bad luck

[Solid Snake]

yesterday at work (during break) i went to get 50$ worth of feeder mice/rats. get home put'em in the freezer, 5 minutes later the lights go off, and now that its up, my feeder mice are already thawed. Is it ok to put'em back in the freezer?

im so glad it didn't go out in the winter time. my herps would have died.

[Darlene]

No it isn't okay. They can not be refrozen anymore then our own meats we eat. Sorry.

[V.hb]

I think it all depends on what its being fed to.

[Andy_G]

I think you can refreeze them if you didn't handle them or let them touch anything, but they may be messy to work with when you thaw them.

[Jeff_Favelle]

No it isn't okay. They can not be refrozen anymore then our own meats we eat. Sorry.

Actually, nothing has been proven whether its bad or not. People have done it, I have done it, people will continue to do it, and I'll probably do it again. And I've never had an animal die from it. And I've owned in the hundreds.

But it all depends on what animal you are to be feeding, how long they were thawed for, and what temperature that they actually rose to.

[Lisa]

I figure if they're still cold then they're fine. And some animals being scavangers are quite fine eating meat that's sat for a while.

[Darlene]

Well darn it , guys. Wish I had been told what you all are saying when mine thawed out moving. I contacted my feed supplier & they said to chuck them as it wouldn't be safe to feed them. They were about room temp tho. Sorry that I was wrong on this one. I know better for next time. Dar.

[Lisa]

your feed supplier had a vested intrest in you chucking yours.

[Darlene]

How very true, Lisa. Trust can be so easily misplaced. I'm glad that I now know the difference. Point of note tho is that I am now breeding my own feeders with the help of a rodent loving girlfriend. The re-freezing info will come in handy to me again I'm sure. Thanks everyone.

[Invictus]

We had a blackout here for a day (well, not really a blackout so much as a cutoff, LOL), and my mice thawed out quite a bit, but not to the point where they were stinking, or rotting, so I refroze them. I don't refreeze fully thawed mice - ie, those that I attempt to give to one of my snakes. Once they are warmed up for eating, they are either eaten, or thrown out.

[V.hb]

as long as they're kept cold it's usually OK. The health department gave everyone the warnings over radio the other night saying most food, thawed or not will stay fresh enough to be re-froze within 24 and in some cases 48 hours if kept inside a closed freezer.. Its more or less if the food has time to warm up, then it will just spoil upon refreezing.

[eyespy]

I would imagine the same safety guidelines apply to feeders as to meat intended for human consumption. If the food is at room temperature for 2 hours there's a good chance of bacterial growth that will taint the meat. If it never got that warm for that long refreezing is probably okay, although the proteins will degrage somewhat from the reforming ice crystals breaking down the chemical bonds between the amino acids.

A little bit of a chemical bond breakdown is a good thing, it makes the protein more bioavailable but too much means the protein is effectively denatured and not very nutritious anymore.