Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I buy my snakes food at pet shop, and there is no expiration date because it is not sell in packages. So, how can you know the quality of mouse without the expiration date??? what are clues of an expired mice!?

Also... if someone knows a good site to buy snakes food in canada, i would like to know the adress!

Typicaly any signs of freezer burn is a good indication the mouse isn't good anymore. ALso, if it isn't vacuumed packed, probably shouldn't use it if it is more than 4 months old. Vacuumed packed mice are fine for 6 months to a year.

The places I know off hand in Canada that sell mice are:

www.canadianmouseman.com (located in calgary I beleive)
www.portcreditpets.com (Missasauga, ON)
www.globalexotics.com (Waterloo, ON)

I use the rule, if it looks like I wouldn't eat it I won't feed it to my snakes. Not that I would eat a mouse, I look to see if it looks extremely freezer burnt. Usually they are kept in ziplock bags in the freezer, we all know it doesn't take too long for stuff to get freezer burnt in a ziplock. So if it is not freezer burnt it will probably be fresh.

Once I thaw the mice I also smell for any weird odor. I have had mice in the freezer for 6 months though and used they with no problem.

tom

I've been contemplating using one of those food sealers for my snakes food. Any thoughts on this? Anyone else do it?

Also, from what I understand freezer burned food is not unsafe to eat. I've can't say I've eaten anything that has been freezer burned, but I'm guessing it just doesn't taste the same? So is it really that important to not feed to your snakes if they will take it?
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I am not 100% sure on this but I beleive food when freezer burned has been damaged by the cold, causing molecules etc to break down, making the food less nutricious. This basically means the food item just isn't as good nutrician wise as a fresher non freezer burned item.

Freezer burn info (nothing to do with lower nutrition):

Freezer burn does not make food unsafe, merely dry in spots. It appears as grayish-brown leathery spots and is caused by air reaching the surface of the food.
www.foodreference.com/html/ffreezerburn.html

Freezer burn is a food-quality issue, not a food safety issue....Color changes result from chemical changes in the food's pigment. Although undesirable, freezer burn does not make the food unsafe
vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qa-sto3.html

Frozen food that has been either improperly wrapped or frozen can suffer from freezer burn — a loss of moisture that affects both texture and flavor.
eat.epicurious.com/dictionary/food/index.ssf?DEF_ID=1771
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i have one freezer burned pinky next to me and one fresh frozen.Now for the human taste test.....................................................................................................................................................................The fresher pinky tasted more like urine than the freezer burned pinky.The freezer burned pinky tasted like the bottom of a garbage can smells like.If i was a snake i would vote hands down on the urine flavored......hope this helps.....Paul...

>>I've been contemplating using one of those food sealers for my snakes food. Any thoughts on this? Anyone else do it?
>>
>>Also, from what I understand freezer burned food is not unsafe to eat. I've can't say I've eaten anything that has been freezer burned, but I'm guessing it just doesn't taste the same? So is it really that important to not feed to your snakes if they will take it?

I use a food saver vacuum sealer and love it. Rodents last loads longer in way better shape. And it saves you trying to get the air out of the ziplocs all the time. Buy rolls not bags and you can seal the prey in any size or amount you want.

As for the taste. I have eaten freezer burned foods. (lived on a farm and waste not want not. ) Freezer burned food tastes like cardboard...and probably has similar nutrition.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

n/p
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