hand feeding?

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Originally Posted by Gurgie

Well, I wanted to try thawing a mousie in the microwave to see how it would work, and put it on for 60 seconds and it partially cooked. Usually I put it out in a separate container and set it on the fridge so my cats dont find it and let it thaw by itself.

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You do warm it up after it has thawed in the fridge, right? Warm water, blow dryers, or heat lamps are all good for that. You definitely want to make sure its warmed all the way through.

I hadn't uptill now, no. Is it important that I do so? He had been eating about every 5 days or so till last week. He missed his last feed because I had him at my kids school on the day he was due to eat. now its about 10-11 days or so since he ate last.
All I did was put the mousie in an airtight container on top of the fridge to thaw, then fed him usually the next evening. I'm doing something wrong, right?

They do need to be heated up after thawing; BPs and other pythons use their heat pits to sense warm objects, not sight, to find their prey.

Ooohh, you put it ON the fridge...I read it "IN" the fridge. And I figured a thawed mousie right out of the fridge would still be really cold and might make a snake sick even if he happened to choose to eat it.


I don't think a room temperature mouse would be a problem, but warming it up is still a good idea because it does help a lot with the feeding response. And it also helps insure that there isn't a chilled spot in the middle of the mouse or rat.

wonderful. thanks everyone for the info. I guess I never thought about warming it up because it was already dead. I'll have to try the warming theng and see if he like it better than room temp. BTW, I did NOT feed Nag the partially cooked mousie. I figured it might make him sick, and my little guy has been through enough in the past 2 months or so, he doesnt need to go and get sick because of my ignorence.