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How long do frozen mice/rats last?

Rhetoric

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I just picked up more ASFs tonight. I got 30 for $20. I still had 20-something from last time. I'm not worried about them going bad anytime soon. I've got them all sized and dated so I can do first in first out.

I had them in plain freezer bags with the first bag but there were some ice crystals along the inside of the bag, the rats didn't look or feel freezer burned, so I grouped those up into smaller ziplocks and put those in the freezer bags.

I haven't been doing whole prey as often lately, I've been doing other foods for the tegus. So I'm using like 6-10 a week depending on the size. I have no issues scooping up more before I run out. The dry ice is only like a buck and I've got a spare freezer in the garage so theres plenty of room. I thought about breeding a couple pairs but I'm not sure the landlord would be down.

How long do frozen things like this usually stay good? Any tips to keep them more fresh longer? I've read about people using seran wrap then bagging them but that seems really time consuming.
 

Orion

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I buy in bulk, usually 300 mice at a time plus rats and rabbits. Sometimes my snakes go off food during the winter and I have rats sitting in my extra freezer for 6 months. I have never seen them go bad. I think only prepared meats are going to go bad and get freezer burned, not whole prey. Just my 2 cents.
 

laurarfl

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This is from the RodentPro website:

Q: How long will the frozen feeder animals last in the freezer?
A: Depending on how they are stored, most frozen feeder animals can last up to a year. It is a good idea to minimize any exposure to air by ensuring they are in air tight freezer bags. While we recommend not storing feeder animals without fur for more than 4 or 6 months and feeder animals with fur for 9 to 12 months, if properly sealed containers are used and air exposure is kept to a minimum, they can be kept for much longer.
 

montana

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They should last a year or so ..[what happens is they dry out ]

If you are particular you should look into a Food Saver [vacuum packer] they are inexpensive and seal your product like you would buy it at the store ...

The bags or rolls [what I prefer ]get expensive when packing a moose or elk but would be just the thing to keep some fish or mice fresh for a very long time . The [bags] you use can also be reused if you don`t poke holes in them ..

They work darn good ...
 

frost

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i love those vacuum sealers.my parents have one and it keeps everything fresher for hell of a lot longer.
 

Rhetoric

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Awesome thanks guys/gals. I'm not getting huge quantities or anything, I just take whatever they don't need for the snakes. The tegus sure seem to like the ASFs. I'll have to check out the vacuum sealers, I thought about it before but I wasn't sure how often I'd be getting rats. I think its going to be every couple weeks so I might as well.
 

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