Frozen thawed/

Can they be a little frozen in the middle? Full size mice.:)

Nope. must be completly thawed, snakes internals are very sensitive to cold and can be damaged very easily by it

How are you thawing your rodents?

improperly thawed prey can lead to regurgitation or worse death, so make sure anything you feed is properly thawed.

For that the best way is to thaw the prey item slowly at room temps and re-heat with a hair dryer.

Thawing in hot water can lead to a prey thawed on the outside while still frozen in the inside.

Again the key is SLOW thawing.

How much frozen? If its a just a little on the inside you're fine. Just make sure the majority of the rat is de-thawed properly. I use hot water exclusively to de-thaw my rodents and it works just great. My boas take f/t that have been about 90% thawed and never once had an issue or a regurgitation. You don't want to shock their system with a frozen rodent. Frozen stiff limbs can harm the snakes internal organs. But again, if its just a little on the interior of the rodent don't sweat it.

I disagree completely with the "if it is a little bit don't worry" mentality. You may have been ok up until now but that is just asking for trouble. How do you really know what is just a little. Why would you not simply do a better job of thawing the rodent? Throw it on the counter for a few hours, or the fridge for a day, let it thaw slowly, then warm it up properly.

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Originally Posted by h20hunter

I disagree completely with the "if it is a little bit don't worry" mentality. You may have been ok up until now but that is just asking for trouble. How do you really know what is just a little. Why would you not simply do a better job of thawing the rodent? Throw it on the counter for a few hours, or the fridge for a day, let it thaw slowly, then warm it up properly.

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I totally agree with this statement. Why would you even take a risk at possibly harming your snake? The OP NEEDS to make sure the rodent is 100% thawed before even thinking about trying to feed it to the snake.

Ok so tell me exactly why, from a medical standpoint, why a rodent that is a tiny bit cold in the middle would cause death in a snake?

I can't. Not a vet. What I can tell you is that snakes are not meant to eat anything that has a cold/frozen center. How hard is it to make sure the rodent is warmed all the way through?

Mods can edit my post if this is to abrubt but how lazy are you that you can't thaw your snakes food properly?

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Originally Posted by JoshSloane

Ok so tell me exactly why, from a medical standpoint, why a rodent that is a tiny bit cold in the middle would cause death in a snake?

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I'm not a doctor or vet or anything, but this seems like it should be common sense.

Snakes do not have the ability to control their temperature, like humans do. Therefore, they rely on their surroundings to regulate their temperature. So, if a snake ingests a rat/mouse that is unevenly thawed, or not thawed completely, it can be a bit of a shock to the system. In this case, they will most likely regurgitate, which can lead to other problems. Not sure how exactly it can kill a snake, but I have experienced a regurgitation and it is not pleasant. Think about how you feel after you throw up, do you want your snake to feel that way?


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