How long will rats keep

I'm sure it's here somewhere but can't find. My wife picked up a couple small frozen rats today and left them in her purse. She put them in the refrigerator later. My question is how long will they keep, and can I referee them. Thanks

Putting them in the fridge will not keep them frozen.. In the freezer they will last about a year. I would not recommend refreezing. It can get messy and snakes might refuse refrozen rats. If they thawed out before you put them in the fridge, they might not be very good. Buy them and as soon as possible put them in the freezer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Flikky

Putting them in the fridge will not keep them frozen.. In the freezer they will last about a year. I would not recommend refreezing. It can get messy and snakes might refuse refrozen rats. If they thawed out before you put them in the fridge, they might not be very good. Buy them and as soon as possible put them in the freezer

---

Yeah, I know that putting them in the fridge will not keep them frozen. I do put them in the freezer after buying them, but my wife left them in her purse and they thawed some so she put them in the fridge. I was just wondering how long they would stay in the fridge.

I know people who place their rats out at room temp to thaw out before feeding.

I wouldn't worry about it.

So you're saying I can keep them out for 3-4 days and not worry about it? I'm asking how long will they last in the fridge? I've got 3 in there, feeding her one tonight and still have the other two which she will not be able to take for a while?

toss them in the freezer and call it a day. you will be fine. many people re freeze after a single thaw.

Freeze the ones she is not eating tonight

Sorry, I didn't read the question very well.
I thought you were talking about one rat, that would soon be fed off soon.
I agree with the above comments, freeze and call it a night.

Definitly do NOT re freeze them after they have been thawed. You could feed one today, feed another tomorrow and just cut your losses with the third. Thats what I recommend.

Rule number 1 when dealing with frozen food is you do not re freeze after its initially been thawed. No different when dealing with your snakes food


Http://www.BCBallPythons.com
Http://www.facebook.com/bcballpythons

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BCBallPythons

Definitly do NOT re freeze them after they have been thawed. You could feed one today, feed another tomorrow and just cut your losses with the third. Thats what I recommend.

Rule number 1 when dealing with frozen food is you do not re freeze after its initially been thawed. No different when dealing with your snakes food


Http://www.BCBallPythons.com
Http://www.facebook.com/bcballpythons

---

Never heard that called rule number 1 and I'd have no problem doing it with anything that I would eat.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gsarchie

Never heard that called rule number 1 and I'd have no problem doing it with anything that I would eat.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

---

I've worked in the food industry for a over 10 years. When dealing with frozen food, it IS rule number one


Http://www.BCBallPythons.com
Http://www.facebook.com/bcballpythons

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Quote Originally Posted by gsarchie
Never heard that called rule number 1 and I'd have no problem doing it with anything that I would eat.

---

Quote:

---

I've worked in the food industry for a over 10 years. When dealing with frozen food, it IS rule number one

---

---

There's a bit of a difference between industry and home. I don't know anybody that wears a hair net and PPE while preparing their dinner.

For the original question, if the rats had only partially thawed in the purse, I would've put them straight in the freezer. The general rule in the forums I've seen is that you can usually refreeze ONCE if the rat didn't get warm. If it was actually room temp, I'd only fridge it for a day or two. If they were still frozen in the middle, maybe 3-4 days. If it smells at all funky when you warm it up though, toss it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sita

There's a bit of a difference between industry and home. I don't know anybody that wears a hair net and PPE while preparing their dinner.

---

Hairnets? Really?

And for me theres no difference between the two. I dont stop caring about food safety when i get home from work and have to cook dinner for my family. I wouldnt just start ignoring everything ive learned about how to keep food. If anything im MORE careful at home as im the one who is eating it.
I treat my animals food the same way. We have difference standards. And thats fine. Im not saying my way is right or your way is wrong. To each there own.



Http://www.BCBallPythons.com
Http://www.facebook.com/bcballpythons

Thanks for all the responses. I think I'll just cut my losses and toss them. Not sure how long they'd stay in the fridge.

If your buying your rats from a pet store, I would be more worried about the quality of the rat and how many times it had already been refrozen.

refreezing isnt bad as long as they havnt been thawed for over a day or two.... while frozen they keep for over a year but start to loose nutritional value after six months.... while thawed and in the fridge they will keep for up to 5 days at most but no longer as they will start to decompose..... i never keep a thawed rat past 2 days.... hope this helps