Defrosted Mice

[motman440]

Hey all.
Just defroseted a couple of mice that i purchased from a local pet shop.
One is fine, the other however has a split through its gut that i didnt see when it was frozen. the contents of the gut have emptied out and are stinking.
Now im tight for funds atm. Seriously $2 for a sub adult mouse isnt really affordable. and was wondering your opinion on this dillemma. is this animal sound to feed or is it an in the bin job.
Im not feeding it. but ill just go and bitch at the pet shop if you think its unsatisfactory.
No pics. no camera

 

[Funkstaa]

please tell me ur joking, if you can't afford a $2 mouse y would you have a snake?

 

[Jay84]

First of all, i would be concerned that you have animals in your posession when you are unable to purchase a mouse for $2 to feed it?

Quite often, if you defrost rodents in hot water it will weaken their skin on their abdomen. Quite often i would feed a rat that would burst under the pressure of constriction. One way to avoid this is to defrost the rodents in a sandwich bag submersed in hot water. Works well for me.

 

[motman440]

number one. If i was asking for lecture i would ring my mother and tell her im thinking about leaving university. I have the most ridiculously tight budgeting i think ever created. at the end of the week im left with around 30c of spending money. i feed my pythons everyweek and pay my electricity bill (keeping them warm) quaterly so back off. Walk a mile in your shoes before judging me.

Secondly. Jay 84 just wondering if you still feed your rats with a burst abdomen
and if you get a bad smell. cheers, thom

 

[Chris1]

id be worried if it smelt, mine have popped a few whle constricting and there was no way i could have removed them,..but they smelt a bit warm and meaty, not off off,...

but i say better safe than sorry, go have a bitch at the petshop!

 

[Luohanfan]

I'm new to keeping snakes, and last week i had the same thing happen, id like to know aswell, are these a bad product or is it normal and safe?
I also am on a tight budget, however i can afford to buy them plenty of mice/rats..
BUT, at $3 per pinkie rat, im not going to be happy if this is a bad thing caused by the petshop not keeping them frozen properly, or the people they get them off selling bad products..
So, has anyone got a real answer?

 

[Kristy_07]

Especially if the gut was already split open, I'd go have a whinge.

 

[JAS101]

id bin it , better to be safe then sorry . if u are struggling to pay $2 for a mouse , then i doubt that u could afford to take the snake to the vet [ if u were to use/ feed it the suspect mouse and it was bad]

 

[Variegata]

I just bought two fuzzy rats for $3 each. The same place sells pinkie mice for $1.95 each. Sometimes I wish I could kill animals, then I'd just breed the mice and rats myself. But I wouldn't be able to.

And yeah, if the water's too hot it'll split open.

 

[Jay84]

Secondly. Jay 84 just wondering if you still feed your rats with a burst abdomen
and if you get a bad smell. cheers, thom

Was the abdoman split before you defrosted it? Or did this happen during defrosting? What method do you use to defrost?

When they do split it doesn't smell pretty, mine have all been fed these animals. The only difference being that the rats and mice i feed have either been bred by myself or a friend.

 

[cwtiger]

I would go and see the petshop and let them know that the mouse split and smelled funny. It is not worth the risk to the snake if you are unsure. Hopefully they should give you a replacement mouse. If they don't then you may have to let the snake wait until next week as you have stated you are on a strick budget and will not allow for a replacement to be purchased. Good luck.

 

[motman440]

Thanks jay. that was my worry. its the background of the mice. just thought it would be good to know. and a warning to the petshop. I cant be 100% on whether it "popped" during or before defrosting. I defrost in the method that you described earlier. Just going to err on the side of caution and bin it. The pet shop seems to be fairly reputable and i thought it could be an idea to give them a heads up if it was a bad product. Cant be certain though

 

[Sock Puppet]

Also, considering you're on a tight budget, I'd be looking to buy from a private rodent breeder rather than buy from a pet shop. $2 for a sub adult mouse is too exe in my opinion, I'm paying the same for an 60-80g rat.

Private breeder's prices will vary somewhat, but will almost always be cheaper than at a pet shop. I know you're regional so it might be hard to find a local breeder, but it could pay off if you're successful

 

[zuesowns]

Are you thawing them in Hot tap water or boiled? because boiled will cook them and split the guts. I use a plastic bag and hot tap water, never had a split since, accept maybe from constriction and the python hitting it that hard. otherwise it's been cooked and split open.

 

[ShaunMorelia]

A jumbo rat from a pet shop that dolittle farm supply is about $15 each.
So I hope that you are keeping one of the Antaresia sub species if an extra $2 a week will break the bank.

What happens if you did feed the mouse to your snake and it got sick?
Could you afford to take it to the vet?