Injured frozen rat fluffs?

Well, as the title says I'm always getting injured frozen rat fluffs.

I always get my rats from pets at home (uk) and every single one has either broken legs, broken tails, cuts and everything, I am just about to feed my royal a rat and it's back is gashed open about 1 and a half inches.

I was just wondering if that is normal? Does everyone get them or is it just a bad supplier?




Thanks in advance

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Rodents are often flash frozen(after being euthanized, naturally) and this freezes them quite hard and very fast. When packing them, parts often get broken because the body is not brittle. A gash could be from the sharp nail of another rat when it was pushed into the freezer bag(while frozen).

If the damage looks fresh(not a healed over stub) then it was probably done after freezing. Some places will kill the rodents, then pack them in a tray or bag, then freeze the whole thing. This has the advantage of a neatly compact package, but sometimes it's harder to separate without thawing the entire bag too. The heat from a pile of warm bodies also takes longer to disperse, which could mean they are not quite as fresh when thawed.

I hope this helps!

Welcome to the forum eb. :)

My my only experience is with Big Cheese in Texas and from a local breeder. Some rats may have a bit of blood leakage from the nasal and mouth area.

No, your rats do not seem normal at all. The description sounds very abusive and unethical to me. :mad:

After reading Wolfy's post, I would think that may make sense. However, the OP said EVERY SINGLE ONE is damaged. That sends a red flag to me.

Thanks alot, it kind of explains it to me but I don't get why all of them would be injured? I also forgot to mention that when I cut the bag open I saw the rats tongue stuck to the side of the bag? What could of caused that?

I have also seen the blood come from the nasal/mouth area.

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I would question how the supplier euthanized the rats. Sounds like they are grabbing the tail and slamming them into a board/wall rather than CO2 or cervical breaks.

Hmmm broken foot and tails can happen sometimes, but idk about cuts. Maybe they're abusing the animals?

The cut that I found last night looked like someone pinched it's skin and cut with some scissors/blade of some sort.

I may change supplier if it keeps happening and report the pet shops supplier, it doesn't seem right.

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Should'a posted pictures!

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I've got a picture of the rat I fed last night but I don't know how to post pictures..

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Did you take it with your phone? Tapatalk is super easy for posting photos from your phone.

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Okay, I will try posting it.


http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...18688e5e8d.jpg

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That is super weird! It does look like someone just sliced into it.

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Could be the way they process the rats after freezing. That isn't a pre-mortum cut, because there's no clotted blood or bruising around the wound.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a point where someone cuts open a bag/box with the rats in it and the cuts come from there.