Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ive been ordering frozen rats for my boa collection, it just works best for me and my schedule to order in bulk and freeze them, however the shipping costs as you all know are very high, so I tend to order more in hopes of saving a little and storing the rats in a freezer. I just read that somone said frozen rats are only good for a month and should be discarded after that>?? Is this true? I read I think on Rodent Pros website that frozen rats were good for like 6-8 months at least......if they are only good for a month I really need to find out, because I am feeding these to my snakes and they are at least 3 months old. Thks for any advice.

Paul
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Paul Harb

Why get rats from a source that doesn't vacuum seal? Especially if you are concerned with shelf life. You also have to factor in the kind of freezer, as there are good and bad ones.

A good freezer and vacuum sealed packages should last forever (in theory). Then you just open what you need a "X" period at a time. You could even even get a small machine to re-seal packages.

My recommendation would be for The Mouse Factory.
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Gilbert Boas
The Boa List!

Thks for the response, thats what I thought in theory the rats should be good for quite some time. Ive ordered from Rodent Pro and Mice Direct, both of which use Ziplock bags, which seem to be fine. I have been feeding my snakes these and so far so good. I will have to take a look at getting a resealer, good idea for keeping as fresh as possible.

Paul
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Paul Harb

my rodent supplier doesnt vacume seal bags but there is such size difference in the one or however many bags of the same size rats. i go thru everythign qucik re weigh and vacume seal in one month bags so that way they are only in a ziplock bag for longest a month but now i have the vacume seal ziplock bags from wrenalds so nothign is left unvacumed sealed. i try not to order more then a 3month supply tho thats still alot of rats with 30 some snakes lol. the price of nice vacume sealrs have come down alot you should look around at different stores and check em out

Rats are a whole food item....

I would compare them with a whole chicken or similar item....You should not have to worry for at least 6 months. When you buy them...some companies will put dates on the bag so you know when they are packed and frozen....but there is no guarantee this is the correct date anyway...so what I recommend is to mark your own packages and rotate them out of your freezer this way. It is a good idea to mark who and where and when you bought them...so if you get a bad rat you know who to go to.

As for rats and mice frozen in a vaccuum package....

I think that would be the worst situation! Unless I had only 5 or 6 snakes and they all were the same size and all ate exactly the same time...then I would have to buy them that way as long as they would package them 5 or 6 in a pack for me. ..But when you open the package there is no way to reseal it...so then they just go in a zip lock bag anyway....why bother.

You also are paying more money for a rat or mouse packaged that way...

I would rather pay for a quality rodent! Why not find out how they are housed? How and what they are fed??

If you have 5 or 6 snakes why buy 500 rats? I know that is an exaggeration, but my point is buy from a reputable supplier and buy what you need.

Buying for about a 3 month time frame would be the best situation.

Below is some info I find useful for freezing..

Thanks Andy Federico

http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic3523.htm
freezer times

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Two things are critical to frozen feeder storage. The first is obvious, and involves storage in air tight containment. Furred rats have skin and hair as a barrier to freezer drying and ziplock bags will keep them fine for at least 6 months and slightly longer when you see my second point. Vacuum sealed bags for furred rodents will extend storage somewhat, but not greatly if my second point is not followed. Pinks are thin-skinned and hairless, therefore have a shorter storage life and should be used within 6 months at most.

Skin surface freezer burns on frozen rodents does not mean much as far as nutrient content, it's the age of the feeder and the storage temperature that are critical.

That leads to my second point, and most important, which is freezer temperature. Any freezer used for food storage should run at a temperature of no higher than 0 F. If at all possible, temp should be no higher than minus - 10 F. Contrary to popular opinion, bacterial decomposition does occur below 32 F and well below that. The temp needs to drop to just a few degrees below 0 F to stop all bacterial decomposition, and down to about minus - 15 F to stop all enzymatic decomposition. This is why large commercial food operations run freezers at minus - 20 F. I run all my freezers at minus - 10 F, which is about the best you will get out of a household freezer. The red alcohol thermometers are usually fairly close, but I use laboratory mercury thermometers to check my freezers periodically. Feezer temps much above 0 F will definitely shorten storage time with regards to nutrient content.

Kelly

Kelly brings up a good point. I know my freezer does not ever get below 0 F and take into account that you are freezing an entire animal, viscera and all, which has a huge amount of bacteria. Most meat suppliers don't recommend using meat frozen for longer than 1 year, but that is just meat, no organs. The amount of bacteria in the intestines, etc definitely shortens the lifespan in the freezer. I will not use any feeders if they have been in my freezer over 6 months because of that. Perhaps if I had a freezer that did get to -10 or -20 F I would reconsider.

As for resealing vacuum packed bags: you certainly can with a vacuum sealer and that most definitely lengthens the period before freezerburn occurs.

Reynolds has come out with a special line of zip bags that fit a small hand held attachment that vacuum seals food to prevent freezer burn. The whole start up set runs about $10 and they have different size bags. These would be ideal because they have a zip lock opening to get at the food and then you'd just zip it closed again and use the little vacuum gadget again to suck out the air you let in.

I'm sure Reynolds didn't have this in mind when they invented this gadget but I know how it works for meat and I think it would be a perfect answer. You might want to get your own rather than using the kitchen one though. LOL

Ginger
Reynolds Vacuum Sealer

Paul with the budget you are working withlol but investing in a decent vacuum sealer is very nice and handy. The Reynolds bags may work and what not but don't know how much they cost though but I have a stainless looking one from Foodsaver V2840 and it is very nice and handy and flips up for easy storage. Seals up to 11 inch wide bags and comes in various widths on rolls where you just seal one end roll it out cut put rodents in and vacuum all on the machine. It also has a drip tray not rodents but for meats, fish (easy dump tray). Also seals potato chip bags and I tried for the hell of it on a cereal bag and sealed it Get your rodents and bag the weekly meals in one bag and vacuum seal that puppy. Here's a link if you are interested and I bought rolls of bags cheap too.
Bob

FoodSaver

Ive eaten meat thats been in the freezer for 6mnths.Protein and calcium content are not affected by freezing.But vitamins are, if youve had them in the freezer for more then a few months just dust with a vit. supplement and they should be fine.Of course if they are badly freezer burned or have ice crystals all over it I wouldnt use them.Just my opinion so take it for what its worth...
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I always use vitamins and supplements with frozen thawed.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
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