Post-power outage rats

The power in my house was out for 10 hours last night. I opened the freezer only one time about 4 hours into the outage to get ice. I'm assuming I'll have to throw out the frozen rodents, but I figured I should check to be sure.

It all depends on whether they stayed frozen- did they? If you don't open a freezer/or 'fridge, it can stay pretty safely cold for many hours, maybe even a day, especially if it's full. The more space you have in a freezer, the worse it is for any outage, so there isn't an exact answer for you, other than to say check your rodents- did they thaw? Personally, I'd have done without ice. ;)

If they started to thaw but stayed ice cold (& hopefully partially frozen) they're probably "safe" to re-freeze & feed, but you'll see a loss of quality: they may get mushy & split open when you try to warm & serve them, or your snake may refuse them- & if that's the case- toss 'em.

If I had to guess, I'd say they're fine with power only off for 10 hours- frozen rats don't thaw quickly even when we're trying to thaw them.

If your going to toss your frozen food then toss the prey. But 10 hours is nothing. How is the prey sealed? What refreezing will do is change the taste an shorten the shelf life. Thaw one out an smell it. Is it spoiled? Offer it to your noodle. Was it turned down or eaten?

Really want to know if the prey is bad? Offer one to the dog.

Good luck!

Was it a chest freezer or upright? Everything in a chest freezer should still be solid after only 10 hours.

My chest freezer lasts 24 hours on pour outage. Check your freezer manufacturer


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A trick: put a cup of water in the freezer. Once the water has completely frozen put a penny on the ice. If the penny ever ends up at the bottom of the cup then the contents in the freezer thawed at some point and should be discarded.