Frozen rats

[Squirtle]

Do you guys keep them in your family freezer? (where you store all your frozen meats, ice cream etc?) and how long can you store them in the freezer before you need to throw them out? i just bought 15 large frozen rats from my breeder, going to feed one to my Burmese Python every 4 days so they should last about 2 months give or take a few days. This is my first time keeping frozen rodents in the freezer, my parents don't even know i have them in there yet.. just wait 'till they find out :)

[stephanbakir]

While power feeding a burm is fine in the first year, once they hit a year you are going to want to cut down to a 7 day feeding cycle.
Regards to freezing rodents, never more then 6-10 months. I go through about 150 rats a month, so they never really get to that point.

Personally, I'd tell them. And if you want to make it easy, try explaining that your rodents are in a sealed container, inside another container and the rodents themselves are inside ziplock freezer bags... might help.

[Jay]

I have a deep freezer for my rats. How big is your burm, I'm just curious as to why you will be feeding it a Lrg Rat every 4 days?

[Squirtle]

While power feeding a burm is fine in the first year, once they hit a year you are going to want to cut down to a 7 day feeding cycle.
Regards to freezing rodents, never more then 6-10 months. I go through about 150 rats a month, so they never really get to that point.

Personally, I'd tell them. And if you want to make it easy, try explaining that your rodents are in a sealed container, inside another container and the rodents themselves are inside ziplock freezer bags... might help.

I told them about it last week, they were just like what ever.. the reason why i'm giving him one every 4 days is because he's quiet small for his age IMO, he's about 5 foot and it's going to be a year that i've owned him on December 20th. Is it a bad thing if i feed him every 4 days? if it is then i won't feed him every 4 days, maybe every 5-6 days.

[CK SandBoas]

I have a separate freezer for all my frozen rodents. And if any chance there are some left in the freezer after 6 months, i throw them out. That rarely happens though. I also usually write on the outside of the bag the date i received the feeders, so i know if it's time to get rid of them.

[Squirtle]

I have a deep freezer for my rats. How big is your burm, I'm just curious as to why you will be feeding it a Lrg Rat every 4 days?
Read my post above

[Jay]

Well if the lg rats leave a decent bulge I would personally just feed every 7 days. Are you going to be breeding your burm

[Squirtle]

Well if the lg rats leave a decent bulge I would personally just feed every 7 days. Are you going to be breeding your burm

Nope, he's just a pet but i'd like him to be like the average burm (9-12 feet for males) I'll post a picture of him and his bulge after he's done eating.

[Jay]

Has he ever regurgitated a meal? Whats his temps/cage size?

[Squirtle]

Has he ever regurgitated a meal? Whats his temps/cage size?
On the hot side of his cage it stays at the lower 90s, cool side at mid 80s. The temperature drops to the low 80s at night and he's never regurgitated a meal in his life, the only mistake i made was starting him on mice when he was a hatchling.. He made the transaction to rats the same day i offered him them.

[Lankyrob]

I buy a months worth of prey items at a time, i removed the ice cube tray as we dont make them anyway and put the rodents in that part of the freezer.

[KORBIN5895]

I thought Burns hit 15-20 feet??? Forgive my ignorance but I am not a python man

[snake man12]

The largest burm in captivity is 22 feet long. Most likely they get 12 to 14

[alessia55]

I keep my rats in the freezer alongside my ice cream, frozen meals, and frozen veggies. No other meat in my freezer ;)

Not sure about the power-feeding. Some snakes just take a little longer to grow..... there's no need to hurry the process so long as he's healthy IMO

[rodentgirl01]

I thought you had a supplier of rabbits in your area now?? Why did you get rats? I guess you're kicking yourself now for giving your friend the rest of your rats ? lol

Anyway, at first I kept my feeders in my freezer at home. Then I had a separate chest freezer. When I moved I sold that one and now I have feeders in a freezer with my bulk meats.

I plan on buying a spare freezer just for feeders. I've never had to deal with my parents though. My parents would have killed me.

But I would wrap them in freezer paper and put them out of the way in a separate tupperware. That way, they can't even see the rats.

[alessia55]

My parents (who are not vegetarians like me) used to complain about me keeping frozen rodents in the freezer. I begged them to tell me the difference between the frozen mice and the frozen chunks of cow thigh and whole chickens and fish they had in there. That was the end of the conversation and since then they have had no problem with it :). Besides, my rodents are sealed and concealed so you can't just see them, whereas the meat my family eats is in clear bags.

[millertime89]

My folks never say anything. My new roommates however are requiring that I purchase a mini-freezer to keep my snake food in as it just wierds them out.

[candyraver69]

I keep mine in the deep freezer on the bottom shelf, covered up nice so nobody has to see them when they get out ice cream or whatever lol. They are in freezer bags and I sort of wrap them in a big towel on the shelf. Everybody knows they are there, but are happier not actually seeing them.

I keep my freezer really cold and I take my big bags of rodents and sort of take freezer bags and split into weekly servings (like 8 mice for my 8 adult corns, etc) if that makes sense so I don't open the whole big bag of 50-100 every week and they last longer. Every time you take the bag out of the freezer and let warm air in you make it last a little less time.

By keeping them in a 0F freezer and packaged individually (or by how many you feed at a time) you can probably get them to last a year, where in a normal family fridge just below freezing, opening the bag every few days probably only a couple months.

[presspirate]

Personally, I think you are feeding him to often. But that's my opinion I keep my rats in the freezer with the food. It took my wife awhile to get used to it, but she has adjusted. They should be fine 8-10 months, I'v heard people keep them up to a year, but I won't go that far.

[ZARADOZIA]

I have a deep freezer for mine too. But I keep my food in there as well. The nly thing I have to watch for is the freezer getting unplugged and everything defrosting (has happened before grrr). I buy 6 months worth at a time because of shipping. Cheaper for me to purchase in bulk.

[UwabamiReptiles]

When I only had two snakes, I would use the freezer section of the mini fridge I have. Now that I have a bigger collection, I use part of the deep freezer and buy in bulk like Zaradozia said. I plan on getting a deep freezer just for rats once the collection gets bigger. It does seem though that feeding your burm every four days would be a lot. If you are just keeping him as a pet there is no reason to feed him so much. Power feeding like that can actually shorten a snake's life. He will grow to his potential size in time but if you rush it, it will do more harm than good in the long run.
Just my two cents.

[Lankyrob]

One reason for me only getting a months worth at a time is that it means that every month i HAVE to visit hte reptile shop!! ;)

[shaunyboy]

bottom 2 drawers in our family freezer in sealed bags are where i keep my prey items

i buy 3 to 4 months worth of food at a time,as it works out finacially cheaper.i have to get them delivered overnight from england,as its only reptile shops that supply frozen in scotland,they are very very expensive

cheers shaun

[candyraver69]

One reason for me only getting a months worth at a time is that it means that every month i HAVE to visit hte reptile shop!! ;)

I like that line of thinking ;)