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Old 03-01-05, 05:50 PM   #1
coldblooded
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My mice keep POPPING!

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!

Anyone else have/had this problem?

Should I be bagging the mice when I thaw them?

Stinks pretty bad too.



On a side note:

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


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Old 03-01-05, 06:00 PM   #2
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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:
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Old 03-01-05, 06:12 PM   #3
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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.

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Old 03-01-05, 06:13 PM   #4
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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.


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Old 03-01-05, 06:18 PM   #5
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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?


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Old 03-01-05, 06:20 PM   #6
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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
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Old 03-01-05, 06:28 PM   #7
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Have you tried air-thawing?
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Old 03-01-05, 06:42 PM   #8
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Because the mouse has thawed already the bacteria inside will begin to work and that causes the problem. Use the ziplock as welander said.

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Old 03-01-05, 06:52 PM   #9
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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..
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Old 03-01-05, 08:12 PM   #10
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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.


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Old 03-02-05, 02:39 AM   #11
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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.
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Old 03-02-05, 06:42 AM   #12
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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...
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Old 03-02-05, 10:44 AM   #13
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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.
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Old 03-02-05, 10:55 AM   #14
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I think i know the answer....

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.
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Old 03-02-05, 02:09 PM   #15
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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.
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