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Mice frozen together

mindfreak

mindfreak

New member
A while ago I switched my snake over to frozen/thawed mice. I was pleased with how smooth the switch went and have been buying small packages of three or four frozen mice at a time.

I recently made a trip to a local reptile shop to get a larger pack of frozen mice, and I now have a pack of 25 dead mice that are completely frozen together.

I know a lot of snake owners have dealt with this and I know that this is an issue often dependant on the company you order the mice from--for example, I've heard that mice from The Mouse Factory are not frozen together at all. I also know some packs of mice are frozen together but individual mice can be wiggled out. This is not the case.

I basically have a solid block of 25 mice. My boyfriend suggested running cold water over a few of them for a little bit and while I was hesitant, I ended up trying it--but nothing happened. They're all still frozen solid.

This store is the only local store that supplies frozen mice in large quantities. If this ends up being ineffective I will obviously be finding a different source of frozen mice, as this was a trial thing in the first place. But I really don't want all these mice to go to waste.
What do you guys suggest I do to separate these mice?
 
What if you break off a small chunk with a hammer, and only partially thaw that portion, and refreeze what you don't use?
 
If they are frozen in a sheet (single mouse thickness), as opposed to a block, take the whole thing and whack it against the edge of a countertop. That should free up some of the mice. If it's a solid block, I'd let it sit out for a few minutes and allow some of the outer mice to thaw away from the pack. If you run water over them you might make it harder to free a mouse next time you need one. I've found that most mice when frozen together, sans water, come apart pretty easily. A good sharp whack is all that is usually necessary.
Terri
 
I know that you can thaw the bunch of them, at safe temps of course, which is below 41 degrees Fahrenheit and refreeze them. You can only refreeze them once! I would put them in a big bowl, running them under a tiny trickle of cold water until they thaw enough to break them apart. This may take a bit of time, so leave them in the sink under the trickle and check every 15 mins or so.

Dry them with a clean rag or paper towel and repackage them in a manner, that they will no stick together and freeze again. Like I mentioned earlier, you can only refreeze the mice one time! Also, try to do this in a manner that you are not completely thawing the mice.

This is basic safe food handling practices for both us (humans) and the snakes.

Hope this helps,

Wayne
 
Try giving it a bit of a tap on a worktop, I freeze all my mice together in tubs but now and then they get stuck together i usually find a little tap with free them up.
 
flat head screwdriver and a hammer. put abit of kitchen roll between the mouse and the screwdriver and give it a firm tap.

splits em up nice

fish
 
Hmm. Well there doesn't seem to be a miracle cure. I've considered basically all of these but didn't act upon any of those considerations as I felt like I might damage the mice in the process.

Terri, it's a solid block. It's probably stacked about two or three mice high. Most of them are completely squashed against one another but a few on the outer edges of the top layer look like they could be separated. I was kinda trying to go for what you suggested with the thawing thing but I was afraid of letting them thaw too much.

That being said, thank you Wayne, to an extent you've put my mind at ease about letting them thaw a little. :D

I used a small amount of force when I first looked at the block but didn't want to go crazy with whacking or anything, I guess for fear of physically damaging the mice and ending up with a mangled/bleeding mouse after fully thawing it.

I think tonight or tomorrow night I'll let them sit out a little bit and try separating the entire block and putting them in individual packs. I'm still afraid of letting them sit too long and I obviously can't continually thaw and freeze the mice so I guess this is my only shot.

Hearing this feedback has helped and has made me a little more confident.. I think I was just being a little too gentle with everything.

Thanks guys. If you have any more feedback or other methods please share. :)
 
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