Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I just got a new freezer for my garage and now its time to stock it with rodents. I have only 2 snakes at the moment, a Columbian boa approaching 8' and a 4 foot king snake. I've been feeding fresh killed because of my wife's insistance that the freezer contain primarily human food, but that will no longer be an issue so I'd like to start with frozens. I'd like to get a good quantity to start out, I'll need massive rats, large mice, maybe a few small rabbits (he's never tried a rabbit yet). Just have a couple questions regarding suppliers...

I guess my specific questions are these:

1- How long can rodents be expected to last in the freezer? I read everything from 4 months to over a year on the supplier web sites. Some claim their vaccuum packing makes a huge difference, other that bags are fine. Who is right?

2- Are there any suppliers who you would recommend (or not) recommend above others? I'm in South Florida so I think an East Cost supplier is likely better for shipping.

I think that's the main questions. Thanks for your time!

Tom

I just bought a large female that included some freshly bought bagged frozen rats and I can't wait to feed them off asap. I breed my own rats and mice and prefer F/K or very freshly frozen. I am also the type of person that does not like leftovers if they are over a day old too.

The rats that I have are in regular bags and I have never ordered vacuum packed but I am only going to guess that will make a huge difference in the overall freshness down the road. That's just my opinion though.

.. if you have 2 snakes I don't know what you mean by stock-up.. instead of worrying over the freezer-life of the rodents, only purchase about 90 days worth at a time. ??

But I can offer this advice on the bags vs vacuum-packed; the bagged rats seem to get freezer-burned more quickly and also show signs of going 'bad' a little sooner after they reach room temps. also we have gotten bagged rats that were dumped together in all sorts of strange tangles and piles. These are then hard to seperate if you want only one or two out of the bag.. and when bagged in a haphazard way like that they take up a lot of room in the freezer.

The bags I've seen are also much less durable than the vacuum-plastic.. you end up with ripped bags and a big mess. The vacuum-packed ones I've gotten are also much neater and easier to use.

The drawback to the vacuum packing is that freezing ruptures blood vessels in the animals (mostly the nose) and when you thaw them the low-pressure in the bag can cause a lot of bleeding and make a mess. The answer is to puncture the bag before you thaw and equalise the pressure, that limits that problem.
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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Quality is not an accident. Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

I had planned on buying at least a 6 month supply (based on answers to my storage question) mostly because the shipping charges don't vary too much from a few to a bunch making a bunch more cost effective.

Thanks for the tip on puncturing the vaccuum bags!

Gus,
I noticed the bleeding in my frozen vacuum packed rats as well. Now that our production is up we are freezeing our own raised rats for our snakes.

I use a vacuum chamber to suffocate the rats/mice (place them in live and remove all the air). After this we freeze them on a tray, once frozen they are vacuum packed. It is a lot of work, but they hold up to freezing better and thaw without problems such as bleeding.

Just my experience,
Chris

When suffocating them, how long does it take to kill the rats? Is it easier than gassing them?

I have never gassed, and do not feel comfortable with it. The vacuum suffocation work pretty quickly. It is best with mice, but on large rats the large lung capacity can take a long time. For larger than small rats we still use the knock-out method of swinging them by the tail against a table edge.

Yeah that's what I usually do as far as large or mediums. I like feeding F/K rather than frozen but there are times that I have mass gassings using dry ice. They go very quickly, usually in a matter of seconds.

there's a LOT of frozen rodent suppliers out there... Unfortunately it seems that the ones with the better selections have the worse packing methods. Haven't found one yet that vacuum packs and offers something bigger than jumbo rats.

This one http://www.rodentpro.com/ , has the most info on their site and great selection but they use freezer bags. Mice On Ice ( http://www.miceonice.com ) seems to have the best packaging but only basic selection.

Decisions decisions

It's funny that you ask this question. I have 8 snakes. Some large and some small. I've had them for quite some time and up to now, I've been feeding pre-killed. However, I knew that frozen was the way to go. Not only is it more convenient, but it’s also healthier on the snakes since they come mites and parasites free. Well, needless to say, I purchased a freezer and ordered my first supply from Mice On Ice. When I got home last night, the package was at my door. I was worried at first but after opening the package, I saw that the dry ice had not melted yet and everything was still frozen.

They were all vacuum packed, nicely next to each other which were effortless in splitting just a couple apart. I also couldn’t believe how cleaned they appeared. They are all white and look like they’ve been bathed!

I’m very happy with Mice On Ice and I would highly recommend them.

PS. The person whom I spoke to “Joe” was very nice also.

Frank

Yea, the local pet store sells his mice, only little ones though, so I've seen his packaging, very nice. Likely will end up going with his product.

that way you can stretch out the savings. He'll do 'em individually if you want, but it'll cost you. One more thing, order next size up. Joe's large is what most others call medium. His packaging and his rats BLOW AWAY any competition IMHO.

I keep hearing that, both that his product is good and that they tend to the small side. That's already the problem, he only offers up to jumbo rats and if they're small.... What I really need are "colossal" rats.

RodentPro seems to be the best except for the freezer bag thing. Dammit