Important Question!!1

[oscarthesnake]

I am planning to buy some frozen mice online, but i am wondering if the mice lose quality after a certain amount of time??? Like will they be less nutricious after sitting in the freezer for months? I only have two snakes, but it is definitely cheaper to buy online in bulk, and easier than running to the store every couple weeks.
Scott

[drizzt_19]

Are you talking about buying mice for two adults or two hatchling's???

I have kept mice in my freezer for 3mths and have not noticed any difference...Treat frozen mice like you would hamburger...When you thinks it's bad or if it gets freezer burnt throw it out...

Just my .02

[oscarthesnake]

Sorry about not putting that important piece of information. I have one 3 1/2 week old baby, and then a 4 month old. I was thinking of buying 50 small pinkies, 50 large pinkies, and then 50 fuzzies. It sounds like so much, so I was wondering what I should do? I don't want my babies eating bad mice.
Scott

[8Corn*Freak8]

My advice is to wait until you can feed them adult mice. Mice will last about 6 months in the freezer before you must trow them out and 150 will last 2 snakes about 18 months if you feed once a week. Besides your snakes will need large pinkies before you use 50 of them and you wont get through them either because you have to move up to fuzzy's and so on and so on.

[Flygning]

I had the same dilemma, and I took care of it by buying more snakes :-D The more mouths to feed, and more mice you need...

[Quigs]

Depending on where you buy from, some places vaccuum seal the bags. In this case, an unopened package would last upwards to a year or better in your freezer!

Quigs

[oscarthesnake]

I was thinking the same thing Flygning! If I buy more snakes, then I can go through the mice a lot quicker! I am planning on getting more snakes, hopefully a bloodred, and then either a caramel/butter. But not until I finish moving out of my place... I am in the process of moving from one apartment to another! So I will not buy anymore until I am done moving and settled in myself. But luckily I will now be right next door to my reptile shop!
Scott

[moreptiles]

Suppliers of the vacuum sealed f/t mice claim that the mice will last for 2 years or more if kept at a cold enough temperature. I have used some that were a year and a half old and they seemed as good as the fresh ones.

Once you open a bag they will quickly become freezer burned (within 2 months of opening) due to exposure to oxygen. You can recognize this by the white spots on them. Some people say that they throw them away when they become this way, but I have fed many snakes on pinkies that were covered in white spots and have never seen any difference between these and the fresh ones. No regurgitation or any growth issues. So I would be cautious before just throwing out perfectly good pinkies just because of some white spots.

Larger mice do show the appearance of freezer burning due to the hair. But I would guess that under the hair are the same white spots on the skin. But that said, I would say that an opened bag of pinkies will last for about three or four months before they become so freezer burned that I wouldn't use them. When you order them make sure you get pinkies in bags of 50 and not bags of 100. In addition, at least one of the discount mouse suppliers that I have seen has used inferior, incomplete vacuum processing and these will not last as long as the mice from the better suppliers.

Mark

[susyq]

ive had 3months plus supplies in my freezer stored for 3 months+ and there has never been a problem with them, secret is to make sure they cant defrost between your suppliers freezer and yours