Thawing out rats

I usually thaw out rats by putting them on a heat pad while still frozen. This has worked ok, but there were a few times when I forgot about them for half and hour and they start going bad and the stomach swells and it wastes the rat. Even if it doesn't seem to go bad, I am starting to think that the part that touches the heat pad thaws a lot faster than the top part, and when the top part is thawed, the bottom part may have been "over heated" somewhat.

I would like to from now on, thaw out the rats at room temperature before heating them up. I of course have to work and I get home pretty late. Usually, I will go to work, get back home about 6pm to put down my stuff, go to the gym and get back home about 9 to 10 pm. I was thinking to take the rats out when I get home, take the rats out, go to the gym and come back and feed them.

Is this period of time too long? Say 3 to 5 hours or room temperature thawing? Will they go bad in that period of time at room temperature? It's about 80F here.

My smallest snake eats 40 gram mouse, biggest 100 - 120 gram rat. But most of them are in the 50 - 70 gram rat range.

No they wont go bad. I know some people let them thaw out while theyre at work. So im assuming that would be like 8-12 hours. (At least thats how long my workdays are lol). Hope this helps :)

Hi,

I'd say give it a go on a day you will be in the first time so you can see what stage they are at several times throughout the process. :)

I do use a heatpad but it is set fairly low on a thermostat and I turn the rats several times during defrosting.

I have also found that, obviously, the more rats I put out at a time the longer the defrosting takes in the tub. This may not be a problem for you on a countertop covered in paper of course. :)


dr del

What I do is: take the rats out of the freezer the night before - let them thaw in the fridge overnight and then about 4 hours before feeding time - I lay them out at room temp in the snakeroom for scenting purposes and to ensure they are thoroughly thawed before I submerge them in hot water.

I have done this method for years with no problems.

Thanks for all the replies. I guess that most people seem to have no problems leaving them out for a few hours. I would assume that your climate is a little different. I saw a "thawing time chart" that gave times for rats of different gram sizes different hours for thawing, but they said at 72F room temperature. Here, other than in the winter when it gets to around mid to low 70s, it stays pretty much about 80F, going up even more in the deep of summer. Not sure if that will make the rats spoil faster.

I guess I will have to try it out. But anyone have any expert opinion would be welcome to comment and appreciated.