Old Frozen Rats

[55fingers]

So last night I fed my BP (I feed about every other week). He is usually a good eater but this time he didn't seem to take to it. Weird. I left it in his enclosure for a few minutes and he took it while I wasn't watching.

So turns out those frozen rats (that are NOT vaccum sealed) were ordered in September last year?!

I don't know how I didn't realize earlier. It felt like only a few months ago I ordered them! It's obviously why he didn't seem too keen on the rat.

They all seem fine and smell fine, and they may have a tiny bit of freezer burn, but not to the point of looking like mummified rats.

Will my BP be okay? I know the rats are only supposed to last up to 6 months or maybe up to 9 if vaccum sealed. Should I just go ahead and throw them out and order some new ones?

[303_enfield]

Feed them to a cat. Some snakes will be turned off by freezer burn. Been there done that. Get a sealer as they are cheap an rats can be "fresh" for over a year.
Now, you can try the same rat again. Wet heat it and or rub it in some rat bedding.

[EL-Ziggy]

Are you keeping them in a deep freezer? I've had frozen feeders last a year without any problems. However, they do remain vacuum sealed until I need them. If they don't smell spoiled after defrosting them I'd use them.

[Craiga 01453]

I must have missed this thread...

Anyway, as long as they smell fine and aren't covered in freezer burn I'd still offer. I've got some in my freezer that are nearly a year old and they're all fine.

I do package them nicely in bags of 3-5 so that I'm not constantly opening the same package each time I need a prey item of that size.

[Bogertophis]

A little freezer burn is harmless...it's mostly "cosmetic". Just sniff & make sure rodents aren't actually spoiled, & fyi, I don't recommend re-freezing any.
Other than that should be OK, refusal might have nothing to do with the rodent anyway...just might be going into shed & not obvious to you yet. Or just being
a little moody ...it happens.

[RedRabbit]

I do package them nicely in bags of 3-5 so that I'm not constantly opening the same package each time I need a prey item of that size.

I do this as well. If there's some variation within a given "batch" of rodents, I also try to group them by approximately similar sizes per each small bag, and then label the bags accordingly. For a young growing snake, you can then just gradually work your way up in feeder size as you go through each bag in order.