F/T rats, strong odor?

[barbie.dragon]

Are f/t rats supposed to have a real strong odor? When I put the rat in hot water the smell makes me gag. I got the rats from a breeder and I'm wondering if it's because the rats aren't clean? Also I tried putting them in plastic baggies, but when I open the bag it smells So disgusting. Like rat crap and piss.

Augh it's so nasty... I onky have 1 snake so breeding is out of the question... And I'm seriously considering switching to live mice since live small rats cost 7 bucks....
I feel like I can smell dead rats we verywhere I go. Does anyone else feel the same way about f/t?
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[NormanSnake]

Mine never smell.....I don't really think that it's a good thing if they smell bad. Would you eat meat that smelled bad? They ideally should smell the same as live rats. That's essentially what you're going for, you want them to resemble live rats as much as possible.

[Daybreaker]

I've never had feeders smell when taking them out of their hot water to thaw, it's when I heat some of them up with a hairdryer is when some are extra smelly...I haven't noticed that these extra smelly ones looked particularly "dirty"; all looked clean and healthy (I buy in bulk from RP and Layne Labs).

Edit: the smelly smell doesn't smell like decay or rot, just like a hot rat...not sure how to explain it lol

[BCBallPythons]

What size prey are you thawing? Theres a chance that you are heating it up TOO quickly. I did that the very first time i fed F/T rat pups.

Heres an idea that i use, take the rat out the night before and put it in a tupperware container in the fridge and thaw it slowly over night. Then just a quick dunk into hot water or blow dryer or whatever to heat it up!

If they still smell tho after slowly thawing them then something is definitly wrong with the feeders. Goodluck!


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[anwhit]

I've never had feeders smell when taking them out of their hot water to thaw, it's when I heat some of them up with a hairdryer is when some are extra smelly...I haven't noticed that these extra smelly ones looked particularly "dirty"; all looked clean and healthy (I buy in bulk from RP and Layne Labs).

Edit: the smelly smell doesn't smell like decay or rot, just like a hot rat...not sure how to explain it lol

x2 Some can get pretty nasty smelling when you get them warm. phew

[dillan2020]

If they smell like rat poo and pee it would be my guess whover you got them from kept them overcrowded. and didn't clean the bedding enough. i bought some when i ran short from a local guy and had the same problem. he must of had 200 rats in each 55 gallon tank. then they end up mounded up on top of each other using the rat below it as the toilet. i actually had to give them a bath with shampoo before i fed them off.

[adamsky27]

I get my f/t feeders from Rodent Pro. I've never purposely stuck my face in close enough to smell them, but they don't give off too bad of an odor. As stated above, the only time they really smell is if I heat them up with a blow dryer (which I VERY rarely do).

[threezero]

the only few times i have feed f/t it smell so bad. on the other had i have had live feeder chilling in their cardboard box for hours before i open it and the crap and piss smell almost made me fainted

[Mr Oni]

I can't really smell them, mice either. Only a hint of bedding and maybe pee if there is some in the bag....i kinda smell infant human foot . My wife can smell them around a few feet away....Then complains how they stink.

[Salamander Rising]

I've never had feeders smell when taking them out of their hot water to thaw, it's when I heat some of them up with a hairdryer is when some are extra smelly...I haven't noticed that these extra smelly ones looked particularly "dirty"; all looked clean and healthy (I buy in bulk from RP and Layne Labs).

Edit: the smelly smell doesn't smell like decay or rot, just like a hot rat...not sure how to explain it lol