F/T overnight

[Andrew Larson]

If i leave a rat thawed out in my pythons cage overnight and she doesnt eat it, can i freeze it in the morning and use in another time?

[joshn6805]

Theirs a chance that when you thaw it out next time that when your ball strike's and constricts that it will pop, as in guts and a stinky mess going everywhere.

its your call, I don't see it doing any harm to the snake as long as its not decomposed and in good shape.

I would recommend only doing it once though, every time you refreeze it can cause potential problems and bacteria.

[CritterVet]

If left overnight I would toss it, especially since it's been sitting in a warm snake enclosure.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Once thawed the decomposition process will resume, so you can imagine in what shape the rat will be in the morning if uneaten , therefore the answer would be NO.

[illini4x4]

I use the same rule as the meat I eat out of the freezer. I never thaw out meat and refreeze it. I just wasted a large rat on my RTB last night cause she didnt eat....I was busy and I dont think I got the rat hot enough for her....in the garbage it went.

[singingtothewheat]

Theirs a chance that when you thaw it out next time that when your ball strike's and constricts that it will pop, as in guts and a stinky mess going everywhere.

its your call, I don't see it doing any harm to the snake as long as its not decomposed and in good shape.

I would recommend only doing it once though, every time you refreeze it can cause potential problems and bacteria.

I had a ball about a year ago that wouldn't eat. I tried a f/t and after about 2 hours I decided to refreeze it. The next time I went to defrost it blew up and yea, it was really bad.

[adam_degel]

toss it..

[Matt K]

Agreed, throw it out. I find the best and easiest way to do this is to refreeze the prey item in a separate jumbo ziplock and to throw them out with with garbage once this bag gets full and it's trash day. It's nice because you don't have to worry about the smell of a decomposing rat in your garbage for any extended periods of time, which is both disgusting and unsanitary, haha.

Cheers,
-Matt

[Crazy4Herps]

^^ I think you've got your answers.

Personally, I don't worry too much about those kinds of things. Snakes are pretty smart and aren't going to eat anything that could hurt them. (I suppose with the exception of exploding mice and microwaved mice.)

[Big Gunns]

Buy a Water Monitor and you'll never throw away food again.