What to do with uneaten thawed rodents?

I do not have a snake yet, but I’ve been thinking, can you do anything with thawed rodents if your snake doesn’t eat it besides throw it away?

Taxidermy? Give it to the cat? Have a unique barbecue and invite the neighbors without telling them what kind of meat it is?


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Many people will refreeze one time. If it's refused a second time it gets tossed.

I just toss my refusals into the yard and some neighborhood animal gets a treat. It's always gone by morning.

But, if you get more snakes one of them will always eat it, hehehehehe.

I don't re-freeze...they get so gross (texture suffers greatly) & have more bacterial growth (ie. more likely to make your snake barf). Refused rodents are
very rare here, fortunately. (-I don't keep BPs, lol.) But when I lived in the desert, I did keep BPs along with many other snakes, & any refused or excess
rodents got tossed over my fence & into the surrounding fields at night, where coyotes were tickled to receive them. It's really best not to re-offer rodents
to other snakes...especially if any snakes are newly arrived, as this practice is apt to share mites or diseases with other snakes. If you're going to re-offer
thawed rodents, it's best to only do this between long-term snakes that are known to be healthy, but it's still never risk-free.
By now, anyone that knows me (& what's in my freezer) also knows better than to force me to cook for a pot-luck. :rofl:

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Originally Posted by TechnoCheese

Have a unique barbecue and invite the neighbors without telling them what kind of meat it is?

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Almost shot coffee out of my nose right there. I usually just pitch them. My first choice was to toss them out back for the crows, but that wasn't popular with the rest of the house.

I just toss them in with my ferrets. Perks of having a few other carnivores in the house.

When I had just 1 or 2 snakes I would refreeze refused feeders once and I never had any problems. I don't have that issue anymore. With (11) snakes there's always a hungry critter waiting for a meal.

It becomes wildlife food (I live on 4 acres in the country so it's an advantage)

I would totally feed the buzzards here, or crows too. Just have to find a woods or field...neighbors in town won't likely appreciate. :rolleyes:

I also toss them. There's a definite change in appearance even from them being left in the cage overnight. Now, if I had a refusal and wasn't going to leave it in the cage, I would just give to another snake.

One of my bigger BPs is a slithering trash can. He's always happy to take an extra in the rare case one of the others doesn't eat.

Otherwise, yeah, I'd probably just toss it out for a local scavenger.

- Charles Eye

I figured I’d ask this here because it’s somewhat related, but will frozen feeders go bad if kept for too long? I would imagine that if they could it would take a very long time, but about how long is their shelf life?

This forum has been a great help. Thanks, you guys!


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by TechnoCheese

I figured I’d ask this here because it’s somewhat related, but will frozen feeders go bad if kept for too long? I would imagine that if they could it would take a very long time, but about how long is their shelf life?

This forum has been a great help. Thanks, you guys!


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It really depends on how well they're wrapped. If you want the best quality & longest shelf life, you want to keep them vacuum-sealed -get a "Seal a Meal" gadget if the
rodents you buy don't come vacuum-packed. Assuming the best wrap, they should last 6-12+ months & even then won't go "bad" as long as your power was never off to
the extent that they thawed out & were re-frozen. You will lose some "quality" after a while, but "freezer burn" is mostly a cosmetic issue, your snake won't care.

I recommend you don't re-freeze any uneaten rodents though: bacteria grows rapidly at room temperatures, & freezing doesn't kill bacteria, it's just dormant until thawed
again. Bleah! They also get mushy & are prone to fall apart if the snake is even willing to bite or squeeze them. And when you sniff them, even you'll know they're bad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

It really depends on how well they're wrapped. If you want the best quality & longest shelf life, you want to keep them vacuum-sealed -get a "Seal a Meal" gadget if the
rodents you buy don't come vacuum-packed. Assuming the best wrap, they should last 6-12+ months & even then won't go "bad" as long as your power was never off to
the extent that they thawed out & were re-frozen. You will lose some "quality" after a while, but "freezer burn" is mostly a cosmetic issue, your snake won't care.

I recommend you don't re-freeze any uneaten rodents though: bacteria grows rapidly at room temperatures, & freezing doesn't kill bacteria, it's just dormant until thawed
again. Bleah! They also get mushy & are prone to fall apart if the snake is even willing to bite or squeeze them. And when you sniff them, even you'll know they're bad.

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Thank you! And yeah, I’ve heard enough stories before joining to stay away from refreezing, lol


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And there's always "ratatouille"? :rofl: (I'm kidding, there's no rats in ratatouille, but it sounded right.)

We have a living garbage can in the shape of a savannah monitor.

My rodent trash can is named Ozzy. He never refuses a rat :D

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../img_0674c.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Monty's Python

My rodent trash can is named Ozzy. He never refuses a rat :D

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../img_0674c.jpg

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Super cute!


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