Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hurricane Ivan left us without power for a while, and before I could get all my frozen mice (about $100 worth) into a friend's freezer, they sat in mine turned off and defrosted. They were still cold, but soft. will these be safe to refreeze and feed or do they need to be thrown out? I normally wouldnt ever save a mouse if it had been heated to body temp and refused, but the circumstances are a little different so i'm wondering if there even was time for the decomposition to start, and if so would it hurt my snakes to eat those mice?

Thanks,
Chris
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat(Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)

My posts are my opinion only. What you end up doing is your own choice. I will not be held liable for any negative outcome of my advice. (However I will never intentionally give bad advice. My advice is ALWAYS geared towards a positive outcome.)

Sorry to hear about that. I'm sure we have all been there at some point. That seems to be the only bad thing about frozen food. It is real convenient until we lose power. Anyway, I have always been told and have practiced this method (although I do make exceptions to this rule at times). If they are good quality mice and they have NEVER been thawed (even partially) before, then they are ok to refreeze a second time. I know several breeders and dealers that do this, and it has never posed a problem. But, the decision is totally up to you. I would keep them and see how they thaw out next time. If they fall apart, then they are bad, but if they thaw like normal, then they are ok to feed. Consider the fact that a snake in the wild, when given the opportunity, will eat a road kill animal. Surely, if this is ok, then your situation is fine. For those of you who want to respond to this and say that it is unhealthy, the rodents lose nutrients, it isn't a good practice, etc.....please remember, it is MY OPINION and my CHOICE. I don't critique how you keep your animals, please don't judge others. This is something that works for ME, something I have researched. Hope this helps.

p.s. Pinkies are one the "exceptions" since they have such thin skin already. They never re-freeze/re-thaw very well.