question about frozen rat/mice/pikny

[MartyMcFly160]

so as some may know i rescued a BP 2 week ago and i have no idea when was the last time it ate. . . last week i tried to thaw out a medium size mouse and a pinky but it didnt eat, so i froze them again. my question is is it bad to refreeze them or how many times have can i thaw and then refreeze them?

[limey]

That's a good question. Generally with most meats, you are taking a chance by thawing and then refreezing - but that's for humans. For snakes, I'm not sure.

Me personally, I know that heating up the mouse so that it's warm helps them develop an appetite so to speak, as the BP's heat pits makes it think the prey is alive. Thawed out at room temp might not be enough to stir up interest. Try heating it up some more, I use a hairdryer on the warm setting. See if they take that.

Best of luck

[jarich]

Its not good to refreeze them, especially with whole animals like rodents. The most basic reason is bacterial growth, and when you are talking about an animal that still has its digestive track intact that is exacerbated. Im guessing when you thaw that animal out you will probably have a very gooey mess, especially right around the abdomen. While it is probably less problematic for your snake that it would be for any human from a digestive sense, its likely to at least leave you with a lot of gore to clean up in your tank it the snake does strike it.

Thats why its nice to have a monitor around for any leftovers...;)

[MoreliAddict]

I never re-freeze.

I want my snakes to be comfortable digesting when they eat, "wasting" a $3 rat when someone decides not to eat is trivial.

[mykee]

I never refreeze either. I wouldn't do it with steak or chicken for me, I won't do it with mice or rats for my snakes.

[Lankyrob]

I never refreeze either. I wouldn't do it with steak or chicken for me, I won't do it with mice or rats for my snakes.

^^ This - i treat their food the same as i would treat my own.

[buffcoat]

I have one picky Royal. I used to thaw enough for all my guys but grew tired of tossing rats that he wouldn't eat. Now I just feed, or try to feed, him first. If he's not in the mood I just give it to my other Royal.

I've heard some people refreeze once. They have been going it for years. I don't however.

[Gungirl]

Same as a few others have posted.. I never refreeze

[shaunyboy]

I never refreeze either. I wouldn't do it with steak or chicken for me, I won't do it with mice or rats for my snakes.

^^^^^
same for me

cheers shaun