frozen medium rat bursting open...?

I have a male ball python and have been feeding frozen medium rats for about two years. I have been doing it by thawing the rat in a ziploc bag set inside a dish of very hot water. It usually takes at least an hour for the rat to thaw like this, generaly another 20 to 30 minutes for it to be warm all around.

But something has been happening the last few times that is very very gross and I wonder if there is something different I can do to avoid this. The belly area of the rat is often compramised after thawing and the guts are slightly visible when I offer the food to my snake. Of course the instant the snake takes the food and coils up, the guts come right on out.
I'm not sure why it's happening now but it didn't seem to the first few times I did frozen. I haven't done anything different that I can think of anyway...

It smells horrible not to mention I have to wash the snake off after feeding then I spend like 20 minutes washing my hands because I really don't want to get salmanella(sp?)....

any thoughts?

thanks.

let it thaw in fridge for 12 hours take out let it warm up to room temp and blast the head with a hot hairdryer

you could be thawing them with water that is too hot. this can cause the gasses in the mouses stomach to expand, causing the mouse to explode with pressure

Hi,

It can also be caused by the rat having partialy defrosted before you got it and then being re-frozen.

Did you change suppliers lately or anything?


dr del

my guess is that the pet store where youre getting them from recently got a shipment that was let sit out too long and they will all be like that... its what happens when you let one sit out too long from frozen and then stick it back in the freezer... smells really bad too...

To hot of water can cook the rat weakening the skin. Thaw it in warm water then use hot to make it really warm after.

hrm.. I can see how it could be several of these factors then.. On two occaissions of buying the rat I was not able to straightway go home and freeze it, it had 30 to 60 minutes in room temp.
I probably have been using too hot of water.. I microwave my water to get it nearly boiling, put the rat in a ziploc and set it in the water. I was doing that straight from the freezer.

I purchase from the local pet store [jacks aquarium and pets for me]. I will take them straight home, put them in tough freezer bags and into the freezer immediately. I will also try letting them thaw overnight in the fridge a day ahead of time.

as for the heating part.... I guess I'l try less hot water it just might take longer. I don't currently have a hair dryer. crazy huh? I am a girl with long hair and I don't use them.

i definitely don't use the hairdryer for my feeders. i also completely skip the thawing them in a baggie thing, personally i think it stinks, and a little water doesn't hurt the snake anyways.

i just take the feeders out of the freezer, and throw them in a big bowl (i unthaw about 15 feeders at a time) of LUKEWARM water. once the water is cooled down because of the frozen mice, i drain, and refill with luke water once or twice more, then when they're ready to feed (after you've squished their tummy to make sure it's not frozen in the middle) i fill up the bowl with much warmer water.

haven't had one burst yet.

i dont even use hot water anymore. soggy rats just dont do it for me and i dont think all of my snakes would take them. the water causes stuff to cool too quickly.

i toss all the rats im feeding that time in an empty bin in my rack, with the larger ones over the heat tape. i come back in 4-6 hours and everything is all defrosted and nice. I hit them with a hair dryer on low for about a minute and everything is ready to go. the hair dryer also helps present so even some of my pickier eaters have gotten crazy in their feeding responses.

i think i got my hair dryer for 10 bucks at big lots.

I didn't want to start a new thread for this next question, I'm sure it's been answered many times but I can't find it in any other threads right now.

What are your thoughts on feeding more than one mouse or rat at a time? I couldn't get the size I wanted so I went with slightly smaller than usual and my snake is acting like he hasn't been fed even though he just ate. Should I just feed normal and wait till next week to feed again or should I offer the next small right right away?

He is about 5 years old, feeding frozen medium rats usually but only have small ones right now. He's normally very dosile but he's acting very aggressive because he's hungry right now. He was even striking at me and he never does that.