FAQs

1. How do you euthanize your animals?

When the time comes to euthanize our rodents, we use CO2 as a quick and humane method. This is an accepted industry standard. 

Your rodents have received the best food and well water to ensure a happy and healthy feeder!

 

So if you are feeding a corn, king, milk, boa or ball python, bearded dragon, monitor, or any other reptile, amphibian, lizard or bird of prey, you can rest easy that your pet is consuming the best and healthiest frozen Mice & Rats.

 

2. How do you ensure high-quality rodents?

Our rodents are exclusively fed a scientifically formulated rodent diet. Regular examinations and sample product are lab tested.  We check and recheck the internal quality and health of our rodent colony to ensure the health of the rodent are at the highest standards.

We also retain quality with quick freezing and special insulated shipping containers which ensures your pet's food arrives completely frozen ensuring freshness for your pet.

3. What do you feed your mice?

We feed a Mazuri diet.  This feed is scientifically formulated and has a stellar reputation as one of the best rodent diets available and is used in most zoos. We also offer this product to our customers who wish to raise their own live rodents.

4. How long will the rodents last in my freezer?

We ship all our rodents in thick, resealable plastic freezer bags for your convenience. These are sealed with very little air in them to prevent freezer burn. By carefully tightly resealing the freezer bags after each use, the rodents should keep for 12 months or longer.

5. What is the best way to thaw out frozen rodents?

There are a couple of options for thawing frozen feeders:

#1 - Remove the rodents from the packaging and place into its own separate Ziploc bag. Then float the bag of frozen rodents you wish to use into the water. The water should be warm; not burning hot or scalding. Mice will typically thaw in less than hour, while larger rats may take 3+ hours.

#2 - Take your rodents out of the packaging in the morning and put into into the refrigerator to thaw throughout the day. In the evening, the feeders should be thawed and it will only take a short amount of time to warm them using method #1.

Important: Never use the microwave to thaw your frozen rodents.  This will cook the rodent and it will lose valuable nutrients your pet needs.  The rodent could also feel cool to the touch, but be very hot on the inside.  This could hurt your pet.

5. Are your rodent sizes the same as other online sellers or pet shops?

Many times, rodent distributors will vary wildly on the sizes and weights of their rodents that may have the same names as other vendors. This can make comparison difficult. Since we have done this so long, our rodents sizes and weights are used by many other professionals.  However, some will use the name of one size up and sell one size down to increase profit.  We never use this practice.  Our rodents are appropriately sized, weighted and priced.  We tend to send the average of the weight and size spectrum.  In the product description of our rodents, you will find a a range of grams that each individual mouse or rat weighs along with a quarter or a bill for size understanding.

In order to compare prices between companies that sell frozen rodents, it is important that you check the weight listed for each rodent, and then compare prices of products that are of around the same weight. Note what unit of measure is being used; grams are most often employed.

6. Do you also sell live rodents?

Yes! Live rodents must be picked up from our facilities which are located in North East Georgia. Just call or email to set up an appointment time and we will be glad to help you. We also offer our customers the same excellent feed and bedding we use at our facilities.  If you wish to pick up, we require a 24 hour notice and the fastest way to set up an appointment is to text 706-892-6381 with your name, order and day/time you wish to pick up.

Pricing and Payment Questions

1. How much are your rodents? What about group discounts?

We frequently send out codes for sales that we are having.  If you create an account and give us your email, we will send you our sales.  You can opt out of this program. 

We also have what we call "B Grade."  These are rodents that do not meet the visual expectation that most customers want to have.  There is nothing wrong with the health of the rodent and they are just as healthy as our "A Grade" mice.  We only have a small selection of "B Grade" and customers that purchase them are very happy.    

2. "Do you ever have any special sales at MiceDirect?"

If you sign up to receive our newsletter, you will find that to be a very good way to get early notification of up-coming sales and promotions and to stay on top of all the great deals we have to offer you here at MiceDirect.

3. "Is there a minimum amount of rodents that are required to order from your company?"

No, there is no minimum order.  To receive Free S&H, there is a $69 dollar minimum.  If the order falls below this minimum, there is a $29 S&H fee.

4. "Do you accept credit cards? What about personal checks?"

We are pleased to offer several different options for your payment convenience. We accept VISA and MasterCard and we are also registered merchants with PayPal and Braintree. We do not accept C.O.D. and all orders must be paid for in advance. For orders that will be picked up in person at our facilities, please text 706-892-6381 to set up an appointment and to discuss payment options.

5. "What is your guarantee policy?"

Our policy is 100% satisfaction guarantee. We want to earn and keep your business.

When your order arrives, please check it right away and call us at 706-348-7634 or email us a sales@micedirect.com if there are any problems at all with the quality of our products and we will refund 100% of your purchase price. We ship product same day or next day of the order and we ship 5 days a week and packages are delivered 7 days a week.  So please check for your package daily and or employ your Fed Ex tracking number.  The rodents will thaw and ruin if left out beyond the time it takes to ship to your home.

General Rodent, Reptile, and Bird of Prey Questions

1. "Why feed reptiles frozen rodents over live ones?"

Although some people mistakenly believe that live food is better than frozen for their birds of prey and reptiles, frozen rodents are actually the preferred choice of many professional breeders, wildlife re-habilitators, zoos, and hobbyists.

There are several reasons for this:

1. Your pet can be bitten or scratched by a live rodent and your pet will kill anything they wish to eat, as they can not eat a live rodents. 

2. Many prefer frozen rodents because of their convenience (they can be stored easily in large quantities, they are easier and more economical to receive as shipments. 

3. The rodents are humanely euthanized making it easier to handle than a live rodent.

4. It takes away the many drawbacks of either having to maintain a live animal colony or repeatedly go to the pet shop for small numbers of live animals.  Due to this, they end up being a better choice economically.

5. Finally, most importantly and worth repeating...because they are a safer and healthier choice for the animals under their care. Often live prey will fight back and bite or scratch and wound the reptile, and animals caught live or bought from unreliable sources may harbor all sorts of diseases and parasites that could then be transmitted to the bird of prey or reptile that ingested them.

Many people assume that live food will always be better for birds of prey and for reptiles over frozen food because that is what they eat in the wild. However, what some do not take into account is that we have already changed the rules of the game when we bring these animals into captivity and we at that point take on the responsibility for their health and safety. Yes, animals do not eat frozen food in the wild. But neither do they live in cages or man-made habitats, and they can die in the wild from wounds from feisty prey or from parasites and diseases that are transmitted by prey in the wild.

3. "How difficult is it to switch our reptiles from live feeders to frozen feeders?"

First of all, it is crucial to make sure that your frozen feeder is fully thawed. Some people have found it helpful to make sure the rodent is still warm from the warm water rather than totally cooled off. Snakes see with infrared, so they see are attracted to the heat.  The first step is to use a pair of hemostats to dangle the food in front of your pet, moving the food to tease your pet as if it were a live animal.

Very Important:  Never feed your pet with your hand.  They will quickly identify your hand as food and will start to strike at you as you go to pick them up.  Using tongs takes your hand out of the equation making life better your you and your pet.  If that does not work for you, check out our article on "Frozen vs. Live" in our Articles section of our site or give us a email us at sales@micedirect.com and we would be more than happy to assist you in this or in any other area that you may need advice in feeding or caring for your reptiles or birds of prey.

4. "How do I move a reptile from other sources of food to feeding on live rodents?"

One of the best ways we have found to approach this issue is to take the food you normally feed to your pet and rub it's scent on the rodent. Often that is enough to convince the predator that the rodent is good prey. If that is not effective, you may get some other ideas by reading the article on "Frozen vs. Live" in our Articles section of our site (from "Feeding Pre-killed vs. Live Prey" by Melissa Kaplan) or you can give us at 706-348-7634 or email us at sales@micedirect.com and we would be more than happy to share our experience as real rodent pros and assist you in this or in any other area that you may need advice regarding feeding or caring for your reptiles or birds of prey.

Web Site Questions

1. "How do I find what I am looking for on your web site?"

When you are at our site, you will see links or section titles on the top of our page that will take you to the various parts of our site. Just click on Mice, Rats, Chicks or B Grade to go to that section. Every page has a menu of links on it to guide you.

2. "Is ordering online with MiceDirect secure?"

Our shopping cart is very secure and is certified through our host provider Powweb, by Equifax Secure Certificate Authority. We have a SSL certificate making our site secure.  When you are using our shopping cart, as well as any other secure site on the web, you will know it is secure when you see a lock icon in the bottom right of your screen or notice that the url path changes from the normal http:// to https:// (the "s" stands for secure). To view the certification, double click on the lock icon.

However, if for any reason you would prefer not to order your shipment online, please feel free to give us a call at 706-348-7634 and we would be happy to take your order by phone instead.

3. "Does MiceDirect ever give or sell my personal information to other companies?"

No, we value our customer's right to privacy and security and we will never sell or give away your information to a third party for any reason except for shipping purposes (Fed Ex or UPS) For more information about our policies and how we use your personal information, please take a look at our policies in our "Privacy Notice" section.