Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What do you guys think is an appropriate shelf life for frozen rodents? Does the nutritional value of frozen rodents begin to deteriorate after a certain period of time?

I would say when freezer burn marks appear you better hurry and feed them off.

The shelf life could all be determined by how old the frozen rodents were when you received them, the quality of them, how cold the freezer gets, etc.. I have seen freezer burn form at various ages with rodents, from 1 month to up to 3 or 4 months. It seems like pinkies and fuzzies are the first to start getting freezerburn.

A great way to extend the shelf life of the rodents, if you are in the position to have to store them longer in the freezer than the time it takes to have them fed off, because buying frozen rodents is buying them in bulk, is to buy a vacuum sealer, such as a Foodsaver or Black and Decker. I have been vacuum sealing rodents for over 10 years, and I have yet to lose any feeders with vacuum sealing since I started using this process to store them in the freezer. I have opened up vacuum packages of rodents that were probably 4-5 months old, and seemed just as fresh as the day I got them. Well worth it!
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Genesis 1:1

Q: How long will the frozen feeder animals last in the freezer?

A: Depending on how they are stored, most frozen feeder animals can last up to a year. It is a good idea to minimize any exposure to air by ensuring they are in air tight freezer bags. While we recommend not storing feeder animals without fur for more than 4 or 6 months and feeder animals with fur for 9 to 12 months, if properly sealed containers are used and air exposure is kept to a minimum, they can be kept for much longer.

I have been feeding feeders from rodent pro for almost a year with no issues. Just keep the above in mind and you should be fine.
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Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."
My 2008 Care Sheet & The BRB Stats. Username: brb@kingsnake.com

Whaaaat?? Using the internet to search for answers- INCREDIBLE!

Really though- thanks for the replies. Good toI know I'll never need to worry about it.

That is a good answer, as it takes into consideration that most people's freezers do not stay 32 deg F or cooler reliably.

Freezing pinks in water helps to avoid freezer burn as well.
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Mark

I agree completely with DISCERN, the Food Saver works great, I recently bought an expensive one which is much better than the cheap one I started with. I freeze chicks, quail, mice and rats and frogs, all look great even after a couple years. Save the bags and reuse them. Another trick is to freeze pinkys and small items in cubes of ice, these prevent freezer burn for a long while and are convenient to feed, just thaw out the cube and feed'em. Vic H.

I can see it now ..."Hey man whats this little pink thing in my drink"

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"Wake me when its April"
Doug L

Vic the ice cube thing is brilliant, I do this to frog and lizrad scent and they can be refrozen, just don't confuse the trays for ice tea!
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Todd Hughes

Todd, the ice cube thing is pretty effective, and Yes, it takes a bit of organization/tolerance by other house members. Compared to some of the scent/food items I have put in the blender, a pinky in your drink is pretty minor... A few mix ups in the past led me to buy my own freezer for my exclusive use...I'm sure I am not the only one to get into the dog house over this. Vic H.

Whats wrong with feeding a snakes mice that have freezer burn(oxymoron)?

Nothing! My rodents never last long enough to get freezer burn but I was given a bag of mice one time that had freezer burn from a guy that sold mice and I took them gladly.Very little nutritional value is lost.

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"Wake me when its April"
Doug L

I don't think loss of nutrition is the issue. I have noticed that some snakes won't eat freezer burned rodents, must not like the flavor I guess.