Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, if I thaw a mouse using the bag/hot water method and the snake doesn't eat it then is it safe to re-freeze and feed again some other time. The reason I'm asking is because I have a 3 foot gray rat that will eat on feeding day sometimes and sometimes he won't but he will sooner or later. I was just wondering if re-freezing was ok. The mouse was thawed about a total of 5 minutes. Thanks.

Ideally, you should dispose of the rodent and thaw a new one.

However, I think we've all been guilty of re-freezing at some point. I know I do it on occasion. I also put them in the fridge to offer the next day. I haven't had any problems with this, but I know that it's poor husbandry and I can't with good conscience reccommend it.

The only thing I'd be concerned about is that, as I've said before, hot water accelerates decay in the mouse's innards. Eew. Re-freezing and thawing again would seem to make this more likely especially if hot water was used. However, out of a couple dozen snakes I've kept, only two have ever been really sensitive to 'too thawed' prey and failed to keep it down. So, it's basically up to you. If the snake seems to have trouble with it, obviously, you'll want to stop doing that.

I sometimes re-freeze and offer again, but if the snake doesn't take that time, I always dispose of the mouse and use a new one next time. Two re-freezes just seems too yucky to me.

Best of luck, and always listen to your snake!

--Naamah

Thanks. Yea, I would never do it over 2 times.

Even 2 times is dicey. If it is thawed and refrozen right away it could be fine. But I have had mice that actually fell apart after being thawed a second time. I don't do it anymore...if something won't eat it, off to the gopher snake it goes. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

I just don't do that. I don't know for sure that it hurts anything, but it seems that it wouldn't be good. I usually leave the mouse or rat in with the snake until I'm sure it's not going to be eaten..by then it's already starting to get a little funky. If the snake doesn't eat it, I just throw it away.

I never move feed animals from one cage to another, either. By that I mean if one snake doesn't eat it, I never offer it to another animal. I'm just afraid of the possibility that the mouse or rat will pick up some bacteria or virus or infective parasite larvae and bring it to another snake. But that's just me....different folks have different ways of doing things. I'd prefer to just waste a mouse than to take a chance.

Yes, we know (or should) that it is not great husbandry practice to shuttle food from one cage to another; that we might be passing bacteria, viruses or parasites among our reptiles this way. I generally always mutter to myself, “let’s see, you’re willing to risk harming this snake ‘cause you’re too cheap to throw out a $1.25 rat?” Then there are levels to this cosmological discussion. Will you offer food that has been in one species’ cage to an animal of a different species? How about if you have one clutch of hatchlings, all eating the same food source? What if the food item has been placed in more than one cage already? What if the food item was struck at, held in the mouth of, and released by the first prospective diner? It DOES get complicated.

I have to admit I have a couple of animals (a black rat snake and a bullsnake) that bat in the cleanup position from time to time. I would never recommend “musical food”. I just don’t always practice what I preach. And that black rat is rather overweight.

-Joan

See? I do the same thing from time to time, and I know it's bad, but I've had all my snakes for over two years, with no new additions to the collection. Things are pretty stable.

And, yes, the bullsnakes (and other Pits) get to be the disposalls of the snake room.

I never feed an animal that another animal has actually bitten, btw, unless it is to an animal sharing the same cage (in which case I figure cross-contamination, if any, has already occurred). And I threw out a $1.50 rat the other day because nobody wanted it. Yaay for me.

Idealism and realism are two different things . . . sigh.

--Naamah

I don't do it often. But I mean if a rat snake doesn't even touch the food or my white lip refuses to come near the mouse, then I really do not see a problem. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

I'm not going to give this mouse to any other snake except my gray rat. He is eating adult mice while all my others are eating jumbos, pinkies, fuzzies, or hoppers. This is the only snake that will ever get this mouse. Hope I could clear it up a bit.

Just thought I'd mention that I have one particular snake that will not eat dead food until it starts to stink. I know, it's weird, but there have been documented instances of snakes feeding on carrion in the wild.
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International Snakes Meetup
International Herpetology Meetup

I've heard of it in rattlers, cottonmouths, bullsnakes and black rats. What kind of snake is yours, and is it w/c, cb, or ltc? How long have you had it? Just curious!

--Naamah

If a snake fails to eat, I pitch the mouse. The snake doesnt get fed until the next feeding. Usually by then, the snake is hungry enough to eat anything I throw in with it.

Too easy to just pitch the mouse and not risk making the snake sick with re-freezing it and thawing it again.
Happy Herping
Brian Baker