Refreezing rodents

[jjsnakedude]

Is it okay to refreez and uneaten rodents? I dont think so but I just want to make sure. If you cant, what do you do with the ones they didnt eat?
Thanks

[Jay_Bunny]

I do not personally refreeze refused rodents. I have done it on occasion in the past but now that my ferrets eat mice and rats, I have no need to refreeze them. I know that refreezing meat is a no-no, so I assume since mice are just meat, that refreezing them is also a no-no.

[sassy-pants]

I wouldn't. The same reason it is unsafe to thaw and freeze chicken (allows bacteria to grow due to being in the temperature "danger zone" for too long) should apply to rodents. When I fed f/t, I just tossed the ones they didn't eat in the trash. One of the reasons I switched to live, among others.

[dracovolans]

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...light=refreeze

[Crazy4Herps]

I've never seen any evidence that it's not okay to refreeze, but I personally don't. Better to be safe than sorry. On the few occasions that I have, none of the snakes would take them the second time around.

As for disposing rodents... I'm not sure there's much else to do besides throw it in the trash. Or you could buy a blood python, they work great as rodent disposals. I haven't had to throw away a single rodent in nine months.

[zantedeschia]

Four of my snakes are eating fuzzies to hoppers. If any refuse, they go to my 600g BP, who happily devours anything I toss his way.

As for refreezing, quite often the frozen fuzzies have mostly thawed by the time I get them home from the pet store. But that's not really the same as thawing/warming, leaving for a few hours then refreezing.

[withonor]

I have a garbage disposal named Zeek. This week Scarlett refused her meal so Zeek got a 28g pup as well as his 58g small. I wouldn't refreeze them, I tossed one out in the trash last week because I didn't think to give it to Zeek. He is ~1300 though so he could potentially eat a large rat.

[BPelizabeth]

When I use to feed F/T I did not refreeze...but then again I am a super paranoid mom.

[Deacon240]

From what I've heard is as the meat freezes crystals form in the cells and do a little breaking down, and the more times you do that the more you break down the cells. This was while I worked in a meat department. Since I see rats/mice the same way as meat I wont refreeze...

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I do not re-freeze but I have enough critters in my collection that there is always someone who will take the left over rodent if the intended snake refused it. The most I will do if I have more than one that will not eat on that day is put it in a baggie in the fridge for up to 3 days. No more than 3 days to avoid decomposing. Then I warm it and attempt to feed again. If it is refused a second time and no one else needs to eat then I just throw it in the trash.

Of course if you have a snake that is sick or showing signs of illness, never offer its uneaten rodent to anyone else. You dont want to pass any bad bacteria along.

I had one ball begin to eat her rat but she dropped it her water and wanted nothing to do with it then. I removed it and offered a second but she had already been turned off of food for the night and wouldnt take it. The one that was wet from the water bowl was tossed in the trash instead of offered to another snake so as not to pass along possible bacteria.