscle, not the surface. I'm sure all kinds of chicken organs would be good for them if they'll eat it. It's certainly cheap enough too.

It's just a way to save money on the pinkies while also not giving them just fish and worms.

[thamneil]

Sounds like a good way to vary it up. I'll have to give it a try.

[ConcinusMan]

Peel the skin off and rinse thighs thoroughly while they're whole. Take the meat from below the surface. This will eliminate the chance of trace amounts of cetylpyridinium chloride that may, or may not be present. It's a disinfectant sometimes used on the surface of poultry to reduce salmonella and other microbes. It's not used on organs. Organs are just ripped out and packaged. Nothing added. Should be fine.