Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

So I get home today to find my box of food waiting for me. I open it up and there seems to be no dry ice in there, the large rats seem to be frozen, however my med rats seem to feel thawed yet still alittle cold, as blood is at the bottom of the bag. Will this still be OK to feed, if I freeze them, or should I contact the person I got these through and tell them to reship them.

Thank you
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
1.0 Amel Retic
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

Rot, seeing that the larges ones are still frozen they probably had a small amout of dry ice in their and as we all know dry ice does not last long. I have done the test of refreezing the thawed and that does not work, atleast in my opinion. I have never order f/t stuff as I breed all my own so I sorry I can not help any more. It would not hurt to make a phone call though.
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Education is Everything.......

Im not so worried about them eating it as I am is it harmful to them? I thought it was bad for them. Could be wrong on that.
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
1.0 Amel Retic
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

To be honest i wouldnt see why it would be that big of an issue. Especially if you say that the bigger rats are still frozen but the smaller ones aren't. It probably just got to the point where they defrosted but not to the point where they started warming up so i would say that you would be fine freezing them back up. I think the worry would be if you were to fully warm a rat for an animal to eat and then bring the temp back to freezing. This pretty much ruins the meat to a certain extent. Like said, it wouldn't hurt to give them a call and complain a little to see if they do send you another box. If they do, personally i would still keep the one that you have as long as you threw them in the freezer right away. Putting things in the freezer pretty much kills all food borne illnesses so in conclusion i would say that you would be just fine. Sorry for the long post but thats just my input. Good luck and let us know how everything goes.

Hey Jeff!
I sent you a message thru your username link late last night (early this morning) but you might not have got it.

I don't make a habit out of it but I have, on several occasions, thawed rats to room temperature and then froze them again. Once in awhile I run out of time to feed everything I set food out for and I don't like to waste anything. Not even my snakes' health.

I'm here to tell ya, it's a non-issue. Especially since the thawed ones in the shipment you received were still a little cold. No harm will come to a snake that's occasionally fed rodents that have thawed but remain cool and then frozen again. I wouldn't bat an eye about using 'em.

I would still contact the company you ordered from to inform them.

How are things with your cage setups and snakes? Did you get the temperature thing all sorted out?

Catch ya later!
Mike
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

I wouldn't worry about it from a health point of view, but it may compromise the integrity (internal anatomy) of the rat, especially if they have wounds or breaks in the skin/tissue somewhere. It depends on how warm/cool the smaller rats were, but as they warm up, the degradation process sets in. Refreezing them is fine, but rethawing them can cause breakdown of tissue that is messy and wasteful. It doesn't sound like your rats were that warm, but it would be reason to speak to the company, especially if you plan on ordering from them again. If you keep them and refreeze them, I would defrost them quickly in warm/hot water instead of a slow thaw method.

If you keep them and refreeze them, I would defrost them quickly in warm/hot water instead of a slow thaw method.

Hey Laura!
Re-freezing does have a tendency to cause the skin membranes to thin out and become weak, but it's been my experience that quick defrosting/warming is a double whammy. It seems to compound it. I've had less problems by thawing at room temperature. And you're right, it can be quite a mess when it does.

Want to see a snake go full-force feeding frenzy? Let the skin of a rodent burst while the burm's eating it. Woohoo! When they get a taste of internals it's a sight you'll never forget.

Take care!
Mike
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Eww...

I've seen 'em where I slow defrosted them and a big bubble formed in the abdomen from gases, etc. Yucky, yucky Maybe it doesn't matter how you defrost them once it gets to that point! LOL!

I have made that mistake of putting them in a plastic bag and warming them to much and then when I got to take them out they are split in half. Hahahahaha and yes the intestines are out, looks like 7th grade science class. Then I watch to make sure the snake eats all of it since I do not want that stuff hanging around like the basement of Tx Chainsaw masicare.

Two quick stories, once left a rat on the heat pad overnight, and snake did not eat it, man that cook the rat and made the whole condo smell.

Second, since I changed to aspen, I hate the stuff, but anyways, I put a rat in and thought the snake had eaten it, look around it was gone, it put the rat underneath the apsen, so a few days later, the smell started. Man that was harsh.
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
1.0 Amel Retic
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

Harsh smells, oh yeah...

I've got a pre-killed bunny that I fed my Burm yesterday at 4pm. Well, he won't eat it, but he's kinda circled around it. If I try to remove it, he coils around it and I can't get it out, but soon loses interest again. It appears that he's peed in his water pool to top it all off. So he's in his nice humid (steam on the door) AP cage with dead rabbit/snake pee smell oozing out when I open the door and a bloated bunny (it's now almost 7pm).

Hahahahahahaha, yelp AP cages. Have fun with all of that. Those are the days that you have to stick your head in there to wipe it down, and it gets all over you ya. I question why we love this hobby again, hahahahahha.
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
1.0 Amel Retic
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa