Frequently asked questions

Do you sell live feeders?

It is a widely debated topic in the herpetology community: Live or Frozen prey? We side with the latter 99% of the time. In addition to the possibility of your snake being seriously hurt or killed by the prey, the rodent may be killed and not consumed. We are animal lovers at heart, knowing one of our rodents could be killed and not consumed is wasting a precious life.

We know some frozen prey may not be consumed. But herp keepers have the ability to offer it multiple times, if proper food safety procedures are taken.

We do provide live feeders to experienced snake keepers on a case by case basis. Please contact with further questions.

Do you ship your products?

Currently, no. We do offer delivery to most of Wisconsin and the surrounding states. Pick-up is available in Montello, WI and at some Mid-West reptile expos.

What are your delivery fees?

The short answer, "It depends".

We like to keep delivery fees as close to nothing as possible, and take into account many factors when pricing. Order size, frequency, location and notice before delivery date are all taken into consideration. Contact us if you would like a quote on delivery.

You have 3X-Large rats on your pricing, but never seem to have any in stock.

This size takes quite a while to grow-out. We breed a large line of rats, specifically to be able to offer this size to you. We can place you on our waiting list to be notified as soon as we have them in stock.

How does your waiting list work?

The waiting list is first come first serve style. You will be notified once we have the rats ready for pick-up or delivery and you can always message us for size progress or an updated ETA. If your rats are ready and you cannot make arrangements for delivery after 7 days, they are offered to the next person on the list for that size.

Why do you primarily sell rats?

Rats are one of the most nutritionally complete whole prey feeders for your snake(s). Rat breeding started as a way to feed our collection and we haven't looked back. We have started a line of mice and rabbits, they are producing, but at a slower rate than our rats. These new additions allow us to accommodate the animals with more specific size requirements and dietary needs.

Some of the rats I bought have a yellow color on their coat. Are they dirty?

No, each of our feeders bedding is check daily, if not twice. We change bedding often to insure the cleanest animals possible. We use a flaked wood bedding and wood pellet combination that has been know to tint their fur. Our bedding is all natural, chemical free and the color does not impact the health of the rodent or your pet. Each rat is "spot cleaned" and quality checked before final packaging.

Our feeders are fed a well balanced nutritionally complete diet. We also give them "treats" like fresh vegetables, grains, cooked eggs and pasta. Depending on the season produced, and the given blend of food and bedding; the color may be more or less noticeable.

What is your 'Only Fresh' mentality.

Some breeders don't believe it matters how a feeder dies, and will freeze them for sale to their customers without knowing the cause of death. This is common among pet rodent breeders as they feel they can still make money selling it as a feeder. However, there are many things wrong with this practice. When an animal dies without cause, there can be an extended period of time when the feeder can start decomposing before being frozen. The animal may look fine on the outside but could have become rancid inside. Not to mention there is still a underlying cause of death.

We do not sell any animals we have not euthanized personally. No sick animals will ever be sold to a customer. All feeders are to be frozen after euthanasia as quickly as possible. All feeders are stored at <32°F before a customer takes delivery.

At shows, we utilize size and weight accurate representations of our rodents to allow customers to get a sense of our sizing. Taking rodents out of a frozen environment as little as possible is our goal with this practice.

Why do some of the rats have holes in their ears, but not others?

We use ear tags on our breeders to monitor multiple factors. These ear tags are small metal clips that are removed after we retire the rat from the breeder program. These rats still fall under our 'Only Fresh' mentality.

Why do you ear tag? / Why do you use lot codes?

In order to track our rats we ear tag each breeder. This process is used in laboratories around the globe to monitor and keep track of specific rodents. We use these tag to monitor births, ensure we are not inbreeding and track individual rats health.

We use this information to supply a lot code with all orders. If for any reason you have an issue with a particular rat please let us know what their lot code is.

Rarely some pets may not eat a feeder with a certain "musk". Please contact us with the lot code and we will ensure you do not receive any more from that pool of breeders going forward.