Refreeze rat, has it been out too long

This was my snake's first feeding in his new cage and he is refusing to eat. Has never refused a meal before but the last 3 or 4 have been successively harder to get him to take the rat. Tonight he all out refuses (yes temps and humidty is fine).

I thaw a 90g rat in water for an hour then heat it up with a hair dryer on each side till its about 100 degrees. Tried for about 30 minutes to get him to take it. Then just left it there ontop of his hide for another hour. Has it been out too long to refreeze and I should pitch it? I've seen posts before saying this was OK to do once, but I'm not sure the threshold for how long being out is too long. It has been sitting in 50% humidity at 80+ degrees for over an hour now.

I'd throw it out. :/

Some may say you can refreeze it but IMO i dont refreeze any rats if there not eatin by the snake im offering it will go to another snake if cant find a snake in the 25 plus i have i will just toss it out.

Use your nose--if it doesn't smell fresh, throw it away, lol.

Remember that whole rodents have all of their gut contents intact, and those spoil much faster than the rest of the animal, and contaminate it.

I almost never do f/t but once I thaw it, if it is not eaten it hits the trash.:gj:

Toss it.
If you thaw in hot water, that speeds up the decomposition process.
I always leave mine in a bag for several hours at room temp to thaw slowly. Most of the time my BPs will eat them at room temp. If I have a picky one I might sit the rat in a paper towel on a heat pad for a bit. I used to just lay the bag of them on a heat pad til they all thawed, til one night I forgot about them and they sat there all night...I woke up to a bag of rat goo. Not pretty, lol. I've refroze room temp thawed rats before, usually the second time they're thawed they tend to get squishy and gross. I would never do it if you can help it.

I guess I'll probably toss it out in the woods. These darn things are like 15 bucks a pop here. Maybe I should try feeding him in his old cage next time.

15 a pop? man! Order bulk, save loads :-) You can order quantities that work for you and still save a ton of loot by ordering even as little as 40 rats at a time (my typical order now is 400 every 3 months). . . as for me, if one snake rejects I offer to another. If none take, and its been less than an hour at room temp slowly thawed, I'll refreeze ONCE separate from the rest. After that its trashed

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Originally Posted by VooDooDoc

These darn things are like 15 bucks a pop here. Maybe I should try feeding him in his old cage next time.

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:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
You are getting the banana on that deal.

ou might try finding a breeder in your area that could furnish you with pre-killed that you can then freeze

Snakes eat carrion in the wild, I don't see how refreezing the rat could hurt things.

Order from the mouse factory they are in Texas :gj:

wow mine rats are 1.50 I have a breed here in my town

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Originally Posted by meowmeowkazoo

Snakes eat carrion in the wild, I don't see how refreezing the rat could hurt things.

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Do you have any links or references?

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Originally Posted by reptileexperts

15 a pop? man! Order bulk, save loads :-) You can order quantities that work for you and still save a ton of loot by ordering even as little as 40 rats at a time (my typical order now is 400 every 3 months). . .

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My wife would go off the deep end if I tried to put 40 rats in my freezer :) I only have one snake so I just pick up one from Pet* on the way home from work every Friday. There is a small pet store that sells them from some local breeder but it's way the hell out of my way. For now I just suck it up. It would probably cost me that much in gas to drive across town!

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Originally Posted by VooDooDoc

My wife would go off the deep end if I tried to put 40 rats in my freezer :)

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Not if you got her into the hobby and got her a snake of her own;)

Thoug it is funny to see the looks on peoples faces when I move the rats to get to something for dinner:rofl::rofl: