So how long do rats last in the fridge?

I put a frozen rat in the fridge Wednesday evening. I was going to feed her Thursday night but I accidentally fell asleep early. Then Friday night something came up. So it’s Saturday now and I’m definitely going to feed her tonight. Should I toss the rat that’s in the fridge and thaw a fresh one? Or would it be okay. My fridge is definitely on the colder side, it takes a long time for meat I put in there to actually thaw out. Thanks!

think about your own food: if you moved a steak to the fridge and waited a couple days, would you still cook it?

likely yes.

as long as it was in the fridge the whole time it is 100% A-OK to feed.

It's probably OK, but I'd sniff it, & for sure toss if the snake refuses it (their nose is way better than ours).

But it's not such a perfect comparison between thawed rats & our steaks:
The big difference between comparing our food to snake food is that ours is cooked, & that kills lots of bacteria, unlike the raw food consumed by our pet snakes.
Also, the rodents we feed are whole animals...with LOTS of bacteria in the GI tract...whereas our steaks are all "cleaned up".

Remember that food still spoils at cold refrigerator temperatures...it's only when frozen that process is arrested.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

It's probably OK, but I'd sniff it, & for sure toss if the snake refuses it (their nose is way better than ours).

But it's not such a perfect comparison between thawed rats & our steaks:
The big difference between comparing our food to snake food is that ours is cooked, & that kills lots of bacteria, unlike the raw food consumed by our pet snakes.
Also, the rodents we feed are whole animals...with LOTS of bacteria in the GI tract...whereas our steaks are all "cleaned up".

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important points. my post was very generalized but i feel it still explained the thought process behind proper...feeder...care? lol.

It's fine. They take longer to thaw than butchered meat due to the fur, which acts as an insulator.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

It's fine. They take longer to thaw than butchered meat due to the fur, which acts as an insulator.

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legit NEVER considered this before. i set my feeders in the fridge tues. night for feeding wed. and always wondered why they took so long to thaw. im just a little mad that i never thought of this LOL.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

legit NEVER considered this before. i set my feeders in the fridge tues. night for feeding wed. and always wondered why they took so long to thaw. im just a little mad that i never thought of this LOL.

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Rat isn't too bad. I've put adult rabbits in the refrigerator to thaw and five days later they're still solid. Bunny fur is a great insulator!

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Rat isn't too bad. I've put adult rabbits in the refrigerator to thaw and five days later they're still solid. Bunny fur is a great insulator!

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ive read the stories of thawing rabbits for days but i just never considered rats to have a similar issue.

i knew my rats needed much longer to thaw, and it's great to finally know why!!! ty bcr [emoji4]

I just go by my standards for food (working in a kitchen). In a fridge you have about 5-6 days after it is killed before it's bad as long as it was cooled rapidly. In a freezer it will last up to 3 months provided it wasn't thawed after it was initially frozen. If you thaw it it should be fine to cool it down again and keep for a couple days as long as it wasn't out at room temp for 4 hours or more but you can't warm it up more than once after it's thawed. If you heat up the head of the rodent as people recommend it's not reusable. Heating it up puts it right in the middle of what's called "the danger zone" a temp at which bacteria will flourish(41-145°F). So if you heat up the head get it in the snake's belly as fast as you can.

I'm not sure. But had some in the freezer in plastic bags, and got to the last bag, and it was nothing but "exploded" frozen blood. So, it must be less than two months. But, since I have three out of four that are way too picky, I feed live now.

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Originally Posted by Samurai

I'm not sure. But had some in the freezer in plastic bags, and got to the last bag, and it was nothing but "exploded" frozen blood. So, it must be less than two months. But, since I have three out of four that are way too picky, I feed live now.

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Sounds like maybe they defrosted, spoiled & were refrozen? Rats (or mice) do not simply "explode frozen blood" while in the "freezer" (assuming it's cold enough).
And certainly not in 2 months time being frozen. For the sake of your own health, you might check how cold your freezer & fridge are, so food isn't spoiling. It's also
possible that you had a power outage while away for a while. There's ways to test that.

It should be fine after only 3 days in the fridge, when I feed my ball python I skip the refrigerator process. I just take a rat out at around 12pm and by 7pm to 9pm it's thawed and good to warm up for 10 mins in hot water and ready to be fed to the snake. He's an adult ball python and eats medium rats, smaller rats take a lot less long to thaw so you would be able to take it out later depending on the size of the rat. I remember when my ball python was just a baby I only had to take rats out about 2 hours before feeding him. That's just my method, thawing slowly in the fridge is just as good. :)