feeding frozen thawed

hey everybody im new here but i baught my first BP at a expo in havre de grace last saturday and im gonna try and feed him tomorrow. the breeder said he was eating frozen thawed which is what i wanted but after i defrost the mouse should i try and heat it up some how so the snakes heat pits pick up on it? if so how...i already know not to use a microwave lol

its a male spider by the way

first of all congrates on your first bp, second you can try f/t soon if you want but dont get frustrated if the little guy/gal doesnt take it. your snake will eat when its hungry and if your do get worried just watch its wieght and check with a vet but really it should pick up on eating in its new home with no issues. what I do when I feed frozen is I thaw it out while Im at work then when I get home i put it in the hottest water my foset will put out, so no where near boiling, then i place it in the tank and prod the mouse with a long utencile and then my bp does her thing. if you have some long tongs they work better but I cant seem to find any.

ok thanks i have a pair of long hemostats or however thats spelled lol and try petco or petsmart im pretty sure i saw a pair of long tongs there

I let mine thaw at room temp, then hit it with a hair dryer for 20-30 seconds before offering with tongs.

We defrosted and then I dumped out the cool water and added hot water. Let it sit for a good 20-30 minutes until it was warm to the touch. Our bp snatched a hot rat right up but was unsure of the cooler one the week before.

didnt think about the hair dryer i will probly end up trying all these methods and see what works best. thanks for the ideas

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Originally Posted by warlord

didnt think about the hair dryer i will probly end up trying all these methods and see what works best. thanks for the ideas

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My BPs react to the hairdryer like Pavlov's dogs! :rolleye2: I know without even trying who is and isn't hungry based on who's at the front of the tub within moments of starting to heat the prey!

ok i will try that 1st lol do you feed at night or does it not matter...i figured since there nocturnal night feeding would be better

My routine for feeding my BPs f/T follows:

Quick background first on my f/t's. I order a bulk from Mice Direct and pick them up at the local Repticon getting enough for the next Repticon to pick up a new batch. When I get them home, I weigh the f/t's and put them in bags of three (I have 3 BPs and feeding day is the same for each). I weigh them in order to put the right size in each bag for each BP. That way I can do the following steps each week:

The night before I put the f/t bag in the fridge and they stay there overnight. Then when I get up a 6:00am I take the f/t bag out of the fridge and set them out for the entire day to get to room temp (In my case I put them in the room that I keep my snakes in). Then when I get home around 5:00pm, I put each f/t in it's own bag and lay the open freezer bag next to the holes in each BPs tub (scenting the tub). At around 8:00pm I take an f/t and heat up the head (just the head) with a hairdryer for about 1-2 minutes. I present the f/t to the BP and about 5 seconds later it's wrapped up.

That has worked great for me so far and the snakes are ready to eat when it's time to eat. I got so much scent in the tubs and room that they can't stand it.

I heated one of my f/ts up too quickly and it wasn't pretty. There was nasty stuff in the bag before I could even offer to the BP. So, needless to say one guy had to wait a day to eat.

Hope this helps.

One way to speed up the process without creating microwave type issues is to put hot water into an insulated container; such as a small cooler or leak proof styrofoam box. The water isnt hot enough to cook them and the heat loss from the insulated box is extremely slow. An added benefit is that the thawed prey item is warm to the touch when removed.

Regards,
Hopkins

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Originally Posted by warlord

ok i will try that 1st lol do you feed at night or does it not matter...i figured since there nocturnal night feeding would be better

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I typically feed between 6-8pm (later in the summer, so it isn't fully light outside), but it's really whenever I get to it that evening.

ok and the rule for BP's is to feed them a rodent the same size as the thickest part of there body right?

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Originally Posted by warlord

ok and the rule for BP's is to feed them a rodent the same size as the thickest part of there body right?

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Yes, or 10-15% of their body weight.

ok i remembered that i wouldnt be home until late tomorrow night so i fed tonight, defrosted in water and hit it with the hair dryer for about 45 seconds and he snagged that thing from the tongs in about 10 seconds