Your food bill!

[carpondro17]

Ok well Brad go me thinking alot of you guys have alot of snakes/animals and well I was wondering how much so you pay weekly or monthly for your reptiles?
I spend anywhere from 20-30$ a week on mice,rats,super worms,crickets...
I am trying to get some frozen feeders soon, so that should take a little while.
I am also trying to build up a roach colony for my bt and future monitors... I like Hissers and lobster roaches the most so I will prolly be getting one of thoes type of roaches. Then when my bt gets big enought I will be buying quail and chicks... So theirs a whole list of what I got what do you buy for feeders?

[Joel]

Rats, rabbits, chickens, and ducks. It's about $250.00 a month.

[SnakeGirl]

I generally spend $20-25 a week (depending on who's ovulating and not eating ;)) on mice and rats.

[The Snake Guru]

LOL...think I'm sitting around $300/month....though some of the cost is asorbed because I catch some feeders, and my father-in-law does rabbits for me.

~B~

[carpondro17]

Wow looks like im paying way too much! lol
I prolly pay around 80-120$ a month for not that much food.
Im gonna try to breed some of my own food but the mice and rats just stink!
I think roaches will be easy! I have no need to breed rabbits so thats why I dont get em lol

[lorenmps]

pigs, rabbits, rats and mice..... probably around $120 twice a month :(

But it keeps them off of me ;)

[Aj_Balls]

I only feed twice a month. Unless I have rodents breeding, then they get fed a lot more. But no rodent breeding at the moment. I usually spend about $30-$50 every other week to feed.

[Juggalo]

$250-$350 a month depending on what our rabbit guy has...

[bebo]

I breed rats, though still purchase some as well. But it runs me $40-$50 a week for shavings and feed for the rats. Rabbit wise, I typically pick up about every 3 weeks, and spend $100-$200 each time. But like Sam said, it can depend what my supplier has. I can laod up and go through one pound'ers like nothing,lmfao.

[carpondro17]

LOL
Man Rabbits are very popular in the reptile world lol
When I get around to my yellow anacondas and other big snakes then ill prolly have to pick up some rabbits.

[mimigwen]

Wow looks like im paying way too much! lol
I prolly pay around 80-120$ a month for not that much food.
Im gonna try to breed some of my own food but the mice and rats just stink!
I think roaches will be easy! I have no need to breed rabbits so thats why I dont get em lol

Lance,

Roaches are way easy. I can vouch for them, and soon you can ask Brad!

Mary

[Reddevil95128]

I do a little bit of everything I guess I have a colony of both mice and rats here and will most likely be braking up the rat colony into 2 rat colonys food to keep them going i probly spend about 10-15 bucks every 6-8 weeks I keep guinea pigs and currently thinking about breeding those for feeders too I also buy frozen bulk from rodent pro I love rodent pro ive never been disappointed with what I get from them to feed my colubrids right now it probly costs me about 600 a year to feed them as for my monitor I order quail and ill be ordering chicks for him soon via rodent pro again I normaly wait till stuff goes on HOT deals on there site then ill stock up on quail and chicks so probly spend less then 100 for a few months supply food for him I also dont mind filling up extra box space with rats while shopping on rodent pro so that helps I never do seem to have enough rats here lol

[kahunadog]

I have 4 burm and 5 boas. Here is my break down on food cost from the first of the year to present. I can break it down per animal if it will help you out a little more. I buy all my feeders from rodent pro. I have an advantage in the fact that I can drive 45 min once a month to a show rodent pro goes to. When I move to NC I will have to pay the shipping which is about 3/4 the price of the order. So $100.00 order cost $175.00 after shipping


Food cost for date range: 1/1/2008 to 5/17/2008

Prey Item - # of prey items - Total cost

Chicks Small Totals: 18 $8.10

hamster Totals: 2 $0.34

Mouse Live Totals: 3 $4.50

Mouse Medium Totals: 6 $1.98

Rabbit Totals: 3 $9.00

Rat Large Totals: 25 $35.75

Rat Medium Totals: 33 $36.22

Rat Pink Totals: 34 $11.93

Rat Pup Totals: 8 $6.21

Rat Small Totals: 52 $41.92

Rat Weaned Totals: 37 $25.24

Grand Total: 221 $181.19

[TailsWithScales]

I spend anywhere from $200 - $300 per month on food. :eek: Mainly the monitors take that up especially the biggins. :D I don't keep anything small so it's all rats and rabbits.

[herpivore]

I raise my own mice/rats/rabbits/mealworms for my snakes & leopard geckos. I probably spend about $75 a month on rodent blocks, rabbit pellets, and bran for the mealworms. I buy crickets once a week for a dollar or two. I don't keep track of water usage or electricity *shrug* Every once in a while, I'll buy frozen or stock up on live baby bunnies for $50-100 or so, depending on what's available, but that's every 2-3 months or more.

[burmlover16]

i feed my small guys every week and my bigger guys every two weeks but sometimes when one doesn't eat they get extra. exluding my lizards i get rabbits, mice and rats. all diff sizes but since i only have two that eat rabbits i gotta a pretty cheap bill. only about $120 every 3 months. but it varys on what all i get. i feed all frozen. live feeders can get expensive :)

[Tigertic]

My food bill for the next 12 months will be around 1,500 bucks or 125 a month:D My supplier has some 20+pound pigs and goats that I can't wait to start buying when my retics get big enough.

[Jess]

Well,
Since I live In BFE,,LOL
I can't bare to share what it cost me. But, I have beat you all so far:scared::scared::(
If I have to guess. A Good, $2000.00 a year
Jess

[Elvia]

Monitor's food, Monty's and the BCI boa is prob 200 a month. I like to stock:D:D

[carpondro17]

What I found out is I cannot order roaches!! They arent allowed to ship to Florida I am soo pissed! I was gonna order 100 hissers for my BT and it turned out I cannot get ahold of them! Other then that I orderd my first order from rodent pro a couple of days ago it should arrive around thurday. So it should be around 150$ every 2 months.

[TailsWithScales]

I was gonna order 100 hissers for my BT and it turned out I cannot get ahold of them!

At this point your monitor shouldn't need roaches anymore. Rats or jumbo mice. There isn't a whole lot of nutritional value in bugs for your monitor at this age.

[carpondro17]

At this point your monitor shouldn't need roaches anymore. Rats or jumbo mice. There isn't a whole lot of nutritional value in bugs for your monitor at this age.

I feed him 3 hoppers this morning. He still accepts crickets and super worms. Hes around 2 ft now should I stop feeding him bugs and just feed him every other day mice and rats?

[TailsWithScales]

Hes around 2 ft now should I stop feeding him bugs and just feed him every other day mice and rats?

Keep him on the 3 hoppers or one mouse /rat per day for now. When he /she is about 12 - 15 months old then you can change to the every other day feeding cycle unless you notice that it's starting to get chunky and that it's belly gets up long after it does. :D

[Jasonisgolden]

i go thru about 80 a week. when mine i hungry they get to eat. like most others it all depends on the supply of rabbits

[kahunadog]

What I found out is I cannot order roaches!! They arent allowed to ship to Florida I am soo pissed!

Have them sent to a friend who can forward them to you:D

[Richard_G]

When I run out of feeders I end up spending 150 a week for mice and rats. But when I order I spend between 5 and 600 but that will usually feed for 3 to 5 months right now I only spend about 10 a month on rabbits but that should triple by the end of the year.

[carpondro17]

Have them sent to a friend who can forward them to you:D
Hmmm Intresting!:D

When I run out of feeders I end up spending 150 a week for mice and rats. But when I order I spend between 5 and 600 but that will usually feed for 3 to 5 months right now I only spend about 10 a month on rabbits but that should triple by the end of the year.
What do you have?
Do you order forzen food or live?

[Reddevil95128]

I still use roaches for my monitor even passed 2ft I like using a variety of lean whole prey items I use hissers,chicks,quail,and crayfish I use different types of fish too from adult convicts I raise myself ( they relish them ) to trout, fresh water salmon,tilapia they also relish large aquatic snails I raise in my fish tanks I do feed my monitor left over rodents if a snake refuses but other then that Ill only give him them every now and then my monitor is a semi aquatic species but any monitor should do well on a variety of lean wholeprey items

[Medusa]

We figured it out. 4 small rats for the 4 biggest snakes. 4-5 mice apiece for the smaller two snakes. But we're pretty sure Kaa is big enough for a small rat so next time he'll get a rat instead of the mice. About $40 each time. Since the balls will not eat frozen/thawed we have to buy live. We have gotten them all used to stunned mice/rats so I feel much better about that.

[Richard_G]

Hmmm Intresting!:D


What do you have?
Do you order forzen food or live?

I have 30 something Lampropeltis and a couple of young burms but I feed small/medium meals twice a week. I order frozen from rodent pro but I have a bad habit of waiting until I run out before restocking. Unfortunatly the only place we have close by to buy feeders is pet co.

[RhinoFangs]

Our snakes eat 4 times a month but the two female burms eat 2 times a month. It costs us about $150 every three months. The 4 lizards cost about $20 to $40 a month roughly.
And the dog about 30 a month. Keeps all of them happy though.

[Jasonisgolden]

You should keep your BT on roaches and crickets as long as he will take them. they provide more than rodents do as far as vitamins. Deff dont stop feeding rodents once and a while because the boy needs to eat and im sure you would get sick of crackers everyday and not allowed to have any steak. The insects also provide exersise for him. It doesnt take much for a 2 foot monitor to take down a rat. Once he kills and eats it he is back to sitting there. crickets especially will provide a chase for him for at least a couple of mins...plus its fun to watch him chase them down. they also like hard boiled eggs once a while, shell and all. I boil them and crush it loosely in my hand then give it to mine.

[carpondro17]

I have 30 something Lampropeltis and a couple of young burms but I feed small/medium meals twice a week. I order frozen from rodent pro but I have a bad habit of waiting until I run out before restocking. Unfortunatly the only place we have close by to buy feeders is pet co.

I thought about buying frozen food from petco but I dont really like them. Once I remember I went to one around my aunts house and they had a sav in a 10 gal and that sav looked pretty big. They had more stuff that I dident like too soo I dont really support them.

Our snakes eat 4 times a month but the two female burms eat 2 times a month. It costs us about $150 every three months. The 4 lizards cost about $20 to $40 a month roughly.
And the dog about 30 a month. Keeps all of them happy though.
Looks like you have a good source!
My freezer is pretty small so I guess when I get into my anacondas and big snakes I will have to get a bigger freezer for the rabbits and bigger food. I've also thought about pigs too but ive heard bad things about them.

You should keep your BT on roaches and crickets as long as he will take them. they provide more than rodents do as far as vitamins. Deff dont stop feeding rodents once and a while because the boy needs to eat and im sure you would get sick of crackers everyday and not allowed to have any steak. The insects also provide exersise for him. It doesnt take much for a 2 foot monitor to take down a rat. Once he kills and eats it he is back to sitting there. crickets especially will provide a chase for him for at least a couple of mins...plus its fun to watch him chase them down. they also like hard boiled eggs once a while, shell and all. I boil them and crush it loosely in my hand then give it to mine.

Well I bought 50 crickets the other day he ate more then half then their was the rest in his cage wondering around and it took him a week to get em all but it looks like hes starting to ingnore them. Now im feeding him everday 2 quail and one hopper or 2 hoppers and 1 quail.
I still need to find out how I can get my roaches.

[Juggalo]

I still need to find out how I can get my roaches.

http://www.myreptileplanet.com/showthread.php?t=4727

[carpondro17]

Im still thinking about buying roaches or not.

[TailsWithScales]

Im still thinking about buying roaches or not.

Roaches are very good for monitors. Especially your BT. But at it's size you would need the big hissers or just not fuss with them at all. Once they get passed a certain age they do not absorb as much nutrition from them.

[carpondro17]

Yes that was the thing I wanted to get hissers cuz they were the biggest. But what am I going to do when I have a breeding colony of roaches and my BT doesnt need them anymore. I think if I were to get a black headed monitor or an ackie or some sort of dwarf monitor they would LOVE roaches. But again im still not 100% on this.

[d_halloff]

I have 30 something Lampropeltis and a couple of young burms but I feed small/medium meals twice a week. I order frozen from rodent pro but I have a bad habit of waiting until I run out before restocking. Unfortunatly the only place we have close by to buy feeders is pet co.

Pet co is a horrible place. I have worked at pet stores, pet hutch in my home town and Pet Expo right now here in Mankato. I went there once and the have rats in ten gallons with nothing to hold the tops down, dead hamsters and a two foot water dragon in a little ten gallon sized tank. They are not a place I would recommend.