If you euthanize and freeze your own feeders

can you please tel me what freezing and storage proces you find to be the best.
Since my BP readily takes F/T and the only place I can get those is 45 mins away and $11 for 4 small mice, I was thinking of getting some live feeders and doing it myself. I have read about the dry ice method and will go that route to euthanize.
I was wondering how would be easiest and best to freeze them. should I individually wrap, bag then freeze? feeeze first then bag? does it even matter?

I would lay them out individually on a disposable or old cookie sheet and let them start to freeze (a proper freezer rather than a fridge top one would be best). Once they have started to freeze individually and are therefore less likely to freeze in a clump of rodents, I'd put them into a freezer grade bag and use the product listed below to remove all the air (you can buy the bags that come with this in two sizes).

http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldsk...ac/en/home.asp

This product sells for under $10.00 and the bags are reusable. The nice thing is when you are feeding each week you could remove whatever number of prey you need and very quickly get the bag back into the freezer with the air removed efficiently.

One little trick with bigger rodents is to lay them belly to belly or back to belly so that their claws are turned inward to another frozen prey item in the bag so when you draw out the air you won't create a possible puncture of the freezer bag.

I own one of these and find it does a great job for the price point. :)

I start them freezing in a large bag all separated, then use my Foodsaver vacuum sealer to seal them up tight. Those hand held ones are ok...but 1- they loose strength of suction really fast, and 2- the air can sometimes get back into those bags. An actual vacuum sealer is much more reliable, albeit more expensive. But they pay for themselves really quick. :D

Whatever you do, Stop buying rodents from Petsmart/Petco!!! I used to work there and have seen how those things come in. They get freezer burn, and smell when thawed which is NOT good. Either start ordering from a rodent supplier or breed/freeze your own...but do it soon. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I would lay them out individually on a disposable or old cookie sheet and let them start to freeze (a proper freezer rather than a fridge top one would be best). Once they have started to freeze individually and are therefore less likely to freeze in a clump of rodents, I'd put them into a freezer grade bag and use the product listed below to remove all the air (you can buy the bags that come with this in two sizes).

http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldsk...ac/en/home.asp

This product sells for under $10.00 and the bags are reusable. The nice thing is when you are feeding each week you could remove whatever number of prey you need and very quickly get the bag back into the freezer with the air removed efficiently.

One little trick with bigger rodents is to lay them belly to belly or back to belly so that their claws are turned inward to another frozen prey item in the bag so when you draw out the air you won't create a possible puncture of the freezer bag.

I own one of these and find it does a great job for the price point. :)

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THANKS! I am going to buy one of those and freeze them like your said.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Argentra

I start them freezing in a large bag all separated, then use my Foodsaver vacuum sealer to seal them up tight. Those hand held ones are ok...but 1- they loose strength of suction really fast, and 2- the air can sometimes get back into those bags. An actual vacuum sealer is much more reliable, albeit more expensive. But they pay for themselves really quick. :D

Whatever you do, Stop buying rodents from Petsmart/Petco!!! I used to work there and have seen how those things come in. They get freezer burn, and smell when thawed which is NOT good. Either start ordering from a rodent supplier or breed/freeze your own...but do it soon. :)

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Trust me I have bought my LAST pestsmart artic mouse! The last one thawed was completely rotten! I set it out on Oby's tank and then left my room for a few hours when i came back in OMG WHEW! thought it was maybe this one. Thanks for the heads up.

We euthanize with a CO2 chamber. After that, depending on the size of the prey (almost always weans-smalls right now (rats)), they get "layered" in 1 gallon freezer-gaurd Ziplocs. I freeze mine all in one clump and they dont stick at all. I pack them tight to get the air out and place them as deep in the freezer as possible. After they are frozen through they get moved to the door for easy access. If you are freezing younger prey, especially pinks, they will stick together with this method. Once their fur is in, we have never had any problems with them coming out in clumps at feeding time.

Our "layering" is belly up for the bottom layer, then belly down, belly up, etc. Also, we usually put them butt to head to more efficiently use the space in the bag. As long as you bag them quickly after you euthanize them, their muscles will not set into rigor and you can place their snouts into the crevice of space created on the sides of the bag. It sounds bad, but it really does save a lot of space.

Thank you!

i vacuum sealed some guinea pigs. Thawed 2 out (put them out before I went to work at 11pm and came home and cut the bag open at 11:30am) maybe 70 degrees in the house...smell was terrible. Did the sealing process go bad or where they left out too long after thawing?

I use one of these units (an older model)

http://www.sealameal.com/product.aspx?pid=1250