Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey people I havnt been on these forums in months but anyway I have a question. I got a few rodentpro mice in december that were not vacumed packed,in very odd positions,and wild colored after a few weeks yes my snakes were eating them but now they have no intrest in them at all except for 1 of my corns who is still eating the peach fuzzies I got. Everytime I thaw them they smell horrible, not like the usual thaw smell but just plain horrible, my snakes will smell them and then head in the opposite direction! Whats more is I've had 1 snake thats gone loose and isn't going to ever show up and 1 snake that had to be put to sleep. I tried some white lab mice last week though and the snakes ate them like candy, I also dont know what to do with 100+ mice that will take months to finish. So should I just dump them?

np

>>Hey people I havnt been on these forums in months but anyway I have a question. I got a few rodentpro mice in december that were not vacumed packed,in very odd positions,and wild colored after a few weeks yes my snakes were eating them but now they have no intrest in them at all except for 1 of my corns who is still eating the peach fuzzies I got. Everytime I thaw them they smell horrible, not like the usual thaw smell but just plain horrible, my snakes will smell them and then head in the opposite direction! Whats more is I've had 1 snake thats gone loose and isn't going to ever show up and 1 snake that had to be put to sleep. I tried some white lab mice last week though and the snakes ate them like candy, I also dont know what to do with 100 mice that will take months to finish. So should I just dump them?

Unfortunately it sounds like the mice may be bad.
If they have a terrible smell to them, when thawed, then I would be hesitant to use them. I would say dump them.
as far as going to live...no.
At the very least freshly killed.
If all you can get is live, get them but kill them before giving them to your snakes.
But, do not let this one batch of bad mice disuade you from purchasing frozen mice again.
Try another supplier or inform the supplier, you got those from, of the quality and they may be willing to work with you on your next purchase.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

_____

Listen to draybar,lol. Just because one batch of mice were bad doesn't mean you don't feed your snakes f/t anymore. It was just that one batch. Or it was you supplier.

Not one batch technically 2 batches since the hoppers cam in 1 bag and they were bad and the adults came in another bag and have also gone bad. Also the mice always have cuts in there sides and drip a lot of blood when thawed which is discusting. But thanks draybar I'll just buy live, kill them and feed/freeze them, atleast I know what kind of shape they were in before I froze them. And I'll dump the mice like you said =)

>>Not one batch technically 2 batches since the hoppers cam in 1 bag and they were bad and the adults came in another bag and have also gone bad. Also the mice always have cuts in there sides and drip a lot of blood when thawed which is discusting. But thanks draybar I'll just buy live, kill them and feed/freeze them, atleast I know what kind of shape they were in before I froze them. And I'll dump the mice like you said =)

how are you thawing them?
It sounds like you may be warming them under a lamp or other heat source.
This can result in the problems you mentioned.
Have you ever tried defrosting them in warm water?
Makes for much better feed items.
Just take a dish or bowl of appropriate size and fill with warm tap water.
I let the water run on hot for a few minutes to let it get as warm as possible.
Fill the container with the warm tap water and drop in the mice.
Within 10 to 15 minutes you should have evenly thawed mice.
I also believe the warm water helps to "clean" the mice a little and remove some of the odors.
Since using this method I have never had the over-heated "bursting" mice.
One other question.
You're not placing any of the previously thawed rodents back into the freezer, if refused, are you?
Although I doubt you are doing this I thought I would recommend against it, just in case.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

_____

I would think that if it is two bags of different sized mice, it might be the freezer. Is it cold enough, are they staying frozen? And what draybar said is also a factor. If you thaw them under a light, they have a tendency to smell bad, and burst. It is pretty gross. I have noticed some f/t mice are bloody on their noses. I think it depends how they were killed before being frozen. Try thawing the mice mice with the water and see if that might solve the problem. If not, toss them.
I definitely do not recommend live. Too much health risk to the snake.
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------Misty-------
We have enough youth....How about a fountain of smart?

i just put a coffe cup with water in the microwave for a minute then drop in the mouse, works fine for me
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

i had the same problem with rodent pro, the problem is that not all the mice they sell were bred by them and some of the other breeders are really crappy.

ive heard big cheese rodent factory is much better, all their own mice, all vacuum sealed
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

You guys say this now, after I received my first order from rodent pro. Where were you before I made my order two weeks ago?
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------Misty-------
We have enough youth....How about a fountain of smart?

>>You guys say this now, after I received my first order from rodent pro. Where were you before I made my order two weeks ago?
>>-----

every time I try to post which rodent supplier I prefer it gets deleted. God forbid you try to help people around here.
Just like yesterday when I pointed someone in the direction of a SPONSOR site for a certain type of snake.
THAT got deleted.

This will probably get deleted, too.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

_____

Misty will you email me with your current experience of purchasing f/t mice? Thank you

gypsy7866c@netscape.net
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1.2 Ghost Corns, Beetlejuice, Casper and Spooky
1.1 Charcoal het pewter, Smokey and Flame
1.1 Hypo het lavender, Rosy and Rocko
1.0 Anery, Goku
0.1 Amel, Sunny
2.0 Tabby Cats, Daddycat and his son Brat
0.1 Australian Shepherd, Angel

Gypsy

I sent you an email. Let me know if you got it
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------Misty-------
We have enough youth....How about a fountain of smart?

I bought 50 XXL rats and 100 each of the fuzzies and hoppers and mine are just fine. They are not vaccum packed but they are in far better shape than what the local stores carry, not all frozen together.

If they turned rotten after a few weeks it sounds like they arrived fine and were then mishandled.