As someone with a decent number of snakes, I’ve been alarmed over the last few years to find my feeding bill going up and up. All those frozen mice and rats, while not expensive on their own, start to add up when you’re buying and feeding in bulk.
In light of this, I recently sat down to try and find the very cheapest supplier of frozen snake food in the UK. Today I’d like to show you my results, in the hope of saving you plenty of money on feeding your snakes!
The process I followed was pretty simple. I carried out searches in Google for suppliers of frozen snake food, and then I jotted down the prices. Every one of the these suppliers operates online, and will ship snake food to your door. In this way it doesn’t matter where you live – you can still benefit from low prices.
The suppliers I decided to compare were:
Personally I feed primarily large weaner rats and jumbo mice to my collection, so this is where I focused my attention. While some suppliers sell these rodents individually, others only sell in bulk packs (such as bags of 10 or even 25). In these cases I divided down the costs to provide the price per rodent.
Reptile keepers with just one snake should therefore note that in order to get these better prices it may be necessary to buy a larger number of frozen rodents.
Also note that these calculations were done over the last couple of months, so prices could have changed in that time.
That said, my research revealed not just the cheapest places to buy snake food in the UK, but also a number of other fascinating discoveries.
Contents
Where to Buy the Cheapest Frozen Mice
The chart below shows the prices charged at the time of writing for jumbo mice from a range of suppliers. I have also worked out the price per unit in the right-hand column.
Jumbo Mice
| Supplier | Multi-Buy | Price Per Mouse |
|---|---|---|
| TSM Pet Supplies | 61p each | 61p each |
| Frozen Rodent | £7.50 for 10, £16.50 for 25 | 66p each |
| Kiezebrink | £14.50 for 25 | 58p each |
| Scales and Fangs | £14.75 for 25 | 59p each |
| Frozen Direct | £7.50 for 10, £15.00 for 25 | 60p each |
| Frozen Mice | £15.00 for 10, £33.00 for 25 | £1.32 each |
| Swell Reptiles | £17.99 for 10, £34.99 for 25 | £1.80 each |
As we can see, the prices vary dramatically! A number of suppliers charge around 60p at present for a jumbo mouse, while some others clock in at more than twice that price! Depending on how much you’re paying right now this means that you could effectively halve the amount of money you spend on frozen snake food just by swapping suppliers!
From the above list, we can see that at the time of writing, the cheapest supplier was Kiezebrink, closely followed by Scales and Fangs, Frozen Direct and TSM.
Where to Buy the Cheapest Frozen Rats
The chart below shows the same range of suppliers, but this time looking at the prices of larger weaner rats. Once again, where suppliers sell in bulk I have broken down the cost for a single weaner.
Large Weaner Rats
| Supplier | Multi-Buy | Price Per Rat |
|---|---|---|
| TSM Pet Supplies | 89p each | 89p each |
| Frozen Rodent | £5.75 for 10, £10.00 for 10 | £1.00 each |
| Kiezebrink | 89p each, £20.50 for 25 | 82p each |
| Scales and Fangs | £11.99 for 10, £24.99 for 25 | £1 each |
| Frozen Direct | £5.75 for 5, £10.00 for 10 | £1 each |
| Frozen Mice | £11.50 for 5, £20.00 for 10 | £2.00 each |
| Swell Reptiles | £13.99 for 5, £22.99 for 10 | £2.30 each |
Once again we see quite a broad range of prices, with some being more than twice the price of others. In this test Kiezebrink once again wins, though with TSM, Scales and Fangs and Frozen Direct close behind.
What is perhaps interesting is that these were the same winners from the last table too.
A Note on Delivery Costs
The above prices don’t take into account delivery charges. The reason is simple; delivery prices vary considerably by the amount of money that you spend. In many cases larger orders are sent free-of-charge, while smaller orders are chargeable.
For this reason I would recommend that you consider buying your snake food in bulk (to save on shipping costs) and when selecting your supplier you also add in the cost of shipping.
Conclusions
The conclusions of this research seem pretty clear. Kiezebrink wins hands down on cost, especially if you’re willing to buy in bulk to save on postage costs.
Almost in line, however, are TSM, Scales and Fangs and Frozen Direct, all of whom should be considered when buying food.
Oddly, Swell Reptiles – who are well-known for their super-low prices on hardware like vivariums and heaters – charge far more than others for frozen food. While I love (and regularly use) Swell for hardware, I will be ordering my snake food elsewhere in the future.
Update: I thought readers might be interested that after carrying out this research a few months ago I have started ordering regularly from Kiezebrink. The service I have received so far has been exceptional, with accurate orders and fast delivery. This, combined with their low prices, mean I strongly recommend you consider a test order with them next time you need snake food.
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