Smelly Mouse

[EAllen84]

I've fed my ball python 3 times now and I'm thawing out his/her next meal - a small mouse. I open the little bag I thawed him in and it smelled "off". I immediately threw him out and am thawing another. I haven't ever smelled an odor from the mice prior to this one, so I was curious if any of you know if that means it is rotten or not.

These are pet store small mice - the Arctic Mice brand. I saw a different thread from a not so satisfied customer. Anyone bought this brand?

*I just went to go check on the new thawing mouse and the head is bloody. What the heck?*

[Kinra]

I can't really comment on the smell because I think they all smell horrible (even the live ones), but the bloody head is farely normal I believe. Mine get bloody noses all the time when they are thawing and my snakes don't seem to care.

[RichsBallPythons]

Thawing rodents is normal to see blood. As the freezing and thawing breaks the blood vessels and causes the nose to bleed..

[Evenstar]

I don't like the smell either. Chances are the 'smelly' one was ok. And, yes, the blood is normal. In fact, my BP, Ella, prefers hers bloody. The blood seems to further excite the feeding response....

I never had an issue with the quality of the Artic Mice brand, but I did feel that they were smaller than the advertised size. I was getting the "large" size from them and when I switched to Geoff Schrock (www.frozenrodents.com), I found that the Artic "large" was no bigger than Geoff's smalls! Seriously! And the Artic Mice are rediculously expensive! $12 for 4! yikes..... But those are the only issues I've had and/or heard about with them.

[Anya]

I hate arctic mice. (yeeech...) They're the reason I feed live. I don't mind the smell of live rodents, but those dead ones, when I thawed them out, I almost puked. I was clenching my jaw the urge to vomit was so strong. It wasn't just the one- they all smelled like that. He wouldn't eat them, and I certainly wasn't going to make him! After a few weeks of offering those, I offered fresh killed, and he snapped it up right away. I've since fed live, and now we're both happy! I don't trust those in the little baggies...I'd rather inspect a live rodent and feed it, knowing it's well fed and free of illness.

Plus those arctic mice are skinny and TINY! and pricey! I Will never buy them again.

[mues155]

Bloody is normal like everyone else has said, most of the time they bleed when thawing.

Ive used Artic Mice frozen rodents before and never had an issue or thought they were bad.
That was back when i had one or two snakes though and the expense didnt bother me. I buy in bulk now from rodent pro so I havnt used artic mice brand in a few years.