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Post by bigsis7 on Jan 28, 2009 16:34:42 GMT -5
So I gave the ferrets some of the new mice today and they stink!! Not the ferrets, but the mice! The wild mice didn't stink near as bad, but they were frozen for weeks. Is this normal? The ferrets didn't like the smell much either . Oliver scrunched his nose and turned to look at me !! Chewie walked over and sort of picked at it and then figured out what it was! So he goes over in his corner, but Ollie didn't like that. That's HIS food! So he went over and stole it from Chewie while Chewie went over to pick up a different one. I was suprised Chewie didn't try to get it back cause usually he steals food from Oliver not the other way around.
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Post by Kerit on Jan 28, 2009 16:52:07 GMT -5
I have also noticed a rather pungent aroma coming off a thawed, warm mouse. Never seemed to bother the boys, though...
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Post by harrisi on Jan 28, 2009 16:53:50 GMT -5
Totally normal, keep in mind the second that animal dies it starts to decompose, then they are frozen and it stops, then it starts again when defrosting.
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Post by Heather on Jan 28, 2009 17:03:50 GMT -5
I noticed that with the rats that I bought from a wholesaler (my usual supplier was out) Hers though they smell didn't smell as badly as these guys. I found that my guys weren't as impressed but they did eat them and there were no tummy upsets so I will assume that everything was ok. The brats also left pieces (other than the retched innards that they usually leave) almost like it either spoiled faster or they were tougher. My supplier is always very careful with her rats as they also supply her snakes too. ciao
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Post by tss on Jan 28, 2009 17:07:26 GMT -5
The mice I got from that place smelt too... But not "gross", they just smelt like mice and pee.. Even though my pet mice weren't kept in tight quarters like feeders are they still smelt like that.
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Jan 28, 2009 20:42:30 GMT -5
The frozen ones I have from online are much stinkier than the ones I have frozen myself. They all seem to smell like mice/rat piss, but the online ones were extra stinky
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Post by harrisi on Jan 29, 2009 4:57:39 GMT -5
Question for you all, when you say they smell different to the ones you freeze yourself, do you kill the rats/mice then put them straight into the freezer? if so that could be the issue here . Rats and mice from most wholesalers leave them laying out to cool down before being frozen (wich everybody should do anyway) so they do decompose to a certain extent, but if you put them straight into the freezer then they are not allowed time to.
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Post by bigsis7 on Jan 29, 2009 14:34:10 GMT -5
Ok that's good!! I was worried they had gone bad or something... *WARNING YOU WILL NEVER WANT A BURGER OR MUSTARD AFTER READING THIS* They sort of smell like a whopper burger while frozen and mustard after thawing a bit! I know that's really gross, but that's what the smelt like to me. Maybe I'm just weird
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Post by tss on Jan 29, 2009 21:01:57 GMT -5
Ha, I know what you're talking about.. That's pee, Ravi's belly smells like that because his weewee gets pee and litter stuck to it.
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Post by josiesmom on Jan 29, 2009 23:46:00 GMT -5
"Rats and mice from most wholesalers leave them laying out to cool down before being frozen (wich everybody should do anyway)"
WHY? Why do the dead mice need to be "cool" before freezing? I never have. And the ones I freeze don't have a smell to them. The ones I raise don't smell either. I tend to handle my mice probably more than most breeders. And have a few that I'll let ride in my pocket while I am servicing the bins. They don't smell at all.
The mice shouldn't smell like pee- if they do, you need more bedding, or need to change it more often.
But I've never heard that a mouse should be cool before it gets frozen - its dead - so freeze it.
Peronslly, I don't use frozen rodent suppliers, because my ferrets DID get sick from a "bad" mouse. At the time, I too thought it normal to smell a bad odor when opening the package. I know better now.
No, I don't often freeze my mice - most of mine get disptached by the ferrets themselves and devoured right away. But there have been instances when I've done ( or Crystal has done it for me ;D) mass culls. Necessitating freezing of the mouse morsels.
The only smell different from when they went in is that now they smell "frozen". When thawed, they smell as fresh as they did when dispatched. No odor, at all.
Cheers, Kim
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Post by harrisi on Jan 30, 2009 6:49:01 GMT -5
The smell shouldnt be pee! They only need to be hung for 30 seconds to a minute after being dispatched to be cooled, and its because of crystalization of the blood, it takes away nutrients (bone marrow for one, is mostly destroyed with a rat that isnt cooled) and there can be a build up of germs.
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Post by josiesmom on Jan 31, 2009 1:34:03 GMT -5
Wouldn't the germs have more chance to breed on a dead mouse than one placed promptly in the freezer? THe blood will freeze anyway, waiting only 30 seconds to a minute isn't going to bring the mouse's temp down to room temp before freezing.
You "hang" your mice before freezing? It isn't like they get gutted and dressed out like a deer or cow or pig - the mouse gets dispatched, then popped into baggie, then into the freezer. No muss, no fuss.
ANy freezing will eliminate SOME nutrients - but nowhere near what gets cooked out of meaty products used in kibble. So even a frozen mouse is better than no mouse. But live or fresh killed is ideal.
Still trying to picture a rack of mice hanging - cooling their heels so to speak- in preparation for freezing.
Cheers, Kim
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Post by harrisi on Jan 31, 2009 15:20:07 GMT -5
You would be suprised how little time it takes until they loose body temp. And no they arnt literally "hung" its just a term used lol. We use a piece of wire shelving held up just off the ground then lay them out, as we do mass killing for freezing we kill them all, put them into buckets then carry them out and put them onto the shelvings, by the time we have finished laying them out we go back to where we started putting them onto the shelving and they are cool enough for freezing so we take handfuls at a time and put them into the freezers.
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