Feeding questions

Well I see so many different methods for people feeding there ball pythons all of mine feed on frozen thawed and I was curious to people's method of how they prepare your frozen thawed rodents for feeding. Such as what are the steps you take, how long do you de-thaw, what methods of de-thawing do you use, etc...?

Thanks kindly,

Lance

Hi Lance,

Right now I'm feeding 20g - 29g F/T rat pups - I take them out of the freezer usually two hours before feeding and place them in a zip-loc bag. I place the bag with the rat inside into a bowl or hot water and let it sit for an hour and a half or so. Once I have verfied that the rat is fully thawed I refill the bowl with hot water to heat up the core temp of the rat again before feeding. After I take the rat out of the bowl I give him a quick blow dry with an old hair dryer to get his head nice and stinky grab him with my tongs and usually within the next 30 - 40 seconds he is dinner.

So yeah, thats my process - works for me and Tango. =)

Careful with the above post. Rapid de-thawing in hot water can cause the rat to "explode". It also may cause the rat to cook on the outside and still be frozen on the inside.

I take out my rats the night before. Let em sit somewhere at room temp for 8-10 hours. Then when they are fully thawed I pop em in a ziploc face down. Fill a small lunch cooler with hot tap water. Pop the rats in the bag in the cooler for 30 minutes to an hour. Then the rats are about 98-105F... Bon appetit!

If the rats are any less then 90F the snakes won't touch it. Any hotter then 105F and I dunno, I don't go hotter :D lol.

I just take out what I need the night before and throw it in the fridge. Then in the morning I take them out and let them thaw in a spare tub in the rack for a couple hours. Dip the head in hot tap water and feed. Works perfectly.

For few snakes that get F/T or when they get F/T I thaw at room temp next to their enclosure and warm up with a hair dryer.

[QUOTE=Jeremy78;1500230]Careful with the above post. Rapid de-thawing in hot water can cause the rat to "explode". It also may cause the rat to cook on the outside and still be frozen on the inside.QUOTE]

Hey Jeremy - point noted, thanks! I haven't had a problem to date as I thaw using more tepid water than hot, but given some of the responses and further reading looks like I'll just change methods and rather be 'safe than sorry'

Thank you all for the help I have been looking for this advise and been given so many different ones and now I am confident with what you all have shared that I can be more comfortable with feeding them now thanks again all.

Lance