How long do frozen mice stay good?

[Korrin]

Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this.
I haven't yet bought my corn, but I'm checking out various resources for buying frozen mice and noticed rodentpro sells them in bags of 50-100.
Now, I'm thinking Rodentpro is probably for someone who has more than one snake to feed, because (and math is not my friend at all) it seems like a bag of 100 would last a year.

But that got me thinking; how long do frozen mice keep for?

Also along this topic, my snake will likely be moving up from pinkies before a year has passed anyway, right?
I don't know much about their growth rates...

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

If you vaccum seal them up (such as using a food saver or similar) after opening them they will last a lot longer. Also, RodentPro sucks and they do not vaccum seal their product. Big Cheese Rodents do vaccum seal them already for you (and maybe some of the others; but I'm not sure).

 

[Hypancistrus]

If you vaccum seal them up (such as using a food saver or similar) after opening them they will last a lot longer. Also, RodentPro sucks and they do not vaccum seal their product. Big Cheese Rodents do vaccum seal them already for you (and maybe some of the others; but I'm not sure).

Why does everyone say that Rodent Pro sucks?? I have only ever bought from Zach Shephard, but I have to change now.

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

Why does everyone say that Rodent Pro sucks?? I have only ever bought from Zach Shephard, but I have to change now.

I ordered from them twice. The first time I ordered from them there was inadequate dry ice and about half of the mice had fully thawed out. The sizing of the mice varied widly; in a single bag of fuzzies I had everything from large pinky size up to small mouse size. I figured it was just bum luck and tried them again; same thing. Thawed out mice and sizing variations that were unacceptable.

I now use Big Cheese Rodents and have been very happy with them.

 

[Korrin]

That's good to know, but I still don't know roughly how long mice keep for, or how long my snake will stay eating one size of mice.
With only one snake, would I just be better off buying the mice from my local reptile pet store?

Also... deviating quite a bit from my own topic, but is there any laws against shipping dead animals across the border? :grin01:

 

[ChristinaM]

6mos to a year, depending on how they are packaged.

Why are you thinking of ordering from the US? There's quite a few Canadian vendors for frozen mice/rats. I mention this as I think there may be some issues of shipping the rodents across the border, not 100% sure on that though as I buy my rodents here.

And yes, a hatchling snake will be off of pinkies before a year old.

 

[Susan]

I ordered from them twice. The first time I ordered from them there was inadequate dry ice and about half of the mice had fully thawed out. The sizing of the mice varied widly; in a single bag of fuzzies I had everything from large pinky size up to small mouse size. I figured it was just bum luck and tried them again; same thing. Thawed out mice and sizing variations that were unacceptable.

I now use Big Cheese Rodents and have been very happy with them.

I've been ordering from RodentPro for several years now, and have never ordered from anyone else. Yes, you get a variety of sizes in a single bag, but they are all basically within the size range stated when you look at their site. And personally, I prefer the slight variation. My snakes are not all the exact same size. I may have 10 that are all eating "fuzzies", but they are all eating slightly different size fuzzies. I can better match the meal to the snake. And you really don't get much variation with most of the sizes, only with those around the fuzzy to small mouse size.

I have found RodentPro's pricing to be better than any other supplier, and they run frequent specials so sometimes I can get a really good deal. And with about 85 snakes, and then over 200 hatchlings/year, pricing counts.

And as for vaccuum packing, is this really a big deal? Once you open the package to get the first pinky out, you don't have the vacuum anymore anyway for the other 99. And if you're expecting to keep unopen packages for over a year or more, you're still going to get freezer burn if it's vacuum sealed or not.

And now to answer the original question. I've fed frozen mice and rats that have been in the freezer for over a year and that have had freezer burn with no ill effects. There is only a minimal decrease in nutritional value. If the mouse looks really nasty, then I don't feed it, but most of the time, some freezer burn is just fine.

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

I've been ordering from RodentPro for several years now, and have never ordered from anyone else. Yes, you get a variety of sizes in a single bag, but they are all basically within the size range stated when you look at their site. And personally, I prefer the slight variation. My snakes are not all the exact same size. I may have 10 that are all eating "fuzzies", but they are all eating slightly different size fuzzies. I can better match the meal to the snake. And you really don't get much variation with most of the sizes, only with those around the fuzzy to small mouse size.

Slight variation is going to occur; this I get. My problem was that in a bag of fuzzies there were pinky size all the way to small (possibly medium) adult mouse size. That is an unacceptable amount of variation to me. Since switching companies I have yet to experience that amount of variation. To me this just says that RodentPro is sub-par compared to the others.

And as for vaccuum packing, is this really a big deal? Once you open the package to get the first pinky out, you don't have the vacuum anymore anyway for the other 99. And if you're expecting to keep unopen packages for over a year or more, you're still going to get freezer burn if it's vacuum sealed or not.

You are quite right; it's not that big of a deal. I just feel a little better if they come vaccum packed; I feel more comfortable storing them a little longer if need be before opening them. But if all of the bags are getting opened at once; then it doesn't matter at all.

And now to answer the original question. I've fed frozen mice and rats that have been in the freezer for over a year and that have had freezer burn with no ill effects. There is only a minimal decrease in nutritional value. If the mouse looks really nasty, then I don't feed it, but most of the time, some freezer burn is just fine.

Agreed. I, too, have fed mice that had a little freezer burn with no ill effects. I think a lot of it is common sense. If the mouse is a giant freezer burn then no way. But a little bit; the snake could care less. I try to place my orders every 6 months, so have never really fed anything that has been in the freezer longer than that, but I bet a year or so is just fine as you said.

 

[coolsnakesky]

Ive been picking up frozen mice from rodent pro at a local reptile show when i need them..they do offer 20-25 per bag there. I have 2 snakes to feed and the sizes are not such a big deal..If they get small I feed 2 of them..One snake is bigger so when he moves on to the next size i give any left over to the other snake..They go pretty quick that way..oh MOM here sorry

 

[aameenah]

I'm considering getting mice from

http://www.coasttocoastmice.ca/index.php

in Victoria, you can mix n' match the batches (ie. to get the 100 pack you can take 50 pinks and 50 fuzzies etc) and thier shipping is pretty cheap, and they fly to the lower mainland. Just an option.

 

[Susan]

Slight variation is going to occur; this I get. My problem was that in a bag of fuzzies there were pinky size all the way to small (possibly medium) adult mouse size. That is an unacceptable amount of variation to me.

Wow! That is highly unusual! I would be upset with that much variation as well. But then again, if there were alot of the larger, more expensive sizes than what I paid for, I might not be THAT upset! Of course, I use every size, but if you didn't have a snake that could eat the bigger stuff, that might be a problem.

 

[Donna]

You could also look into www.canadianmouseman.com they seem quite reasonable. I have a friend that used to get her mice from a local breeder in Vancouver, by adding onto the breeders order. I think she found the breeder through the local Herp Society.

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

Wow! That is highly unusual! I would be upset with that much variation as well. But then again, if there were alot of the larger, more expensive sizes than what I paid for, I might not be THAT upset! Of course, I use every size, but if you didn't have a snake that could eat the bigger stuff, that might be a problem.

The problem wasn't that I didn't have larger corns to eat the mice (I did); the problem was I didn't have enough small food items for the younger corns because of that fiasco. OH well, maybe I did just have a freak experience with RodentPro, I don't know. :shrugs: I'm glad that they have been good for you though!