Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how many times can you refreeze a thawed out rat or mouse before it gets rotten (ew)...

Depends on how long it's been in the freezer in the first place, etc. Usually I only do it once, and i try to avoid that. Sometimes a thaw/refrezze will make the rodent a bit ahh.. funky. That's ok if it's not bad, and sometimes helps the snakes apetite.
-----
Astronomy Picture of the Day

I agree with Dangerously.

Try to refreeze as little as possible. To avoid this I generally thaw out enough rodents for all but my BEST 3 or 4 feeders. Then I start feedings with those that are more prone to refuse a meal. If they refuse I offer to the next best feeder and so on. That way I haven't "wasted" any feeders and I don't have to refreeze as often. If it turns out I didn't thaw enough out I simply wait and feed those that didn't eat the next day.

When I have used prey that were thawed more than once I seem to end up with a higher percentage of "belly busters" (exactly what it sounds like and is very messy to clean up). Then again, some of my snakes prefer the "funkier" prey.

Refreeze once if needed. Twice if able. Toss it instead of going for a third try.
-----
It's actually not that I love or even like snakes. I just hate rodents.

I try to follow similar rules with my snakes as I do with myself. In the case of refreezing meat, it is questionable if it had been refrigerated and downright a bad idea if it has gotten to room temps much less the body temp appealing to all but the least picky bps). Here is a link about people meat that can probably be applied to feeders.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/icooks/02-19-04.html

Hope this helps you all. Sorry, it sucks to thaw and toss. such a waste, but better than getting a sick snake on your hands.
-----
1.1 BPs (Syd and Nancy)
1.1 Het. Albinos (Bill and Beatrix) arriving Tuesday!!
0.2 French Lops (Lapine and Jacquotte)
0.0.2 Firebellied Toads (Stanley and Stuart)