Frozen/Thawed

Does anyone re-freeze frozen rats if not eaten?

Yes, as long as it hasn't been thawed for more than a couple hours. If the snake wont take it, I have re-frozen a few times. Just don't re-freeze a rat that has been in the enclosure over night.

I will re-freeze a refused prey item once but no more than that.

Negative. If not taken it goes in the trash.

IMO that's a major waste of of money and life. If it has only been thawed for a short amount of time, there will not be significant bacterial or other microorganism growth.

In my lab we euthanize mice, perform dissections and biochemical analysis over the course of an hour plus, without any significant bacterial contamination issues. An intact organism can withstand contamination even longer. Adaptive and even intrinsic immune system is still somewhat functioning even in a dead animal. I routinely isolate living T-cells and dendritic cells from the brains of mice that have been dead over an hour.

Seal the mouse, deep freeze and try again another time.

Too much at play for me.
Depending on how it was thawed and temperature it was heated to can all play a factor in the intestinal tract.
Just my thoughts.
Then again I feed live only unless I have frozens that have been in my freezer too long to sell.

I never refreeze prey. I've got plenty of other snakes that are more then happy to scarf down an extra meal and just feed any refusals to those.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Too much at play for me. Depending on how it was thawed and temperature it was heated to can all play a factor in the intestinal tract.Just my thoughts. Then again I feed live only unless I have frozens that have been in my freezer too long to sell.

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In the hour or so that the rodent is thawed, there simply isn't enough time for logarithmic bacterial growth to occur. Re-freeze and try again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.