Refreezing mice?

[EightLeggedFrea]

In case my frog doesn't want to eat the pinky mouse I unthawed for it, would it be OK to refreeze them? I know this can't be done with meat, but what about frozen mice? I can't seem to find any answers anywhere else.

 

[kupo969]

In case my frog doesn't want to eat the pinky mouse I unthawed for it, would it be OK to refreeze them? I know this can't be done with meat, but what about frozen mice? I can't seem to find any answers anywhere else.

You can, but only after of about 4hrs max of being thawed. So only refreeze once. Anything after that has lost too many nutrients and isn't worth feeding/dangerous.

You can go to http://cornsnakes.com/forums/ and search for 'refreezing'. Lots of threads there.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Frozen mice ARE meat.

Also it has nothing to do with nutrients and everything to do with bacteria. If it's thawed, it either gets eaten or thrown out. It's not worth the risk to your animal. I've heard horror stories of nasty, clearly re-frozen rodents from PetCo. Possibly some deaths, but it's been so long since I've seen a thread about it that I can't say with 100% certainty anymore.

 

[Diggy415]

i have refrozen un eaten mice and rats up to 4 times, i vacuum seal mine each time with no problems, after that i throw out.

 

[Nokturnal1980]

I have never done it and with the horror stories I have read on other forums, I do not recommend it.

 

[OldHag]

If I have something that wont eat the mouse, I throw the mouse in my meal worms, or with my isopods. They gobble it down!

 

[Newports]

If I have something that wont eat the mouse, I throw the mouse in my meal worms, or with my isopods. They gobble it down!

lol that sounds quite nasty. How long does it take them?

oh and can someone give me a link or tell me some of the horror stories??

thanks!

 

[OldHag]

The mealworms devour a mouse over night!! Just bones and a bit of fur left over... kinda cool.
I usually give my rolly pollies the dead roaches, they LOVE them. They dont eat the mice as fast and it gets rather smelly..

 

[equuskat]

I am with OldHag 100% here. If it isn't eaten, give it to something that WILL eat it! Mushroom Spore is very accurate in her concern about the bacteria and deaths. I have a friend who got mice that had evidently been partially thawed and refrozen. 7 snakes died, the rest refused the possibly tainted mice. I had an unhealthy obsession with microbiology for a while, and the risk is very real. Bacteria explode on prey once it is thawed.

 

[Jmugleston]

I only feed "leftovers" to my animals that are known to eat carrion. I wouldn't freeze a rodent and try using it a second time on snakes or frogs for the reasons listed above.