Artic Mice Defroster

Oh, okay, I buy them vaccuum sealed in packs of 25 or 50 depending on fuzzy rat or pinkie mouse, so I guess I kind of do that too. Mostly it's sounding like I need better zip-lock bags. :P

About the Artic Mice Defroster... I love it! I forgot to take pics though! :stupidme: Drat, I'll do it next time... That thing works like a dream. Nicely defrosted and toasty warm, good and squishy. The only thing about it that bothers me is it's easy to drop the little platform into the hot water. Best to put the platform in *before* you put the mice on it. That way, nice and warm and dry even! Just a bit steamed. ;)

Gmmuscle91 was dead on about leaving them in longer than instructed and flipping them over halfway through too. Very helpful do-hicky. I defrosted 2 bitty pinkie mice for Falkor today and they were perfect. I actually wonder now if they make one rat sized for the big snakes!

How is this any easier than putting a fixed amount of mice in a baggie and floating in a fixed amount of hot water?


Using this method only takes me 15 minutes, all my mice are at a good temperature and I've never had my snakes turn their tongues up at them.

I'm not looking for a fight. I'm just wondering what I'm missing.

Well I've never frozen prey but it can't be anything much different than freezing anything so here's a method I used for years with my garden.

Get some of those toss away foil baking sheets. Make sure all items are paper towel dry and clean. Lay out each item with an inch or so between. Pop in a good really cold freezer for a couple of hours (more depending on what temp to keep your freezer at and how full or empty it is). Items should feel frozen and hard to the touch. This will start the freezing process well enough so the items won't stick together later but not long enough to start any issues with freezer burn. Remove one sheet of them at a time and repackage for long term storage. They should be okay at this point to pack together and just pop out the number you need at a time.

Just work quickly, one sheet at a time so you don't allow anything time to start to defrost as you work and of course, use really good quality freezer bags and remove as much air as you can possibly manage.

If you have a GFS or other restaurant type supply store, check them out. They sell the styrofoam meat trays, like you get steak and chops on. They may also sell a heavier quality freezer bag (I'll check this next time I'm in there).

Do test this out with a small amount of prey though first. This is what I did with produce, so it may well be different with something furry but my thought is as long as the prey is dry it should not encourage ice crystalling on the fur during the quick pre-freeze.

~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by srozell

How is this any easier than putting a fixed amount of mice in a baggie and floating in a fixed amount of hot water?


Using this method only takes me 15 minutes, all my mice are at a good temperature and I've never had my snakes turn their tongues up at them.

I'm not looking for a fight. I'm just wondering what I'm missing.

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Bah, I'm not going to fight over something as silly as a mouse defrosting do-hicky. ;) Basically it takes the same amount of time, but when I use the water/baggie method I often end up heating it up with the hairdryer too because the mouse'll still feel a bit cool to the touch and I'm paranoid. With the do-hicky I get the hairdryer warmth without the extra step, plus if my Mom comes to visit I can avoid flipping out over the dead mice in a bowl on the counter in favor of the nice discreet lidded clay cup. Bonus!

Since I've been slacking on taking pics (I'm in snake feeding mode and forget to!) here's the do-hicky's label, I went ahead and scanned it in.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...cdefroster.jpg

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Originally Posted by MedusasOwl

Gmmuscle91 was dead on about leaving them in longer than instructed and flipping them over halfway through too. Very helpful do-hicky. I defrosted 2 bitty pinkie mice for Falkor today and they were perfect. I actually wonder now if they make one rat sized for the big snakes!

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thnaks. i didnt see one at the store for rats, but once you get past probably fuzzy rats or so they wont fit unless when you freeze them you bend them in a circle so they fit. still cant get much bigger. i could barely defrost the rat pups from rodent pro.

I think the problem comes in when you are defrosting more than a couple rodents per week. I finally bit the bullet and bought a small freezer just for rats! I think I need help!

D'oh! I didn't think of that! At $10 a pop, I don't think a dozen or more of these dealies would be worth it to ya, Jamie! /(Ovo)\