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05-06-2008, 04:49 PM
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thawing
How many times is okay to thaw and refreeze a rat when a snake isnt ready to eat. I got a frozen rat from a wonderful healthy store that raises them just for feeding them to snakes. When we got home we thawed it out, but Basil didnt eat. The next day her eyes were white, so thats why she didnt eat. So, a couple of weeks later I thawed out that rat again, but she still didnt eat. So I put it in the freezer again. When this rat is thawed, it is limp, and dosent smell bad, so Im thinking it would be okay to thaw again. I need some opinions on this please, Thanks.
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05-06-2008, 04:52 PM
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Soul Doubt
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Re: thawing
You're slowly obliterating the cell structure of the rat by thawing and refreezing it. In addition, each time you thaw it you increase the odds of building a huge bacterial load, which may or may not be entirely killed when you refreeze it. I wouldn't refreeze it more than once, personally, but it's your call...what's your tolerance for risk?
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05-06-2008, 04:53 PM
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Gecko Freak
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Re: thawing
Personally for some reason I dont know why but I do not like refreezing thawed rodents, feeders, what have you. At 1$ a rat its not worth risk of the snakes health for me 
Last edited by jtmoney : 05-06-2008 at 04:54 PM.
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05-06-2008, 04:56 PM
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Re: thawing
IMO, 1 time to thaw and warm.
If I thaw / warm a rodent and it is not eaten by the reptile the chickens get it.
Chickens eat anything!!
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05-06-2008, 04:59 PM
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Re: thawing
on that note, I will throw away the frozen rat, and just get a new one. Although my boyfriend wants to get live one, I dont. Do you supposse my snake would rather have a live? I doubt it because she is 16 and has had dead ones a lot over the years. I also dont want to take the chance of if she still dosent want to eat, I dont want to have to take care of a rat again.
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05-06-2008, 05:02 PM
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Soul Doubt
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Re: thawing
I'd stick with F/T. How long has it been since she ate last? |
05-06-2008, 05:06 PM
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Gecko Freak
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Re: thawing
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05-06-2008, 05:12 PM
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Re: thawing
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarbear
on that note, I will throw away the frozen rat, and just get a new one. Although my boyfriend wants to get live one, I dont. Do you supposse my snake would rather have a live? I doubt it because she is 16 and has had dead ones a lot over the years. I also dont want to take the chance of if she still dosent want to eat, I dont want to have to take care of a rat again.
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There are many, many threads on this site outlining the risks and dangers of feeding live. I would strongly advise against it. Live prey can cause serious damage to your snake (biting, scratching) causing deformities and terrible debilitating scarring..... also has the potential to harbor live bacteria and parasites. I (as I'm sure many others too) highly encourage you to stick to frozen/thawed rats...check out this link:
Thinking about feeding LIVE? Welcome to the Live Pile
Shows you first hand what live-feeding may do....
---
Last edited by KyleZ : 05-06-2008 at 05:15 PM.
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05-06-2008, 05:23 PM
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Re: thawing
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarbear
on that note, I will throw away the frozen rat, and just get a new one. Although my boyfriend wants to get live one, I dont. Do you supposse my snake would rather have a live? I doubt it because she is 16 and has had dead ones a lot over the years. I also dont want to take the chance of if she still dosent want to eat, I dont want to have to take care of a rat again.
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If she's a well-fed girl, then I wouldn't worry too much. As for feeding live: No.. it's definetely not worth the risk at all, especially if she's been on dead for quite sometime. Though naturally, a snake's instinct shouldn't go away, there could be the chance she's a bit rusty..
She'll eat when she's ready to, unless she starts rapidly losing weight in a short period of time, there's probably not too much to get too worried over..
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05-06-2008, 06:37 PM
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Re: thawing
Its been 5 weeks, I will get a fresh frozen rat. Sometimes she will go for a while without eating, but she has always been healthy.
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05-06-2008, 10:32 PM
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Re: thawing
Good decision on the fresh frozen. I breed and kill rats for snake food. Sounds cruel, eh? But they have a good, clean, (short) life before being sacrificed for the snakes.
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