Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

Recently I took out one of my frozen packs of rats to seperate the smaller ones from the larger ones. They were hard to get apart so i left them in my garage to thaw a little so I could get them apart. Unfortunately I forgot about them and remembered about them in the mourning. So they were left out overnight for about 12 hrs. I immediatly put them back into my freezer. I was wondering if I could still use them? They were still cold in the morning as my garage stays about the same temperature as it is outside. It was about 40 degrees that night. I dont want to waste them but the health of my snakes comes first.

Thanks,
Tom

You have nothing to worry about,they are still good to go.............Doug

I agree with "DMong".

On a couple of occasions I've even had a few thaw to average room temperature (mid 70s) and remain there for a few hours. I put them back in the freezer and used them later with no bad effects.

Have a good one!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

If it was 40 in the garage, I'm sure there is no danger, but if they were fully thawed and you froze them again, you MAY find when you thaw them again that the skin has a tendancy to tear (and the abdomen may burst if you give one to a snake that constricts it).

I doubt the snakes will care, but it can be a bit messy and smelly by human standards.

"if they were fully thawed and you froze them again, you MAY find when you thaw them again that the skin has a tendancy to tear..."

Larry,
Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying you're wrong, by any means, I just would like to know; how sure are you that re-freezing causes them to tear?

The reason I ask is that I've always let mine slowly thaw at room temperature and then heat with a light. I forgot to set them out early this morning and for the first time I thawed them in heated water, not boiling water. Today is the first time I've had one bust (tear) and my burmese doesn't even constrict them. I actualy had 2 of them do so today.

I can't say without a doubt that the few in one of the bags I pulled out of the freezer weren't re-frozen, but I've only done it a time or two and I'm pretty sure these weren't.

Can fast thawing in warm water cause them to tear, too? Just curious.

One thing for sure, you're dead right about 'em being smelly!

Thanks!

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

You may have a point. Cetainly, applying too much heat degrades the skin. I've had that happen both by thawing in water that is too hot and by thawing over a light. Thawing at a bit lower temperature seems to solve that problem, but freezing and doing it again makes a real mess. I very rarely have the time to just set them out to thaw, so I've probably never tried refreeziing after doing it that way. It's certainly worth a try to see what happens...

While is relatively safe, so long as they do not remain thawed for an extended period of time, increases the liklihood of tissue macreation, which causes the "tearing" indicated. This is often compounded by using hot water to quickly thaw frozen prey.
While a bit of tissue macreation will not pose a problem, such can make for a very messy feeding experience, which many snakes seem to relish, along with some extra elbow grease required whne cleaning the enclosure! Oh, and it might be wise to use rodents that have not been thawed and refrozen, when allowing those unfamiliar with the feeding habits of snakes to view a feeding session! ;0)
Keep in mind, rodents that have reached room temperature for over an hour or two should not be refrozen, as freezing is bacteriostatic, not bacteriocidic...

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

I agree, Jeff.

Just to clarify my earlier post that could be iterpreted as advocating re-freezing; I do not recommend re-freezing once they near average room temperature. The possibilities of harming the snake far outweighs the benefits of re-freezing.

"While a bit of tissue macreation will not pose a problem, such can make for a very messy feeding experience, which many snakes seem to relish..."

By golly, my Burmese went wild when the rat tore & she got a taste of it. Definitely a feeding frenzy. Fortunately it all went down except for a few stains on the paper substrate.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

I know what you mean about being short of time. Funny thing is, that's the reason I set mine out in the morning (if/when I can remember), so they thaw on their own & I don't have to spend time thawing them.

Doing it for one or two average size snakes wouldn't be too bad, though. I don't have many but 2 are of them are 10ft & 8ft Burmese. I'm having a heck of a time getting both switched over to rabbits, but, I do see some progress. Yeah, I've tried everything that I've read, seen or heard.

I thought for sure the 10ft female would take right to them 'cause she's such a great eater. She'd probably eat a frozen rat if I'd let her but just nudges rabbits, regarless of size, scent, temp, etc... I'll get 'em there, though.

Thanks for the extra input, Larry! That's interesting.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.