Methods to heat up F/T?

Ive been thinking a lot about this one lately. Im considering breeding my own rats for my snakes as my collection is finally beginning to expand, and I think I am still going to opt for F/T. But I havent found a heating method im truly in love with yet.

The first one I tried was putting the rat in a zil lop and thawing it/heating it up by placing it in a jar of hot water. My issues with this are that the water almost always get in the bag, sogs up the mouse, and it loses its scent on top of that.

So I decided to try something else. I took a wooden clip board, Set a 150 watt heat lamp suspended above it, and set the rat under the light. Thawing doesnt take too long, the mouse heats up a little after that, stays dry and retains its scent. But my issue is, sometimes the rats stomach wil kind of explode inside of it, and the second the snake strikes it pops like a water balloon. Either that or the snake will refuse to eat it. I suppose they can tell theres something off about it?

But I was wondering what heating methods you guys use? If there are any that work better than my little hot plate.

This topic never gets old. :P

I feed 25 snakes a week on frozen thawed by using hot water in a tub. Between being a full time student 35 hours, working part-time 30-40 hours, and another 15-20 hours with my snakes I have no time what-so-ever for live.

Sure F/T is expensive but not much more expensive than having your own rats with a small collection. Rats take a ton of time, they stink, and they can be expensive. Just my 02. cents on the subject.

Back to the original subject. When I had a collection about the size of yours, I would portion up three medium rats per small zip-lock bag and the equivalent for anything smaller. Then I set them out before I head off to work so that when I come back they are room temp.(So 5-8 hours max) Then I just put them into a bucket of steaming hot water until they feel warm all the way through or read over 95 degrees with the temp gun.

Hope this helps!

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Originally Posted by JohnNJ

This topic never gets old. :P

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http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hlight=warming

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hlight=warming

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hlight=warming

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t=thawing+rats

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t=thawing+rats

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t=thawing+rats

P.S. Sometimes water gets into the bags, but very rarely if you make sure the bag is sealed. I just let some are in and press to make sure none can escape. Then your good to go!

Sorry, I was chastised earlier today for bringing back an old thread. I figured it would be better to just start another one.(Granted the one I brought back was from 2003 @_@;' I just typed something into google and it brought me to that link, and I commented not realizing just how out of date it was.) But that would be why I didnt look for an already existing thread.

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Originally Posted by Riv

I was chastised earlier today

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Not trying to chastise, just pointing out that the Search Feature is your friend :)

Well water will only get into the bag if you dont seal it... Ive been thawing like that and havent experienced a blowout yet haha

Yeah, maybe ive just been really unlucky with my bags XDD.

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Originally Posted by Riv

Yeah, maybe ive just been really unlucky with my bags XDD.

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Personally, I just let the rat thaw to room temp like previously mentioned, and then stick it under a heat lamp (my beardie gets annoyed with me for that) for about 30 minutes. That heats it up, no water involved, and keeps the smell.