Freeze Mice Not Eaten ???

[JohnNJ]

Not sure where to post this...

My niece purchased live mice to feed her BP's yesterday and they refused to eat. She does not have a setup to keep the mice alive for a week.

Is it healthy (for the snakes) to kill the mice (blunt force), freeze them and offer them to the BP's next week? If not, what other option does she have?

Thanks
JohnNJ

[starmom]

For my one live eater, I get around 4 female mice at a time.

I purchased a very inexpensive and small cage for the mice (it was under $20). I also purchased a water bottle ($5) and some food ($5).

I like this set-up as I am able to flesh out the (usually) puny mice prior to feeding to my snake

I'm sorry to not answer the 'blunt force' part of your question since I am just not a proponent of that methodology. She could rig up a CO2 chamber and then freeze them....

[LostNFound]

ummm as far as feeding them frozen / thawed mice yes this is ok! blunt force or co2 either way. I only buy already frozen as I don't wanna do the killing. I should add make sure you put them in the fridge the night before feeding day and then warm them up in a WARM bowl of water when its feeding time.

gl!

[JohnNJ]

I'm sorry to not answer the 'blunt force' part of your question since I am just not a proponent of that methodology.

We will be purchasing frozen mice at a show in three weeks so this issue will go away. I was just asking out of curiosity.

Let me rephrase the question. Would freezing a dead mouse that may have had some internal bleeding, and then thawing and feeding it to a healthy Ball Python have any negative effect on the snake?

Thanks.

[RuGGeR]

It will be ok... You can even refrozen it a several times (provided its not starting to decompose) if for some reason your snake dont eat it....

[goldenfoxs]

It will be ok... You can even refrozen it a several times (provided its not starting to decompose) if for some reason your snake dont eat it....

you can refreeze it but i wouldnt every time u freeze it the ice crystals that form in the tissue kills more and more of it every time. than since there is less tissue there is less nutrition.
just my 2 cents

[dr del]

Hi,

Plus the more times they are frozen/ thawed the greater the risk if setting off the mouse grenades.


dr del

[JohnNJ]

Plus the more times they are frozen/ thawed the greater the risk if setting off the mouse grenades.

Derek:

Thanks for the reply but the original question was about freezing mice that were not killed "humanely" and may have had some internal bleeding. Freeze them immediately to feed at a later date.

Is it bad to feed a traumatized mouse to a snake? I'm guessing that it's OK and will not harm the snake. I'm sure the mouse would disagree.

Thanks.
JohNJ

[dr del]

Hi John,

Appologies - I should have clarified I was responding to Rugger's post on re-freezing multiple times.

Regarding you original question then I would say it would obviously depend on the amount of trauma caused but I think the only concerns from the snake's point of view would be the mess. The method you used to defrost them will affect this though I think if the damage was extreme?

But I have to say I really don't think you should use that method of killing the prey items on moral (and, over here, legal ) grounds.

Were the snakes she has eating F/T or live previously?

If they were on live then it may take some time to switch them over and getting a small critter keeper and food/ waterbottle for uneaten prey items makes economic sense - and, as Starmom said, it gives you a chance to up the quality of the food as a side effect.


dr del

[JohnNJ]

Were the snakes she has eating F/T or live previously?

Her BP's have been on both live and F/T. I haven't noticed a difference in which they prefer.

She gave the mice to a friend but I don't think she'll get them back as feeders. I refuse to keep mice. I bred mice when I had my snakes many years ago and the smell is unbearable. I offered up the males ASAP. I eventually bred gerbils and fed them exclusively.

When I gave those snakes to a friend's son, they switched back to mice and rats without missing a meal.

Thanks.
JohnNJ