Leftovers: Frozen-Thawed, Frozen n Thawed AGAIN.

[JustMeNmySnakes]

Folks, is it a no no to re-freeze a rat if she doesn't eat n re-thaw n feed it or try n feed it to her again?
I did because she was chillin in her hide and I tried to feed her. She refused and I found out yesterday, she was in shed. She shed and POOPED.
I tried to feed her the same rat. It's been about 2+ weeks since her last rat. She wasn't remotely interested today in the leftovers.
Is it possible she sensed something wrong with the rat like maybe it was spoiled?
I took it out and bagged it for the trash.

Thanks!

[Jrich]

I've wondered the same thing. I have heard that's it ok to refreeze just once after the initial freeze but no more after that. I'd be interested in seeing what other members say.

[SSSSnakes]

i refreeze once and have had no problems with it.

[Sublimeballs]

If something else in the snake room doesn't eat a refused rat I refreeze one time. If its refused a second time it's trash. Or in my case now redfoot tortoise food. Happens less now that I don't have a ton of ball pythons; when I had 35+ balls I got a lot of refused rats.

[SnoopySnake]

I only refreeze once, and I won't refreeze pinkies or fuzzies.

[Sublimeballs]

Pinkies turn kinda purple when refrozen and may... Umm... Fall apart.

[SnoopySnake]

Pinkies turn kinda purple when refrozen and may... Umm... Fall apart.

Exactly, lol. I refroze a pink once and when the snake took it it exploded...

[JustMeNmySnakes]

Thanks everyone. I figure she's smarter than I am and if she could, she'd tell me, lol, I didn't want that rat the first time, what makes you think I want it now? LOL! Anyways...
Thought shed be nippy coming outta shed and nothing to eat for two weeks, but she climbed right up on my bare hand. I was sure I'd get bit, but she was calmer than she's ever been.
Thanks again!

[pinefamily]

We re-freeze once as well, but have virtually no leftovers now, between a changed feeding regime, and 2 hungry Mertens' and 2 hungry flavi's.

[jossh27]

im not questioning every ones opinion, so don't get me wrong... but would you freeze a porkchop, thaw, refreeze, thaw and then eat it? -i wouldn't.. but i'm not a snake either and i don't know what a snakes immune system is like or if they can get sick from food

...thats just how i look at things and i only have one snake so i don't see a big loss in money from uneaten food

[millertime89]

I also will refreeze once. In fact I've got a refrozen chicken in the freezer now.

[millertime89]

im not questioning every ones opinion, so don't get me wrong... but would you freeze a porkchop, thaw, refreeze, thaw and then eat it? -i wouldn't.. but i'm not a snake either and i don't know what a snakes immune system is like or if they can get sick from food

...thats just how i look at things and i only have one snake so i don't see a big loss in money from uneaten food

Would, have, and will again. I've done it with ham, turkey, chicken, whatever.

[Jim Smith]

Like many others here, if a snake refuses a meal, I will thaw and refreeze prey items one time. If they are not consumed the second time, they go out into the garbage. That said, I also have some questions about "spoiled' frozen mice that have never been thawed out (at least by me). Every once in a while, I will come across a mouse that none of the snakes will eat. They will "taste" it with their tongue and turn away. This happens even if the mouse in question is one of multiple food items offered to a snake. I suspect that some of the mice aren't quite as fresh as one would think when they are frozen. I only buy from a reputable suppliers, but I think they may have a bad one sneak by their quality control every once in a while. I throw out the "spoiled" mice and keep track of the shipment dates, just in case I need to contact the supplier if it happens more than once in a while. Anyone else here every experience this?

[Aaron_S]

im not questioning every ones opinion, so don't get me wrong... but would you freeze a porkchop, thaw, refreeze, thaw and then eat it? -i wouldn't.. but i'm not a snake either and i don't know what a snakes immune system is like or if they can get sick from food

...thats just how i look at things and i only have one snake so i don't see a big loss in money from uneaten food

If a snake comes across a dead animal in the wild it doesn't stop to say "Oh. I wonder how fresh this is?" It just eats it.

Food is food is food to them within reason.

[reptiledude987]

For me with pinks and fuzzies I wont refreez them either but will stick them in the fridge then offer again within 24 hours. If rejected again then garbage.

[pinefamily]

Like many others here, if a snake refuses a meal, I will thaw and refreeze prey items one time. If they are not consumed the second time, they go out into the garbage. That said, I also have some questions about "spoiled' frozen mice that have never been thawed out (at least by me). Every once in a while, I will come across a mouse that none of the snakes will eat. They will "taste" it with their tongue and turn away. This happens even if the mouse in question is one of multiple food items offered to a snake. I suspect that some of the mice aren't quite as fresh as one would think when they are frozen. I only buy from a reputable suppliers, but I think they may have a bad one sneak by their quality control every once in a while. I throw out the "spoiled" mice and keep track of the shipment dates, just in case I need to contact the supplier if it happens more than once in a while. Anyone else here every experience this?
Not sure why they sometimes seem to refuse like this. We have had it both with rats from our regular breeder, and our own stock. Maybe they are not "spoiled" as such, but maybe they have a different smell to them. And it's not just one refusing a feed, but the same rat offered to several pythons.

[prairiepanda]

im not questioning every ones opinion, so don't get me wrong... but would you freeze a porkchop, thaw, refreeze, thaw and then eat it? -i wouldn't.. but i'm not a snake either and i don't know what a snakes immune system is like or if they can get sick from food

...thats just how i look at things and i only have one snake so i don't see a big loss in money from uneaten food

I've actually done that lots of times! Thaw some meat, then suddenly get invited out for supper, or have something come up that takes up too much time so I don't get a chance to cook...if I have time to cook it the next day then I will put it in the fridge, otherwise it goes back in the freezer. Unless it's the meat I get at steep discounts because it's close to expiry; those ones I only thaw once. But that's not an option when buying mice! Twice-frozen meat doesn't cause me any problems, so I wouldn't worry about it causing my snakes any problems.

However, if I leave a mouse in with the snake overnight then I will throw it out if it's still uneaten. I rarely do that though.

[sharthun]

I refreeze once as well.Works well for me.

[JustMeNmySnakes]

Great feedback. All appreciated.