Here’s an import tracking site with a bill of lading for a full container of rodents coming from China for Rodent Pro.
Here’s one for Layne Labs
7 Likes
Thank you for this info.
5 Likes
So after further digging I was able to find that 4 of our largest suppliers in the US and one in Canada all supplement their production. There are more companies doing it without a doubt. As Jess mentioned it appears ARS is one of them. There are ways to hide your company name on imports, and anyone can go on Alibaba and order from these huge Chinese companies as long as you order a $2000 minimum.
Layne labs appears to import the most, with big cheese and rodent pro right behind them. Keep in mind these are all Chinese imports. Vietnam is also an exporter of feeder rodents. Most of the companies listed below not only order from China, they split their business between all 3 of the major suppliers there.
It is worth noting that multiple people have told me that Layne claims they import lab rodents only and don’t sell them as feeders. I’m curious what application labs would have for millions of frozen rodents?
USA
Rodent Pro
The Animal Works (Big Cheese)
American Rodent Supply
Layne Labs
Canada
MRS Imporium
7 Likes
Interesting info! I had no idea so much was being imported from China. I have to wonder what type of conditions those rats are being raised in and what their nutrition/feed looks like.
I’m glad I produce my own feeder rodents!
6 Likes
Yep, my thoughts exactly!
5 Likes
Big same. I am thinking that this might explain some of the uneven quality I’ve seen in the past year. Not that this this process just began, I understand that it’s been going on for a while. But there have been some very odd things, qualitatively, this past year.
6 Likes
The amount we should be paying to china for rodents, tariff or no tarifff = $0.00
Products from there sold in USA are required to state “Made In china” so why are their rodents exempt?
Food for sale in USA (fruit, seafood, etc) is required to state country of origin. The same should be required of reptile food.
RodentPro, BigCheese, LayneLabs, etc, should be required to disclose country of origin on all of their products. Until then, we should all be asking for that information prior to purchase.
6 Likes
In the case of feeder rodents, yes we should be aware that they aren’t all bred on site by the company and that they use other breeders to source from. Mice on Ice had a big issue with Salmonella a long time ago because of one of the suppliers. Trying to weed out which one can be difficult.
Do remember though that many of the items sold in the US are still labeled as Made in the USA, even if the materials came from other countries. As long as it’s manufactured in the US you can get away with it.
We get most of our steel from Canada. Most of our new Aluminum is supplied by China, the US mostly handles Aluminum by recycling it.
I just think it’s naive to believe that Made in the USA is the case unless the company can state all materials are sourced in the US.
5 Likes
This is a good idea. Items truly sourced and made in the USA should be labeled as such……
5 Likes
I agree, and this has long been my default position. Yet I still find myself surprised by the fact of so many feeders being imported with zero obvious indication of that to average, normal consumers. I can’t help but think this explains some of the issues I’ve had with inconsistent weights on feeders I ordered this season.
I notice that Perfect Prey’s website states, “Frozen Feeder Rodents. Born and Raised in America. Never imported.”
6 Likes
While I’d love to trust this and hold them to it, we’re still going on company word alone, and that doesn’t mean much when you look at what we’ve already got.
Layne Labs insists all their animals are produced at their Arroyo Grande, California facility. RodentPro says their animals are all farmed in and around Evansville, Indiana. Big Cheese claims production in Fort Worth and Azle, Texas.
We absolutely need to know this information to be able to make solid decisions for ourselves and our animals, honestly I’m surprised it’s not a violation of some sort of regulation to not have country of origin on a product meant for consumption by animals.
7 Likes
Maybe our animals/pets are not considered important enough?…….
3 Likes
It’s not necessarily that, laws and regulations actually do exist regarding the labeling of pet foods. It’s more a question of what classification is given to frozen rodents and the animals that consume them, and if that makes them subject to country of origin or other labeling requirements.
4 Likes
There was an article going around a little bit ago about glucosamine and B vitamins in most dog foods is from China.
And just like with human supplements, the company may be in the US and the product is manufactured here…but the company can have sources outside of the US .
AAFCO has some great guidelines and places to start… But they haven’t really even figured out what to do after the corn recall in 2007.
4 Likes
“bred on site”… dude they’re not even bred in this COUNTRY
“they use other breeders” they use breeders who have very, very different ethics than we do and who feed them absolute garbage — what we put into our feeders is ultimately what we put into our reptiles
“Trying to weed out which one can be difficult.” that’s right, so weed them ALL out! you bring in rodents from china we don’t but from you; let the market fix this problem… ask yourself this: do you think if these companies were required to state that the rodents they are selling are from china - do you think they would sell any? this is Deceptive , it is DECEPTIVE what they are doing
“materials came from other countries. As long as it’s manufactured in the US you can get away with it.” you are tiptoeing around this issue, the Entire rodent comes from china, the entire rodent is Manufactured in china… … .
2 Likes
@macropodus I would be careful as you are beginning to sound a bit xenophobic.
Do I agree with the practices? No.
But I also breed my own feeders in house. I have no problems with MY rodents. So don’t act like everyone here on a public and global platform is supporting a country that you personally have issue with.
7 Likes
Seems RodentPro may actually be trying to deal with the labeling issues. Just looked closely at the new branded bags in my recent order and found this information:
5 Likes
I’m not sure that’s entirely true, because my cat food stamps the country of origin on it just like human food.
It might just be that pets who need to eat whole rodents are still considered “niche” enough that the same regulations just haven’t been put in place for them? 
I’m pretty much just talking out of my butt, though. I don’t really know how this stuff works.
4 Likes
Exotic pets in general just are kind of a big ?? for a lot of regulations… Which is why following USARK for updates in the US is important…
I hope that it eventually gets figured out for large scale commercial breeders at least… Including for feeder animals. And then there’s the feeder goldfish… Ugh. Such a disappointment.
Working at a big box pet shop, I ended up with ‘parrot fever’. But things didn’t really get serious for the breeder/supplier until a rival pet shop using the same supplier had a child die from rat bite fever after purchasing a pet. I honestly don’t think much even happened after that. Shrug
Edit because I forgot…
The new packaging for RodentPro is interesting! I haven’t ordered in over 3 years now but when I last did it was just sharpie writing on the bag for sizes. I like that change
6 Likes
I found it especially interesting as it wasn’t every bag in my order, some still have the old handwritten minimal lot number & type. This is actually the second packaging change I’ve noticed in my recent orders, as I believe it was the one right before this that had the mouse type printed on the bag, I’ll see if I still have one yet.
Edit:
5 Likes