My mice keep POPPING!

[coldblooded]

Whenever I thaw out a mouse the skin around the abdomen pops open and I get a nice stew in my sink, losing all the good stuff! :mad:

Anyone else have/had this problem?

Should I be bagging the mice when I thaw them? :confused:

Stinks pretty bad too.



On a side note:

I think I've figured out what dog food is made out of... :eek:


Mike

[Asian Jon]

I've only heard one case of this where the mouse 'popped' when the snake struck at it. It has never happened to me....yet, but it sounds kinda gross:medpuke:

[wetlander]

How do you thaw them? Don't use the microwave this heats them from the inside out causing them to pop. I put mine into ziplock bags and remove most of the air then float them in a bucket of hot tap water until they thaw. Then I repeat the float again for about 20 minutes to warm them up.

I have never had a problem with my feeders this way.

Doug

[coldblooded]

Ok, "popping" is kind of misleading... more like "disintegrating".

Leaves the contents of the mouse in my sink and me defrosting another mouse.

I actually tried "replacing" the insides, once... and only ONCE.


Mike

[coldblooded]

Wetlander:

I fill my bar sink with cold water and let the mouse sit for up to 10 hours (while I sleep) and then I fill the sink with hot water (not boiling or anything) and let the mouse warm up before feeding.

It's just the mouse in the water... no bag. Maybe I'll try a zip-loc next time. Does the bag keep the rodents dry?


Mike

[JAdkins2451]

Its happened to me I belive on 2 occasions. I just let my mice/rats thaw sitting on counter top. And I heat them up in warm water.. But once the side opened up and "spilled out" It wasnt a pretty sight and the second my boa squeezed and poped out some of his insides..

Jamie

[CamHanna]

Have you tried air-thawing?

[REH]

Because the mouse has thawed already the bacteria inside will begin to work and that causes the problem. Use the ziplock as welander said.

Reh

[peterm15]

also if you leave something stright in water for like 10 hrs it could become waterlogged.. it happened to a cow once in a quary in my area... somones foot hit it and it "popped" now that was a mess..

[coldblooded]

Thanks all...

I'll try a zip-loc next time.

As for air thawing I shall try that as well.

Ewww... I can already smell the cow.


Mike

[marylyn101]

i use a coffee cupof hot tap water and then replace it frequently. it should be hot to the touch but not so hot it hurts the finger. then when everything is warm and squishy i leave it in hot/warm water for 10 minutes to be sure. dry them off and then feed. no problems. the whole thing takes about 2 hours. i feed mice and small gerbils.

[boas_and_such]

that happened to me on one occasion and it was when i didn't leave the mice in a baggy...

i think peterm15 is right more than likely the mice got waterlogged makeing the skin thinner and when you out them in the warm water it just finished them off...


and i feel your pain...it was THE nastiest i have EVER smelled...

[Jayson]

This has not anything to do with the way the rats was thawed, I have thawed thousands of rats in every different way and this has only happened once to me and it was a rat that was bought at a pet shop. I believe that it is from being in the freezer to long or it was refrozen before.

[GRC]

I Hate when that happens, and generally what the problem is is how the rats were packaged. I found if this happens to one of my new packs of rats, its gonna happen to all the rats in that pack because of the way they were frozen. If there is moisture on the rat, or the rat is wet, and then frozen, the frost action weakens the rats belly and basically works the skin down to nothing when its defrosted. So basically there is nothing you can do, if this is what happened to your rats, they are probably all going to brake.
The only other thing i can recommend would be to defrost at a slower pace, or use less heat and more time! Also, if its just a one time issue, dont worry about it. If this persists, find a new place to get frozen rodents.
All the Best
Global Reptile Creations

[Auskan]

Whether or not the defrost method is the reason for them "popping" I don't like the sound of leaving it out to defrost at room temperature (cold water eventually warms up to room temp) for 10 hours. This is asking for bacteria to develop. Would you eat meat that had been sitting out at room temp for 10 hours? If you want to slow defrost, put it in the fridge to defrost. Otherwise, I would defrost in hot tap water (replace as many times as needed as it cools) and try to keep the defrost time to a minimum.

[sapphire_moon]

i agree, I wouldn't leave it out for 10hrs.

Use HOT tap water (with mouse in baggie) and let it thaw in there, then once thawed replace now cool water with hot water and warm up the mouse.

I USED to microwave a cup/bowl of water for like 6-8 minutes, then put the mouse in and weigh it down with a coffee cup, it was usually thawed in a few minutses and nice and warm, you might have to let it cool a bit before giving to your snake though.

Also it never takes a small mouse 10hrs to defrost, I leave a small mouse out on the counter for like an hour and it's usually completely defrosted (then again my house is like 78-80 degrees, lol).

[Simon]

Another thing to consider,
other than the defrosting part, it could be the quality of the mice/rat where you got it from. Maybe the mice/rat was already dead before they put it in the freezer (as in decaying, not just fresh killed)

I have known, used, a couple of mice breeder's mice and I was so sure that the mice were dead way before they froze the mice. So I threw the whole bag out. Spend my money on another breeder and never again buy from the same mice breeder~

Just my 2 cents~

[coldblooded]

Auskan: Good call... fridge it is.

All my feeders are from different sources and I've had it happen multiple times with pinkies up to adults.

I guess I just won't leave them out as long from now on. I just dont like the idea of the mouse feeling thawed but having an icy center.

Thanks all


Mike

[marylyn101]

i check by feeling them up. they got squishy bellies :P

[sapphire_moon]

feeling them up! :O lol :))

just couldn't resist ;)

ya they get squishy bellies when they are completely thawed, just put them in a baggie, let them thaw, when thawed, dip it in hot tap water for a few minutes and you have a "hot" mouse!

[K1LOS]

I worked in a restaurant for a few years, it is actually against the law for us to thaw ANY meat with warm water. You have to use cold water and the best way to keep the water cold is to keep it running. I know everyone thaws mice that way, but not real food!

Geoff

[ottawaguy]

((as led zepplin plays in the background)what a great band!!!!!



Never experienced what you're talking about. Doesn't sound real good though!!
Auskan is right, KEEP YOUR DEFROST TIME TO A MINIMUM!! You are definitely asking for trouble if you leave it out to defrost overnight. I put my frozen mouse in saran wrap(cling wrap) close it up and secure with a hemostat(surgical locking clamp) which also weighs it down and keeps it under the hot water to defrost.
Water can be as hot as possible from the tap. In 5 - 10 minutes, you're rockin. A ziplock with the air squeezed out should work just as well. I try to keep it under water, ( again, to speed up the defrost time)
*Note* Defrost time will vary on the size of the food item.
If the popping thing still persists...find a different supplier. All the best...Dave

[coldblooded]

no more popping... maybe just 10 wierd ones in a row... :rolleyes

Thanks for the help.

Mike

[ottawaguy]

All's well that end well!!!

[joey]

I do the baggie in a bowl with hot water too and it works great. Last week I took a rat out after soaking, wrapped it in a papertowel and then nuked it for about 5 seconds--just to warm it up a little--made sure it wasn't too hot and then gave it to my boa. He went for it right away and then coiled himself around it, squeezed and the rats belly exploded. DAMN--that was nasty and smelled HORRIFIC!

[ottawaguy]

Did he still eat it?

[joey]

gobbled it all up.... fortunately, not too much of the innards came out. I cleaned the mess up after he ate and moved on.
blech...

[Removed_2815]

I just want to reiterate what's already been said, and add a bit more insight.

Everyone who has said that 10 hours is way too long is right on the money. 10 hours in room temperature water is simply causing bacteria to flourish and multiply at an accelerated rate. This results in putrefaction and gas production (bloating from increased pressure). An aqueous environment is conducive to rot (nothing to do with water logging, it's just that the increased water availability allows for increased decomposition). The mouse has literally rotted away overnight. The feeder becomes bloated, the tissue has literally dissolved into mush, and any amount of pressure is enough to cause what you have described.

I, too, have experience in the food industry (more specifically, specialised food preparation) in which a great deal of training was devoted to proper techniques for thawing meat. Basically, you want meat to be at either end of the spectrum, either hot or cold - anything in between is just asking for trouble.
I thaw mice out in cold water (it only takes about half an hour, not long enough for any significant degree of putrefaction) and then I replace the cold water with hot tap water for about 5 minutes or so to warm the prey up. Thus, the prey goes from cold to hot in a short period of time, and this is what you want. But you don't want the water to be too hot as this will also weaken and degrade the tissue making it more susceptible to rupturing.

Cheers,
Ryan

[CamHanna]

What about 10-12h in open air at 60F?

[sapphire_moon]

no, I wouldn't do that, It should not take 10-12 hours to thaw out a mouse anyways. I used to do it, and it only takes about 1 hour for a adult retired breeder mouse.

[CamHanna]

I was talking about 10-12 hours for a half dozen adult rats.

[dannyc]

I have to agree with the people above that said the time in the water was probably the problem. 10 hrs in water can make anything deteriorate. 45-60 min in warm water should thaw it. Then put in hot to the touch water, for about 4 min to raise the body temp so the snake thinks it's still alive. I've actually made the mistake of not doing the last part and the mouse was cool to the touch and my snake wouldn't touch it.