Heating mice

[EarthlyMaiden]

My dear Stevie is once again the pampered, somewhat-spoiled little BP that stares at me if I make too much noise. He's healthy, happy, and eating again.
He's happily digesting a smaller mouse right now. He should technically be on large mice, but since he's been refusing those, I've just been offering multiple smaller meals. Now, I'm 95% certain that he's refusing the large mice because they aren't hot enough. And that leads us to my question.

For those of you who feed prekilled, how do you heat them? Generally I heat water up and put the bag of mouse into it so it heats up that way. This doesn't work with the bigger ones, since they take longer to heat up and the water cools off and leaves me with a thawed, but lukewarm, mouse.

He's still getting a full tummy, whether on smaller, more frequent meals or a single, big meal. I was just wondering if there was a more efficient way of heating his food. (And possibly a faster one, considering how he stares at me on feeding day. 'Is it done yet...?')

[norwegn113]

This is what I do. I use a aquarium heating unit to heat the water. I plug the heater into a thermostat, then I put the tip of the thermostat probe into the water and set the temp to 98 degrees then I plug the thermostat into a UL approved GFCI protected outlet or another name is a ground fault circuit interuptor. This is very important, DO NOT USE THIS IDEA WITHOUT PROPER GFCI GROUNDING. Failure to do so can cause serious injury or even DEATH . Now having said that this method works extremely well for me and get the mice at the perfect temp without cooking them.

[Pythonfriend]

water is fine if you replace the water one or two times, as soon as its cool, with warm water.


the problem is physics. when a liquid crystallizes, energy is given off, thats how re-useable heatpacks work. when a crystal melts into a liquid, energy is consumed, thats how 3 ice cubes keep an entire longdrink cool for quite a while. so there simply isnt enough energy for the whole system to still be warm after the rat melted. when people encounter this in everyday life they almost always totally forget about this fact, or greatly underestimate the amounts of energy involved in simply changing something from frozen to liquid.

so you could either use a larger container full of warm water, like a bucket, or the same small container and replace the water one or two times. i wouldnt use water that is too hot because that can increase the risk of a terrible mess as the snake constricts it. the idea of using an aquarium heater that has a thermostat is also nice.

dont use a microwave, dont even think about it!

[Lurker]

Geeze, all these elaborate water methods are making me feel lazy...
I just let them defrost out on the counter while I go do something destructive constructive for an hour or so. I warm them up under the tap once they are room temp. Or I just bypass the water altogether and just place the bagged rodent on a sunny windowsill till it's warm, if the weather's pretending to be decent.

[Coleslaw007]

I just put them straight into my mouth and let my body warmth and saliva defrost them. They have a very distinct flavor.

Nah, I just put them in a Ziploc in warm water until they're thawed and then hotter water for a few to get em nice n' hot.

[royal constrictor]

Same here I just use hot water from my sink.... Don't worry u wont cook the rat with tap water, like physics person said all that energy is just gunna go to thawing, u have to thaw before u can cook

[kitedemon]

Overnight in the fridge, a few hours before feeding I let them come up to room temp. I put them in the reptile room at this point on a a warming pad for 20 min then a quick hit with a hair dryer on the head and feed. I get the head to 100 and body mid 90s just about the same as a live rat.


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[mandalorian]

hair dryer then temp gun

[h22a1]

ya i defrost on the counter for a few hrs, then blast them with a hair dryer for 15-30 seconds or so. some times i dont even have to, i fed my ball a jumbo mouse yesterday and just defrosted it. no heating at all. hit it like a fright train weighed 59g

[piedplus]

Defrost overnight
Put in bucket of water 10 degrees hotter than I want the rat (no baggie)
After 10 minutes, check temp. Heat more if necessary.
Blot with paper towels and feed.

Nice things about no baggie: Easier, heats faster, easier to tell if rat is spoiled (sinkers good, floaters bad)