Thawing rats

[Highline Reptiles South]

My collection has grown such that I'm having trouble keeping up with my rat needs with my own colony. I bought some med frozen rats today and am curious how long they generally take to thaw.

I just threw them in a large bucket of warm water. I'll change the water again, towel them off and feed them.

Any idea roughly how long this process takes?

[aldebono]

30 minutes??? I change the water more often though. I give mine a really good squishing with my hands to make sure everything is thawed. It's gross, but owell.

[JohnNJ]

Smaller rats thaw quickly in hot water but the bigger ones take a lot longer to heat up in the center.

I find it easier to put the rats I need in the fridge the night before. They are not frozen when I get home and I just have to warm them up for a few minutes.

[VEXER19]

Rats dont take that long to defrost. looking at how many snakes you got then I would agree with the 30 min marker. But if you throw them in the fridge the night before then all you would have to do is warm them up in water and be done. Say 10 min to warm them up but I wouldnt do them all in one sitting because by the time you get the first 3 to feed then the ohter ones would be cold. So I would only warm up 2 or 3 at a time uless your snakes just eat really fast. But it only takes 1 snake not eating to cool your rats. But that just depends on how your babies eat.

[kfitz]

We bring the water up to about 170 degrees on the stove for the smaller stuff and then pour it over the rats. When the water temp gets down to around 115 degrees (20 mins approx.) I pull one strait from the bath with forcepts and dangle the rat. As of this week we are 100% on f/t and I think the temp and the feeding at night in the dark helps because they hit the heat not what they see. Good luck with feeding!

[Strick]

I take out what I need the night before and thaw in the fridge. Next day I take them out and let them sit at room temp for a bit. My small crew takes them at room temp and so far no complaints.

[RestlessRobie]

WEll I put the rodent in the fridge the night before then warm water for 15-20 min. Quick trip to the blow dryer to get them to temp and Viola Ratcicles alamode

[MidSouthMorphs]

I let them sit out for 4 to 5 hours, they are completely thawed by then and at toom temp. Then I hit them with the hair dryer for 20 to 30 seconds a piece or until they are warm to the touch. No mess and never had one bust on me.

[JohnNJ]

I tried using my wife's hair dryer and the snakes refused to eat. The mouse/rat smell was replaced with the smell of hairspray.

[MidSouthMorphs]

I tried using my wife's hair dryer and the snakes refused to eat. The mouse/rat smell was replaced with the smell of hairspray.

Lol, I went and got a cheap one from Wal-Mart.