Hello,

What is the protocol for freezing your rats after they have been freshly euthanized ? :machinegun: Do I just lay them in rows and than freeze on an open tray? How long do I freeze them for before I vacuum seal them? Thanks for any other help or advise you can give me.

Regards,
Bill :master:

When I killed and froze my feeders....

I just put em in Ziploc bags and layed em in all nice and neat.

Then I'd push all the air out of the bag.

Never had any problems.

Mine go into ziplock bags.... and into the freezer, that's it.

When I killed and froze my feeders....

I just put em in Ziploc bags and layed em in all nice and neat.

Then I'd push all the air out of the bag.

Never had any problems.

Mine go into ziplock bags.... and into the freezer, that's it.

Same here I don't mess with vacum sealing them...Just push most of the air out of the bag and lay them as flat as possible in the freezer and that's it :yessir:

Wow,

Those are quick responses. Thank you ....Someone told me not to put them in any bags until they where frozen. Any thoughts? I laid mine on a styrofoam meat tray but did not know if I should lay them out uncovered or covered in a zip bag.

Thanks again,
Bill

Mine go right from gas chamber to the bag to the freezer from the freezer to warm water to the snake :lol: No problems so far :cheers:

Mine go right from gas chamber to the bag to the freezer from the freezer to warm water to the snake :lol: No problems so far :cheers:

It appears if you put them in a zip bag they evaporate moisture and it turns into Ice while they are freezing after being euthanized. If you freeze them open maybe with a tin foil tent on top of them they are moisture free. Than I want to vacuum seal them only because the will be in the freezer a while. I just can't find anyone with a definitive method online. Thanks for the ideas.

Thanks again,
Bill

It appears if you put them in a zip bag they evaporate moisture and it turns into Ice while they are freezing after being euthanized.
Bill

I've never had that problem.... :dunno:

I've never had that problem.... :dunno:

Me either...Just the stupid ice that forms on the walls of the one chest freezer is the only ice I ever see :dunno:

Me either...Just the stupid ice that forms on the walls of the one chest freezer is the only ice I ever see :dunno:

I have that problem with my freezer too, but it is old....

I would vacuum seal mine if I had a vacuum sealer. I never heard of them turning to ice but then again I've never researched that.

I would vacuum seal mine if I had a vacuum sealer. I never heard of them turning to ice but then again I've never researched that.

Most of the grocery stores around here sell the vacum sealers in the same area as the zip lock baggies....I just have never messed with them as I didn't see any need to....

I bought a food saver a couple years ago. When i was buying frozen rodents i would re vacuum seal everything that came in just to make sure it was fresh before using. I was told if you freeze them for over 6 months without vacuum sealing the meat is worthless. Vacuum sealed a medium rat can be frozen for a year.

Regards,
Bill

We've never vacuum sealed, but guess we go thru them fast enough that I can't imagine keeping for a year! (Hell, I can't imagine lasting more than a week or 2)
Also never had a problem straight from dead to frozen. In the bag. Whatever...

I bought a food saver a couple years ago. When i was buying frozen rodents i would re vacuum seal everything that came in just to make sure it was fresh before using. I was told if you freeze them for over 6 months without vacuum sealing the meat is worthless. Vacuum sealed a medium rat can be frozen for a year.

Regards,
Bill

If you put them in the freezer for an hour or two before, they will vacuum seal a little better. :yessir:

Hi,

Thanks for all the help as always. What would I do without you guys. I only use to vacuum seal a while back to cut down in shipping charges. I would order 6 months of rats at a time. Big savings.

Regards,
Bill

I gas them, wait about 10 minutes (had a few wake up on me as I was bagging them...lol), then vacuum seal them while they're still warm! No problems, no ice buildup, and they stay fresh longer. The only "problem" I've encountered is that occasionally, vacuuming the air out of the bag might cause some minor bleeding out of their noses as the air is also sucked out of their lungs (sorry about the graphic description). I suppose freezing first, vacuum packing later would eliminate that.

I gas them, wait about 10 minutes (had a few wake up on me as I was bagging them...lol), then vacuum seal them while they're still warm! No problems, no ice buildup, and they stay fresh longer. The only "problem" I've encountered is that occasionally, vacuuming the air out of the bag might cause some minor bleeding out of their noses as the air is also sucked out of their lungs (sorry about the graphic description). I suppose freezing first, vacuum packing later would eliminate that.

LOL,

It is funny because I am using the same technique that I would with freezing any thing else we want to vacuum seal. My wife makes these homemade potato skins. Once she is done making about 30 of them all in halves they are too delicate to vacuum seal so we stick them on trays in freeze them solid than we vacuum seal them in 5 piece quantities. I did the same thing with the rats. You also answered my question on why so many of the rats I bought from Frozen Rat suppliers had bloody noses when I thawed them.

One other thing I was told a while back and you jogged my memory on this. If you euthanize the rat and you leave it out too long, rigamortis can set in before you get them into the freezer and it can make the rat really gross when you thaw. I had the rats in the freezer within 2minutes after euthanization.

Thanks again, :rebel:
Bill

I lay them out in unopened containers first then once frozen put into freezer bags.

I've had a few rats stay out too long (maybe an hour) and get rigor mortis also (got busy with other snake things and forgot). When thawed out later, there was no problems with them. Maybe the stories you heard were about rats left out for a DAY or more :eek:. Rigor starts to set in about 20-30 minutes. They aren't going to get nasty and decompose that much in 30 minutes. Now, thawing rats that have already been frozen/thawed/and refrozen...THAT'S nasty!

I'm with everyone else, gas em, lay em out nice in a large ziploc freezer bag, push out the air and then straight into the freezer. Never had any problems with freezer burn or moisture or anything like that. And never any problems with gut busting when I thaw them out.

If they aren't frozen before you will vacuum seal them it will draw the blood out of them. Also if you dont open the bag when defrosting them when they are vacuum sealed it will do the same thing.

I would also make sure to only use freezer bags and not normal ziplock bags. Normal ones will have problems with moisture/ice getting into the bags.