thawing frozen food

I thaw to room temperature. Open the bag for an hour or so to pre-scent. Then I close up the bag and soak (head first) into the hottest water my sink has then feed using tongs.

I put prey item(s) directly in a cup of hot water. Let sit 20 minutes. Replace hot water. Let sit another 20 minutes. Replace water 3rd and final time. Immediately dab prey on paper towels to remove excess water and feed.

Soaking gives extra hydration, if your snake will take a wet rodent. I have weighed mice before and after soaking and they seem to gain an anywhere from 5-10 mL of water, and rats would gain even more. A nice extra drink at feeding time.

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Originally Posted by simplechamp

I put prey item(s) directly in a cup of hot water. Let sit 20 minutes. Replace hot water. Let sit another 20 minutes. Replace water 3rd and final time. Immediately dab prey on paper towels to remove excess water and feed.

Soaking gives extra hydration, if your snake will take a wet rodent. I have weighed mice before and after soaking and they seem to gain an anywhere from 5-10 mL of water, and rats would gain even more. A nice extra drink at feeding time.

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one time i put really hot water in one of those butter tubs and put the lid on and put rodents on top, well lets just say that water was a bit too warm for my face and the rodents go all over the place.

I thaw in hot water until completely thawed. Then use a blowdryer until rat is either completely or at least mostly dry...and I blast the head of the food item for a few seconds with the blowdryer to give the head a heavier heat signature.

i never dry my feeders all the way. i just dab on a paper towel and then feed.

Feeding F/T we place in hot water (size and time dependant) so for an small to adult mouse, we place them, in a sealed plastic bag, in the "Mouse Hot Tub" (so marked) which is simply a tupperware container for 15 minutes.

I have started to move feed items to the fridge from the freezer a day before to slow thaw. Then place into the hot water as above...some toweling off (not to wet). We have not pre-scented as "Micky" readily takes food items.

Bet you never thought there'd be this many ways to thaw a rat, did you?

I put the frozen mouse in a zip-lock and fill the sink about half way with hot water and throw it in there till it thaws. Then I blast the bag with really hot water for about 2 mins and lay the mouse next to my cage vent for about 30 min. Then I put it back in the zip-lock and hit it with hot water again before I put it on the tongs. It's worked like a champ so far.

I put 6 hopper mice and two small rats under a heat light with a timer on. Takes about 2 hours for the rats. The smaller prey items are around the edges and get less heat. This way they all thaw at about the same time. This happens in the room with the snakes. Then I use a blow dryer to raise the temp of the heads, and I use tongs to offer the mouse/rat to the snakes.