Best way to prepare F/T?

Is it best to let de-thaw overnight before feeding day then warm up for ball pythons? Is warm water best? Let me know thanks.

I have always used a glass of hot water for about 10 minutes - depending on the size of mouse. Others use cold first, then warm in case the snake contstricts too hard and squishes innards out.

I don't make a production over it, just thaw and feed.

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Originally Posted by knox

I have always used a glass of hot water for about 10 minutes - depending on the size of mouse. Others use cold first, then warm in case the snake contstricts too hard and squishes innards out.

I don't make a production over it, just thaw and feed.

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Same here, but I usually give it 25-30 minutes. I just make sure that I can tell if its warm all the way inside and let him have it. My ball turns his nose up at them if they've been out for a while (plus, you don't want harmful bacteria to build up). :)

I only have 2 snakes atm and they are on hoppers. I doubt this would work for large scale feedings, but...I put one f/t in an individual ziploc bag and let it thaw to room temp during cooler weather/thaw in fridge if summer, etc.

Once thawed I place the ziploc bag bottom with the f/t in a small but deep plastic container filled with warm water and use something to hold it submerged (silverwear piece is what I use). Depending on whether I thawed it at room temp or in the fridge I will refill the warm water 2-3 times to make sure it's as much of a warm temp as possible for the snake w/o worrying about it being too hot.

I let mine thaw to room temp on stacked paper towels, then warm their heads with a hair dryer before offering. I found that plastic bags, even Ziploc freezer bags, are too unreliable for keeping the warm water out (wet rats = yucky!).

I also submerge in hot water in a ziplock bag. But I have to agree that water occasionally gets in and wet rats are gross. So I've started double bagging and that has spared me the wet rats. But I have also had the same concerns about when I need to do larger scale feedings. Right now I have 8 bps and it hasn't been a big deal, but I can only imagine what it would be like with even twice that number.


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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I let mine thaw to room temp on stacked paper towels, then warm their heads with a hair dryer before offering. I found that plastic bags, even Ziploc freezer bags, are too unreliable for keeping the warm water out (wet rats = yucky!).

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Oh yeah..forgot to say I use the ziploc. It does seem to be hit and miss with the water. I like the dryer idea. I'll have to give that a go.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I let mine thaw to room temp on stacked paper towels, then warm their heads with a hair dryer before offering. I found that plastic bags, even Ziploc freezer bags, are too unreliable for keeping the warm water out (wet rats = yucky!).

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Lol, wet rats would be nasty-I've been lucky so far but they're small. I like the hair dryer idea too :)

I order my frozen rats once a month from a local breeder/store owner and immideiately put them each in their own ziplock bag. 24 hours before feeding I just grab one out of the freezer (my BPs are on different schedules/different days) toss it into the fridge until the next night. After 24hrs in the fridge it is completely thawed, so I put it in warm water for 30mins and quickly blast it with a hair dryer after thoroughly heated. I've tried many different methods of thawing but this seems to be the easiest, least messy, and gets the best feeding response. I've done the whole "straight from freezer to warm water".. not a great idea. Think of an ice cube.. if you drop an ice cube straight from the freezer into warm water, it cracks on the inside. Same happens with a frozen mouse/rat! Yeah, not a pretty sight when the BP squeezes it :hmm:

I am doing the same as everyone. I wonder is there any easier way. The hair dryer some times make a smell of the rats. Also the warm water gets the rats wet, and the snake make a mass if the rat is wet.

My friend told me he just left the rat in the room temp for 6 hours, then feed to his snakes. He said all of his snakes take room temp rats. It is hard, but they will.

I am going to try that. That will be much easier.

I freeze my own rats to keep on hand so i have them wrappen in saran....i just submerge them in hot water until temp and then pat them with a paper towel.

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Originally Posted by mc5guy

I am doing the same as everyone. I wonder is there any easier way. The hair dryer some times make a smell of the rats. Also the warm water gets the rats wet, and the snake make a mass if the rat is wet.

My friend told me he just left the rat in the room temp for 6 hours, then feed to his snakes. He said all of his snakes take room temp rats. It is hard, but they will.

I am going to try that. That will be much easier.

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That "smell of the rats" is probably the nasty cooking flesh :rolleyes: If you use a hair dryer, you're only supposed to "blast" it for a couple seconds, just for some quick added heat. Hair dryers get so hot they can cook the mouse/rat fairly quickly! (I've accidentally done that to a mouse, smells much worse than rats) That's also why steaming hot water is not recommended. :oops:

I throw mines in a plastic container, place it in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. Then I thaw at room temp for about 6-7 hours. I then dip the head and front feet into very hot water. BP has never refused.

Hmm... I feel like an oddball now! I have about 40 snakes to feed and like to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible. What I do is take however many rats and mice as I need out of the freezer, throw them all, rats and mice, in a bucket no baggies or nothin. I then fill the bucket with hot water and let them sit for about an hour or until they're all fully thawed(Jumbo rats take FOREVER). Right before feeding I'll refill the bucket about half way with hot water and let them sit for about 5-10 mins. Then I just take out what I need one by one as I feed and roll them in paper towel until the excess water is off.
I know a lot of people wouldn't want to thaw them so quickly to avoid the exploding mice/rats. Honestly though, I've been doing it the same way for several years now every week and just last week I got my first exploder.
I've tried thawing them in zip-lock bags to keep them dry, but it easily takes twice as long to do so and half the time they end up wet anyways.

I am thinking of just letting it defrost for 24hrs and then using a heat lamp like garrick demeyer to heat them up for the ball pythons. Think of a piece of frozen meat, can't I just let the rat or mouse naturally defrost?

No bags for me, just wet mice. I don't feed large mice yet, so mine only take about 10 mins - 3 or 4 for pinks.

I can imagine large mice or small rats would take a good bit longer.

Heres what i do.

Wake up and take feeders out in morning

At night time their nice and thawed. Then i plug in a piece of flexwatt (unregulated) and heat them up. This gets their insides all nice and and warm but not cooking them. You can even regulate it on a tstat at 90 degrees if u want.

Never had a problem doing this.

Now that is a good suggestion. Thanks I will try doing that cause heat lamp might cook them. Thanks!

I heat a bowl of water in the microwave. then I take the frozen food and put in a large zip lock bag. Let is sit in the water for about 10-15 minutes. Then I check to make sure they are thawed and warm then feed. You might have to rewarm some of the later rats you feed if you have picky eaters or alot of snakes to feed. Make sure you DO NOT under any circumstances put the rats in the microwave.

BuckeyeBalls: that is a great suggestion. I now know what i am going to pick up at the next reptile show.


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From the freezer... to the counter (1-2 hrs.)... a few seconds... place on top of screen until Squeezer Romero is climbing the walls... under CHE for a few seconds... down it goes. :D


So far...

I also thaw over night in a freezer and take than out 3 hours before feeding to allow then to come up to room temps and in the snake room I'll give them a moment under a hair dryer The snakes seem to like the smell even if I don't much. I have never cooked one with a hair dryer too short of an attention span. :rolleyes:

I usually put mine double bagged in some warm-tepid water until they're soft, then either blow dry them or throw them under a heat lamp (depending on my patience/ time). I had trouble with leaky bags, and my girl is picky enough without soaked rats. she wouldn't even show an interest if it had been soaked during defrost, so double bagging it is.

For the mice, I let them thaw at room temp for 2 1/2 hours, small rats I thaw in the refrigerator for a day and a half, then warm at room temp for 3 1/2 hours.

Take all my food out and put it in a bowl to sit at room temperature. After a few hours the rodents are thawed and I lay them in a row under a regular desk lamp until they feel warm.