# Other Pythons > General Pythons >  Eploding frozen mice??

## Ashley-Rose

Okay, So I got a 6 pack of frozen mice from Petsmart, had no problems with them at all. I set them out for an hour put them in hot water for another 15 minutes and they were perfectly fine. Yesterday I got some mice from Petco (because it's closer to me) and I did the same exact thing to these mice and two out of three of them have exploded open! I have no idea why this is. I read the instructions on the back of these once and I'm not doing anything wrong...Can anyone help me understand why this could be happening? 
Both packs of mice were fuzzies if that helps any.

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## Stewart_Reptiles

There are a few things that can lead to exploding mice.

1# Thawing the prey too rapidly, for example using hot water.

2# Thawing and refreezing the prey. 

I raise, euthanize and freeze my own mice and when I thaw them I do so at room temp near the snake's enclosure and they never explode.  :Good Job: 

Fuzzies (and hopefully you do not feed those to a BP) thaw at room temp very rapidly there is really no need for hot water.

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## Ashley-Rose

I actually have been feeding the fuzzies to him because he isn't big enough for the other ones... Why should I not feed those to him? (Not trying to say that in a rude way just want to know why I know it's hard to tell what tones are via text)




> There are a few things that can lead to exploding mice.
> 
> 1# Thawing the prey too rapidly, for example using hot water.
> 
> 2# Thawing and refreezing the prey. 
> 
> I raise, euthanize and freeze my own mice and when I thaw them I do so at room temp near the snake's enclosure and they never explode. 
> 
> Fuzzies (and hopefully you do not feed those to a BP) thaw at room temp very rapidly there is really no need for hot water.

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> I actually have been feeding the fuzzies to him because he isn't big enough for the other ones... Why should I not feed those to him? (Not trying to say that in a rude way just want to know why I know it's hard to tell what tones are via text)


How big is he, the only way I would consider Any average hatchling right out of the egg can take down a hopper mouse and quickly move to small adult and adult.

The key in feeding young animals is to feed a prey equal the girth size (widest part of your BP's body). If the BP in question is the one in your avatar it looks to me like he can take a small adult and probably even an adult mouse  :Wink:

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## _Victoria

I've been having that problem without even using hot water, just thawing them. It's driving me nuts.  Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. It's a pain in the butt. 


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## piedpython

You have to be careful since a lot of these chain pet stores do not store the frozen mice properly. If they are left out to long and defrost and freeze again then they will explode like you said and it will cause a nasty mess.  A red flag is if you see blood around the head and nose or a bad smell after defrosting. I seem to have better luck at Petsmart then Petco. 



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## Ashley-Rose

Some people have suggested on here I feed him live hoppers but I can't seem to find a store that sells them. But I will bump him up to adults this weekend! Thanks for the suggestion  :Smile:

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## Ashley-Rose

Yeah looks like I am heading back to Petsmart this weekend. Not too impressed with the Petco frozen mice. I had absolutely no problems with the Petsmart ones. 





> You have to be careful since a lot of these chain pet stores do not store the frozen mice properly. If they are left out to long and defrost and freeze again then they will explode like you said and it will cause a nasty mess.  A red flag is if you see blood around the head and nose or a bad smell after defrosting. I seem to have better luck at Petsmart then Petco. 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


- - - Updated - - -

Yeah looks like I am heading back to Petsmart this weekend. Not too impressed with the Petco frozen mice. I had absolutely no problems with the Petsmart ones. 





> You have to be careful since a lot of these chain pet stores do not store the frozen mice properly. If they are left out to long and defrost and freeze again then they will explode like you said and it will cause a nasty mess.  A red flag is if you see blood around the head and nose or a bad smell after defrosting. I seem to have better luck at Petsmart then Petco. 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Morris Reese

> How big is he, the only way I would consider Any average hatchling right out of the egg can take down a hopper mouse and quickly move to small adult and adult.
> 
> The key in feeding young animals is to feed a prey equal the girth size (widest part of your BP's body). If the BP in question is the one in your avatar it looks to me like he can take a small adult and probably even an adult mouse


Deborah, I have a BP that is 3 months old and weighs 172 grams right now. I am currently feeding an adult mouse every 5 days and she is doing well. 
I plan to attend Repticon on April 12th and will look at purchasing a quantity of frozen feeders. I would like to get a good stock but I'm a little unsure of how many to get. I plan to get fuzzy rats ( she seems to take those better) but I'm wondering if she will be up to hoppers before she devours the 50 fuzzy? My thoughts were to get 25 fuzzy and 25 hoppers.
Your "experienced" opinion is greatly appreciated!!!!

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## Shera

I have only had this happen when defrosting too fast (under a heat lamp), but it was a small rat.  It only exploded when he coiled it.  It was terrible, he didn't even end up eating it, and I had to bathe him and wash out the enclosure.

It could be the water you are using is too hot, or they may have thawed at some point before you purchased them and were refrozen.

I'd go back to the store and try to get your money back.

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## Ashley-Rose

Yeah I got a picture of the second one that exploded. I am going back tomorrow. I went back to petsmart today and got some. Hopefully I have luck this time 




> I have only had this happen when defrosting too fast (under a heat lamp), but it was a small rat.  It only exploded when he coiled it.  It was terrible, he didn't even end up eating it, and I had to bathe him and wash out the enclosure.
> 
> It could be the water you are using is too hot, or they may have thawed at some point before you purchased them and were refrozen.
> 
> I'd go back to the store and try to get your money back.

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