Ugh!!!!

Way back when i was feeding live roxy struck at the fuzzy really hard and i guess she kinda missed but like grazed it with her teeth becuase the mouse throat was slit, it was kinda grody.but kinda cool at the same time.i love watching her eat,

semperfi, do you work at a vet clinic ??

yep. Union Lake Pet Services. the place is big, its awesome. theres 3 buildings on the lot... a rehab clinic (with a creamatorium in a garage attached to it), the hospital and the kennel, which has a daycare part and a grooming part. i've been workin at the kennel since about october, and they moved me to the hospital. i loooooooove working at the hospital, its so awesome cuz im an assistant in surgery. so i see everything that goes on!! cept, im everyones b*tch since im the assistant... "angela, get me gauze," "angela, get me fluids," "angela, go cap that IV and walk the dog" hehe but its 2 cool!

thats soo awesome ! my friends own a kennel its pretty cool

I gotta admit that is the ONE thing I hate about feeding F/T that has sort of discouraged me sometimes...every time I heat up a rodent to attempt an F/T feeding the abdominal wall of the rodent bursts open and I get rat guts all over my hands and under my fingernails. Yecchh...truly, not one of the most pleasant things about owning snakes....
EyeLashViper

Haha, this all sounds too fun. I can't wait to experience this. :hungry:

j/k.....or am I? :twisted:

I have seen some pretty nasty feedings while feeding live. Bela is so stupid, she tries to swallow still-alive rat pups. I have to whack the rat prior to feeding it, and not just stun it but make sure it's completely dead, or this snake'll try to swallow it alive. I think she deserves a Darwin award, lol.
I never personally saw the exploding stomach thingie, but I have seen rats bleed a LOT. I am just glad that I am not squeamish about blood.

If you're having rodents burst on you on a regular basis, you're either heating them up with too hot a heat source or you need another source for your rodents because they're being refrozen. I've only had two burst on me.

I thaw mine in a cup of warm, not hot, water. Just change the water several times as it cools frrom the rat. In a few hours you get a nicely thawed rat, and then I run it under hot tapwater to heat it up so that they can see it as prey.

Tigergenesis suggested this a couple of days ago in another thread. It makes sense to me. It doesnt seem like you would be thawing too fast or cooking the rodent as you go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tigergenesis

New method:
The night before feeding I take rodents out of freezer and sit in the fridge (in covered bowl). When I get home from work the next day I sit the bowl out (lid off) to get to room temp while I walk the dog, check the mail, etc. Then I throw on the light fixture as above. I like this way better because I'm not sitting around waiting or changing water. It takes less time to warm up as well, and it may be a coincidence but it seems I'm getting better feeding responses with this new method.

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Good advice! This was my first burst stomach, and I was trying to heat the rat too quickly I think. I used really hot water. Never again!