Best way to prepare F/T?

Is it best to let de-thaw overnight before feeding day then warm up for ball pythons? Is warm water best? Let me know thanks.

I have always used a glass of hot water for about 10 minutes - depending on the size of mouse. Others use cold first, then warm in case the snake contstricts too hard and squishes innards out.

I don't make a production over it, just thaw and feed.

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Originally Posted by knox

I have always used a glass of hot water for about 10 minutes - depending on the size of mouse. Others use cold first, then warm in case the snake contstricts too hard and squishes innards out.

I don't make a production over it, just thaw and feed.

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Same here, but I usually give it 25-30 minutes. I just make sure that I can tell if its warm all the way inside and let him have it. My ball turns his nose up at them if they've been out for a while (plus, you don't want harmful bacteria to build up). :)

I only have 2 snakes atm and they are on hoppers. I doubt this would work for large scale feedings, but...I put one f/t in an individual ziploc bag and let it thaw to room temp during cooler weather/thaw in fridge if summer, etc.

Once thawed I place the ziploc bag bottom with the f/t in a small but deep plastic container filled with warm water and use something to hold it submerged (silverwear piece is what I use). Depending on whether I thawed it at room temp or in the fridge I will refill the warm water 2-3 times to make sure it's as much of a warm temp as possible for the snake w/o worrying about it being too hot.

I let mine thaw to room temp on stacked paper towels, then warm their heads with a hair dryer before offering. I found that plastic bags, even Ziploc freezer bags, are too unreliable for keeping the warm water out (wet rats = yucky!).

I also submerge in hot water in a ziplock bag. But I have to agree that water occasionally gets in and wet rats are gross. So I've started double bagging and that has spared me the wet rats. But I have also had the same concerns about when I need to do larger scale feedings. Right now I have 8 bps and it hasn't been a big deal, but I can only imagine what it would be like with even twice that number.


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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I let mine thaw to room temp on stacked paper towels, then warm their heads with a hair dryer before offering. I found that plastic bags, even Ziploc freezer bags, are too unreliable for keeping the warm water out (wet rats = yucky!).

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Oh yeah..forgot to say I use the ziploc. It does seem to be hit and miss with the water. I like the dryer idea. I'll have to give that a go.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I let mine thaw to room temp on stacked paper towels, then warm their heads with a hair dryer before offering. I found that plastic bags, even Ziploc freezer bags, are too unreliable for keeping the warm water out (wet rats = yucky!).

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Lol, wet rats would be nasty-I've been lucky so far but they're small. I like the hair dryer idea too :)

I order my frozen rats once a month from a local breeder/store owner and immideiately put them each in their own ziplock bag. 24 hours before feeding I just grab one out of the freezer (my BPs are on different schedules/different days) toss it into the fridge until the next night. After 24hrs in the fridge it is completely thawed, so I put it in warm water for 30mins and quickly blast it with a hair dryer after thoroughly heated. I've tried many different methods of thawing but this seems to be the easiest, least messy, and gets the best feeding response. I've done the whole "straight from freezer to warm water".. not a great idea. Think of an ice cube.. if you drop an ice cube straight from the freezer into warm water, it cracks on the inside. Same happens with a frozen mouse/rat! Yeah, not a pretty sight when the BP squeezes it :hmm:

I am doing the same as everyone. I wonder is there any easier way. The hair dryer some times make a smell of the rats. Also the warm water gets the rats wet, and the snake make a mass if the rat is wet.

My friend told me he just left the rat in the room temp for 6 hours, then feed to his snakes. He said all of his snakes take room temp rats. It is hard, but they will.

I am going to try that. That will be much easier.