the problem if the temperature isnt low enough is that the bacteria in the intestines of the rhodent stay active. And as these start feeding on the mouse from the inside, they produce warmth, release energy. In addition, dissolved salts and sugars and other stuff lowers the freezing point. so if you just go a little bit below zero, (in celsius zero is the freezing point of water) the rhodent can rot from the inside for extended periods of time without problems.

i guess thats why the bellies were soft while some other parts were solid.


id suggest -15 degrees celsius, wolframalpha says thats 5 degrees fahrenheit.

(by the way, dedicated freezers are much better than the freezer-sections of the fridge. the problem is that a fridge must keep the rest of the inside of the device ABOVE freezing while keeping the small freezer-section below freezing. As the temperature reaches equilibrium and the fridge-section gets close to freezing, the electronics will start heating the fridge-section, usually by switching on the 20 watt lightbulb inside the fridge-section, while cooling the freezing section to increase the temperature difference between the two sections. this imperfect design is not energy-efficient and leads to qute unstable temperatures.)