I've been saving all my rat pods and did'nt want them to rott! So I added a healthy splash of 100 proof vodka to give them a mild preservative. My concerns are they are starting to tincture! lol I'm not complaining but didn't think they could or would tincture that easily. My ratio to date is a pint of pods 1/8 pint of vodka. the liquid is a dull pink with a very sweet musk smell. My question is that the norm? And are my pods still usable or is all the good stuff drawn out? You cant find much info on rat glands,other than they are exspensive and hard to obtain. One book ive got say to use salt! But I didn't want the salt drying them out. Any advice would be apprieciated.

Alcohol will draw since it is an astringent. It will work this way with any material that has the potential of such action when blended.

Alcohol is not the better way to preserve materials. It has its place but I see more and more talk of its use the last few years. Preserve them like any other materials. I don't like the use of salt for any gland material. It will prevent their break down and blending into a formulation when using salt.

Thank you very much bob but are the pods still good ?I know they are shot I need to send them to you correct!! I knew alcohol was a weak preservative at best. I keep them in a frig that's a couple of degrees above freezing. I figured the combination of the two would stop them from souring. 100 proof has to be abel to kill bacteria from getting started

I didn't freeze them for a reason I read that freezing them alters there original smell slightly. lol but what im doing has as well so maybe freezing is the correct way short of using them fresh. honestly im in the dark on this one

The pods are fine I would think if they are whole, they will retain the alcohol odor until they are drained and it evaporates to a great degree. If they are whole you can still use them for something.

If you ground them, which is how I would tincture them if needed, you may get a couple draws from the batch depending upon the type of solvent that you used and the volume used in the batch to the ratio of the glands.

ok thanks bob that's a relief

I put a couple tablespoons of glycerin into small jar of them last year, and they are doing fine (in the 'fridge).

I plan on using them in that predator lure I was telling you about, Tony.

after doing more reading I found you can do them several different ways but the way I did it was fine for small batchs. Al I see them being a welcome smell to any predator lure! Im still on the fence with mine so many ideas so few pods!!!

I use a small amount of everclear in my rat glands, squid and shell fish when I do not want any break down at all while waiting for the preservative to work. I learn this and use this in my fish formulations. most game fish do not like to much taint. fresh rat glands have a place also in some lure formulations