Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My garage freezer died and i have about $100 worth of mice and rats stored. They thawed completely although they never did get warm. I think its only been a few days TOPS. they are still cold and it is very cold outside in the garage. Im assuming they are trash. what do you guys think?

They are all sealed in a ziplock. They were never exposed to any air while thawed. They are refreezing right now regardless of if i throw them out or not.

>>My garage freezer died and i have about $100 worth of mice and rats stored. They thawed completely although they never did get warm. I think its only been a few days TOPS. they are still cold and it is very cold outside in the garage. Im assuming they are trash. what do you guys think?

Just wanted to say how sorry I am this happened. It sucks. And it isn't even like with human food you can often cook it all and refreeze it.
I dislike refreezing anything. I hate the smell of decomp. So it is sorta your judgement. That or give your beasties a bacchanalian feast.
-----
Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Exposure to air is not the problem. The microbes in the guts will become active as soon as a rodent is thawed out. That is why people gut their kills right away when they hunt or fish to prevent the meat from becoming tainted. Snakes are adapted to eating the gut contents of their food, but only verry fresh as when they kill it themselves.

If the rodents stayed at neer freezing temps the rodents may be OK, but should be tested before beeing given to any snakes. Thaw one as you normally would and cut it open. If it smells or looks at all rotten then toss the lot.

You don't want to take any risks with your snakes. Go with the old saynig for people food, "when in doubt, throw it out".
-----
1.0 BP Nicodemus
0.4 Cal Kings 3 alb 1 het Dora Queen Ace Pearl
2.0 Alb Corn Bizaar Elixir
0.0.1 Rev Alb Nelsons Oden?

Exactly!,....

I would do the very same thing you mentioned. If they were very cool to the touch like they were in the fridge for only a day or two tops, they are probably okay, but I would DEFINITELY cut some of them open regardless and give a serious sniff to them. If they smelled the least bit "odd", out they would go!

Like you mentioned, the gut content is the very first thing that starts decomposing in an animal, not the flesh!

~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Haha. my wrists just went limper than a fairy princess. Im not sure i can cut open the mice stomach and smell. let alone a medium rat. ugh. is decomposition all i am trying to smell? i imagine its going to have an 'odd' smell regardless haha!. If its good can i feed it to my snake with its stomach cut open?

LOL!!,..

Well, to be honest, if they were still very cool, you could just smell the rodent real well up close, and if it doesn't have a "funky" smell, it should be fine for the snakes actually. I have done this before in the past. Heck, snakes can handle more than we humans give them credit for. Humans would get sicker than a dog if something is the least bit off, but snakes are a bit different. If it doesn't smell bad, they should be okay for the snakes.

good luck!, ~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Im gonna toss the mice but i am thinking about keeping the rats. Its a risk vs reward thing at this point. It is not ALOT of money but it is a significant amount. Also i hate to waste. The risk? What are the potential health consequences if the rats went bad? regurgitation? is it likely to harbor some bacteria inside the belly from that? would i have to persue antibiotics? basically the rat eating snakes are the ones i would least enjoy administering meds to lol.

snake species are confirmed carrion feeders in the wild. I've seen pythons and boas eat rats that have been at room temperature for well over 24 hours and have seen young anacondas feed on birds that had been at room temp for 48 hours. A good friend of mine said he has watched neonate alterna feed on pinks that had been thawed for 3 days and were solid black. When a large python eats a 50 pound antelope, the body of that prey animal has gone many days at 80 to 90 degrees before digestion activity reaches the interior of that carcass. That would be some highly decomposed tissue before the digestive fluids even reach it. I'm not necessarily recommending their use, but if those rats are in fair condition, there shouldn't be any issues.

The best way to check frozen feeders is the slip test. After it is completely thawed, pinch a good mass of hair on the belly of the feeder animal between two fingers and give a pull on it. If the hair comes out and slips off of the belly skin easily, then decomposition has started. Also, the larger mass of the rat bodies would mean that they were the last things to thaw.

Kelly

I have had a couple snakes that really seemed to prefer decomp. One, a huge male ball python would eat the darn rats the day I had had enough and was gonna pull the purple corpse out. These would be about drawing flys and he would go for them. Yummy.
-----
Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny