Louie keeps tearing his rats to guts!

[tembii]

SO new in this month of Louie n life is he has been a good eater EXCEPT he keeps TEARING HIS RATS UP beyond edible!!! And his ma is so grossed out from cleaning up disemboweled rats!!!! Haha... He's just too vicious ya know? He like, strikes it once which leaves a bite mark, then when he strikes it again, he pulls the skin right off the critter and guts go out or twice he would pull the rat so hard out of the tongs it would rip and guts would come out.... EEEEEEEEE. I just keep telling myself no matter how sicky it is, I am his care-giver and he is my everything so no matter how gross it is, I gotta take care of it and try again!! When I try to like, put the rat in his separate bin, then lower Louie into it, he doesn't seem interested in a still rat, he likes when they're wiggling from the tongs, then he goes for it. I'll figure something out, he last successfully ate April 5th, so about one month ago, but he hasn't been losing weight, he's gained 2 ounces since, so I'm not major worried. Just annoyed of rat guts!!!

[auraria]

What a killer!

Must be a powerful little bugger!

[Zoe]

Are you using frozen-thawed? Also, is it possible they thawed a little at some point and then refroze?
You could try fresh-killed, they don't fall apart quite so easily as a thawed rat.

[Andylee11]

Warm water . I've seen it by leaving them sit in extremely hot water for to long.

[EL-Ziggy]

I'm inclined to agree with Andy. If you're feeding f/t it sounds like your water may be too hot. I thaw my feeders in only warm water then I heat them up to about 100F with a hairdryer. Haven't had an exploding rodent in over 3 years using this method with my kings, bulls, or carpets. All of which are very aggressive at feeding time.

[Fraido]

I use hot water to thaw mine, never had a rat get torn apart, but I have degloved the tip of the tail. Then again, I've only ever had to feed a couple snakes. 😅

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[Willowy]

Yeah, they explode real easily if you overheat them. Might try a little less heat/heating time and see if that helps. They shouldn't tear so easily if they're in good condition.

I used to heat mine in a warm oven (preheated to the lowest temp, then turned off, then put the rodent in there to warm). That resulted in a lot of explosions, eww. So now I put the rodent in the fridge overnight to thaw, then put it in hot tap water for about 10 minutes to warm. That's worked a lot better and I haven't had any gut clean-up since, lol.

[EL-Ziggy]

I put my feeders inside ziploc sandwich bags and immerse them in a large bowl of warm water for a couple of hours until they're completely thawed. Then I superheat them with the blow dryer and serve them up. Works like a charm.