Thawed delivery of frozen mice
So my order of frozen mice arrived today, but it arrived slightly thawed. The animals were clearly no longer frozen (but were still cold, and some still kind of hard). My question is can I refreeze them? what are the potential consequences? I've asked for a refund and all that so just wondering whether its safe to refreeze and use.
Thanks
Re: Thawed delivery of frozen mice
I agree with Deb. I'd ask for a refund as well. Which supplier did you order from btw? Were they fully thawed or half thawed? You can try re-freezing them and offering one to your snake. If it smells sour I'd discard the the lot. If it still smells fresh then I'd use them. How many feeders are we talking about anyway?
Re: Thawed delivery of frozen mice
what is the risk to the snakes I guess is my main question? Is it just "bacteria"? Would freezing not kill the bacteria? it was in a sealed box and all that so nothing would have made its way in
Re: Thawed delivery of frozen mice
Freezing will not kill all bacteria. Some can go dormant but survive, only stopping their growth. Additionally, a dead bacteria is not necessarily a safe bacteria. Some produce toxins such as the botulism toxin or can otherwise be harmful even when dead. This is why food safety rules are something to the effect of throw food out after it has been at room temperature for two hours and not either throw it out or freeze it. That being said, I'd probably eat partially thawed food that I refroze personally, but wouldn't feed it to my snakes out of an excess of caution. It's likely fine but who really knows what happened to it?