What is the absolute longest you can keep frozen rodents?

[Snagrio]

With how things are with, well, everything (i.e. really bad and only set to get worse), I've noticed my folks really stockpiling and I know I should do the same to prepare for the worst. Most of my essential animal supplies are dried goods that will keep for a very long time so no issue there, but I'm debating on how many rodents I can keep in the freezer to have an emergency supply but not have so many that they'll go to waste. For reference, one of my two snakes eats every 3 weeks, and the other once a week for the time being (still young and growing).

[Homebody]

With how things are with, well, everything (i.e. really bad and only set to get worse), I've noticed my folks really stockpiling and I know I should do the same to prepare for the worst. Most of my essential animal supplies are dried goods that will keep for a very long time so no issue there, but I'm debating on how many rodents I can keep in the freezer to have an emergency supply but not have so many that they'll go to waste. For reference, one of my two snakes eats every 3 weeks, and the other once a week for the time being (still young and growing).

In your refrigerator's frost-free freezer and in non-vacuum sealed bags, they'll last about 6 months. You can extend that to a year (maybe longer) by vacuum sealing and using a deep freezer.

[Homebody]

From RodentPro:

How long will the frozen prey items last in the freezer?
Depending on how they are stored, most frozen foods can last up to 12 months. It is a good idea to minimize any exposure to air by using air tight freezer bags. While we recommend not storing prey items without fur or feathers for more than 4 or 6 months and prey items with fur or feathers for 9 to 12 months, if properly sealed containers are used and air exposure is kept to a minimum, they can be kept for much longer.

[Bogertophis]

From RodentPro:

How long will the frozen prey items last in the freezer?
.... prey items with fur or feathers for 9 to 12 months, if properly sealed containers are used and air exposure is kept to a minimum, they can be kept for much longer.

I'd agree. No one can give an exact answer to this, so if you've kept some prey on the "long side" of recommendations, and IF your snake hesitates to eat it, listen to them & toss.

[bcr229]

While the plural of anecdote is not data, I found a ten year old package of non-vacuum sealed grocery store chicken breasts out of the bottom of my very large chest freezer. I can't speak to whether or not they lost any nutrients during that decade, but I suffered no ill effects from making them into white chicken chili.

[Bogertophis]

While the plural of anecdote is not data, I found a ten year old package of non-vacuum sealed grocery store chicken breasts out of the bottom of my very large chest freezer. I can't speak to whether or not they lost any nutrients during that decade, but I suffered no ill effects from making them into white chicken chili.

That works for me! That's what I'd call being "on the long side" of recommendations.

[Snagrio]

6 months to a year sounds about as long as I've been keeping them already since I order in bulk. I'm somewhat but not quite due for a new batch though I guess I can just order early to ensure I have that buffer should things get super ugly. Though it's harder with the corn. He's still quite young and growing to the point where I've just bought rodents from the store in smaller batches so I'm going to have to figure out how much of what kind of rodent to order for him (he's on fuzzies now and I estimate he'll be ready for the next size in a couple months or so).

[Bogertophis]

6 months to a year sounds about as long as I've been keeping them already since I order in bulk. I'm somewhat but not quite due for a new batch though I guess I can just order early to ensure I have that buffer should things get super ugly. Though it's harder with the corn. He's still quite young and growing to the point where I've just bought rodents from the store in smaller batches so I'm going to have to figure out how much of what kind of rodent to order for him (he's on fuzzies now and I estimate he'll be ready for the next size in a couple months or so).

Take your best guess & realize that there's no perfect "prey delivery" in the wild either. If you have too many smaller ones, you can feed 2 at a time to finish them up before you get the next size. It doesn't have to be "perfect" all the time- "close enough" works. With a corn, they're slender, so they often do better with 2 smaller items before going to the next size up anyway, & corn snakes rarely object to 2 items per meal, unlike many BPs.

[Snagrio]

Take your best guess & realize that there's no perfect "prey delivery" in the wild either. If you have too many smaller ones, you can feed 2 at a time to finish them up before you get the next size. It doesn't have to be "perfect" all the time- "close enough" works. With a corn, they're slender, so they often do better with 2 smaller items before going to the next size up anyway, & corn snakes rarely object to 2 items per meal, unlike many BPs.

That's true, I have fed him multiples when he was on pinkies so I know he has no qualms with taking seconds. In fact I'm sure he'd take thirds if I let him.

[Bogertophis]

That's true, I have fed him multiples when he was on pinkies so I know he has no qualms with taking seconds. In fact I'm sure he'd take thirds if I let him.

Don't over-do it, in terms of the total volume of food given, but as I said, you can be flexible & with slender snakes (rat/corn snakes, etc), giving multiple smaller items prior to sizing up is totally fine.