Mom thinks frozen rats/mice in a fridge is unsanitary, how to convince her it isn't?

[Snake Judy]

Hmm, I keep mine in baggies inside a sealed opaque tupperware container. Looks perfectly innocuous and doesn't come into contact with any food. I tend to forget they're there until I need them.

So maybe find a way to store them that won't be a constant reminder that they're in there? Out of sight, out of mind. I feel like buying and powering a whole separate freezer is sort of impractical unless you're feeding several animals.

[EL-Ziggy]

I agree with what many others have already said. Invest in a small freezer. Problem solved.

[BCS]

If you are going to feed one snake, it does not make any sense what so ever to by a whole separate freezer when you will most likely only use it for maybe 2 -4 rats. It's a waste of space, power used, and money. If you were feeding a whole bunch of snakes. Then I can understand. I have a small mini fridge style freezer that houses all my F/T, but I also have a bunch of snakes and all my rodents do not fit in our food freezer. When I started out with a corn snake, A small box that was only 2" in all directions for 4 fuzzy mice would stay with our food freezer. We never got sick. I used the freezer we stored our food in until I got up to 6 snakes and the freezer was no longer big enough. That was years ago now. There is absolutely no reason to buy a different freezer for such a tiny box.

If you seal the rats properly, there should be no issue. Put it in a freezer ziploc bag, then in a small tupperware container. Put that in a brown paper bag so no one ca see it. Either that or start buying freshly killed. You can also buy live and euthanize them yourself, that way there is no need for a freezer. I wouldn't go out and buy a whole freezer just to store one rat. It will not infect your food.

[blue roses]

I keep my frozen feeders in my freezer. The basement freezer is full so the freezer section of my fridge is where i have to keepthem. They are double bagged in heavy plastic bags then put in to white plastic bags. Since you can't see them through the plastic, anyone going into my freezer can't see them.

[DVirginiana]

I wouldn't want frozen mice or rats next to my steak either whether it's sanitary or not. Gross... Listen to everyone else and get a small fridge on craig'slist.

DV, please don't compare these two things because they're COMPLETELY different. You're talking about professionally butchered meat that has health inspections to rodent that pee and crap on themselves.

No, those two scenarios are entirely comparable. Both items carry the risk for disease if handled improperly. You'll get sick if you thaw your hamburger improperly and let it drip onto raw vegetables, or undercook it, just like you'll probably get sick if you leave loose mice floating around your freezer touching your food items. It's like comparing acid and liquid nitrogen; yes those two substances are completely different, but you're silly if you feel safe handling one and not the other because they have comparable safety protocol.

Don't pretend that meat for human consumption is butchered and handled in such a way that it prevents urine and/or fecal matter from ending up in the final product. I realize that much of that is unavoidable, but if unsanitary butchering and packaging practices weren't common the industry wouldn't have limits for the maximum amount of fecal matter and rodent droppings present in the final product. Basically, I find it hilarious for someone to be okay with up to eight rodent droppings in a pack of hot dogs but none inside an actual mouse. Those inspections you're talking about aren't to keep the meat clean, they're to keep it from getting so bad people start getting sick and suing.

It's the exact same argument I have with people who are afraid of getting salmonella from a turtle but not from handling raw chicken or unwashed vegetables. If you trust your safety protocol for one item (in this case hand-washing) you should trust it for others.

[Albert Clark]

Well you know what ? Your mother is right. You can try all you want to justify keeping snake food mixed with human food it just isn't sanitary period. If you want to be a reptile keeper then be responsible all the way. Buy a freezer for your animal food! Why try and convince someone who is totally adamant about you keeping mice and rats next to her frozen foods. Come on, do the right thing and get your own. You will feel more responsible when you buy your own anyway.

[SCWood]

Hmm, I keep mine in baggies inside a sealed opaque tupperware container. Looks perfectly innocuous and doesn't come into contact with any food. I tend to forget they're there until I need them.

So maybe find a way to store them that won't be a constant reminder that they're in there? Out of sight, out of mind. I feel like buying and powering a whole separate freezer is sort of impractical unless you're feeding several animals.

Mine is similar. They come in packages that I open and separate into portioned baggies. I clean them up and then I double bag in grocery bags and shove them in the top shelf of the door . inconspicuous and is a spot nobody ever used anyway. Everybody is happy. If I had to keep in the house, Jen wouldn't argue. For a month I did when the garage fridge wasn't working. She designated their spot in the house fridge and made sure that was where they stayed. I guess not everyone understands. It's not like they can contaminate anything because they're FROZEN and my house has a lot of appliances so adding another for f/t rats seems impractical for space and power

1.2 Normal
1.1 Red-tail
0.1 Albino corn

[DVirginiana]

You can try all you want to justify keeping snake food mixed with human food it just isn't sanitary period.

Do explain to me how having properly sealed (and I do mean properly, not tossed in a ziploc bag) mice in your freezer is unsanitary when having chicken thawing in the same space as your vegetables is not (unless of course you all use restaurant-level protocol for thawing and holding meat)?

[Snake Judy]

Well you know what ? Your mother is right. You can try all you want to justify keeping snake food mixed with human food it just isn't sanitary period. If you want to be a reptile keeper then be responsible all the way. Buy a freezer for your animal food! Why try and convince someone who is totally adamant about you keeping mice and rats next to her frozen foods. Come on, do the right thing and get your own. You will feel more responsible when you buy your own anyway.

How is it unsanitary?? It's not like people keep piles of loose, unwrapped meat and rats stacked up in their freezer. Honestly, a tiny bit of common sense and it's no big deal. It's one thing if OP's mom is stuck on the issue, but it's weird to back her up and say it's irresponsible reptile keeping.

[Albert Clark]

Do explain to me how having properly sealed (and I do mean properly, not tossed in a ziploc bag) mice in your freezer is unsanitary when having chicken thawing in the same space as your vegetables is not (unless of course you all use restaurant-level protocol for thawing and holding meat)?

Lora, I am not going to try to persuade you to change your view on what I see as my view. I am simply expressing how I feel and this is me. You have your view on this topic and that's fine. It is disrespectful to a owner of a refrigerator and freezer to expect them to house your reptile foods alongside their foods for human consumption, period . That is how I feel about it. I am responsible to keep all my reptile supplies including reptile foods in a area designated for reptiles and that doesn't include my moms freezer. For me, that is the end of the debate.