Australia's Science Forum

Is dissecting a rat really necessary for that unit? Like you say it is a lot of money (and dead rats!). I hope we aren't going to have to do it!

We did frozen rats, but only once due to an unpleasant smell and yukky liquid. Now we only do preserved. (and I did suss out disposal and southern biol said to bin them was ok) So I'd be interested to hear what the smell is like Satu11..... and if they end up in landfill....do rats eat rats????

I spoke to our year 9 teacher who plans the work programme and we are just doing the hearts we got from Dissection Connection so that is good news. She did threaten to do it next year but I think she was joking!

I can vouch for Pices Enterprices Frozen feeders- check their website. They deliver from Brisbane great service cheap prices. The toads are always a hassle we collect them when the weather warms up- it has been unseasonable cold here in SE Qld so the toads are keeping a low profile.

A few years ago when I worked at Tafe, the local National Parks staff would bring in eskys full of cane toads. They would GIVE them to us to dissect. Only problem was, the toads weren't quite dead - they had been soaked in Dettol or Pine-O-Cleen or something, and were "subdued". I would put them in the freezer for a few days and then take them out the day prior to a dissection. A couple of students even put their toads in the microwave to help with the defrosting, but they forgot to turn the dial to defrost, and so it cooked for 3 minutes! What a smell. But interesting.

I cant get my head around the toad thing. It sounds so disgusting.....but I guess if we had the cane toad problem here I would think differently. Maybe we should do rabbits and foxes?????

Piglets were amazing. Organs much bigger, not smelly like rats. The students really benefited from and enjoyed that dissection!

Hey so this is a very old thread - I was just wondering what is the current consensus on rats vs piglets and associated prices?

Any recommendations on where to buy rats (or piglets if they are better and the teacher agrees) in the Newcastle area?

We've bought piglets from Dissection Connection. Teacher was happy with them. We only bought one for each bio class for a teacher demo, so cost wasn't excessive for a senior class.

we have bought them from a pet store

Southern Biological, although we haven't bought any for sometime.

I have bought rats (dead obviously) from one of the pet stores here in Darwin. It was either Petbarn or Petstock. The biology teacher at that time wanted rats that smelled fresh and that looked newly dead and she wanted them at short notice. Usually though, we get rats from Southern Biological which come in a special preserving solution.

It’s that time of year again! Last year someone recommended a place that delivers frozen rats in the port stephens area (NSW). It may have been someone on the Asset email list. I don’t have access to my old emails due to technical changes over the school holidays so if anyone knows who I’m looking for could you please share here or PM me? Thanks!

We buy preserved rats from Southern Biological, but you can also buy the frozen ones from Dissection Connection - although last time I looked, it was cheaper to buy a stillborn piglet...

we use bio supplies in yagoona NSW

We buy ours from a local reptile-focused pet shop. They're frozen and intended as food for snakes but happy to sell to a school for dissection, and they're relatively cheap. So it's worth checking pet shops near you.