Frozen food warming, in the tank?

I'm about to try to feed my BP for the first time later this week. She's used to live fuzzy rats, but I can only find the same thing around me frozen. I'm hoping I can get her to take them, but we'll see.

Anyway, I'm planning on thawing it and then warming it under the heat element in the tank. But would it be a bad/good idea to actually do this in the tank with the snake? I thought maybe the smell would pique her appetite as it warms up. Or would the opposite effect be likely?

Thanks!

Not a bad idea at all. I use a hair dryer and I make sure I blow the rat-scented air right towards my snakes so that way when I open their tubs they have the smell and are ready to eat as soon as i bring them the rat. :gj:

They track by heat. If you warm it on the heating element in the tank it'll just look like a bump on a log to the snake.

I wouldn't do it. My Boa's and Yellow Annie's will try to eat anything that i put into their enclosure, frozen or not.

I usually thaw out the rat overnight in the refrigerator then warm it up in a bowl of warm water near or on top of the snake enclosure.

I wouldn't heat it up in the tank but maybe on top of the lid. put it in the fridge over night and then heat it up with a heat lamp or in some warm water near the snake to scent the room. Then offer the rat by grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and shaking it gently to mimic movement...just don't do it right in front of your snake's face. Let us know how it goes!

I wouldn't put the prey in the tank to heat it up, your snake might smell it and just go right for it if the snake is still in the tank. I suggest not putting the prey in the tank at all because the smell might linger around the tank for god knows how long. Who knows, maybe if the smell of the prey is still in the tank, and you go and put your hand in the tank to handle your snake, the snake gets agressive because it thinks your the prey.

The way I heat my frozen mice up is, you boil water, put that water in a mug, put the prey in a ziploc plastic baggy, put that into the mug for about a minute or less. Then press on the mouse to see if it is warm and not still frozen. That should be good.

Good luck

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Originally Posted by Quinnster

I wouldn't put the prey in the tank to heat it up, your snake might smell it and just go right for it if the snake is still in the tank. I suggest not putting the prey in the tank at all because the smell might linger around the tank for god knows how long. Who knows, maybe if the smell of the prey is still in the tank, and you go and put your hand in the tank to handle your snake, the snake gets agressive because it thinks your the prey.

The way I heat my frozen mice up is, you boil water, put that water in a mug, put the prey in a ziploc plastic baggy, put that into the mug for about a minute or less. Then press on the mouse to see if it is warm and not still frozen. That should be good.

Good luck

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You don't want to cook it. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this, but I think if the meat is cooked at all the snake can get very sick. I think a lot of people use hot water from the tap, but I wouldn't put it in actual boiling water.

Thanks for all the responses everybody! I was implying that I'd thaw it probably in the fridge over night, and then just put it for a few minutes under the heat to warm up. At that point if the snake happened to just go for it and eat it, that wouldn't be a problem at all.

Also, I'm planning on feeding it with hemostats.

Should I move it around a bit where the snake can see and then leave it there, or actually wiggle it about in front of the snake until it strikes and takes it directly from the tongs?

(sorry if these are n00b, previously answered questions. I am a n00b.)

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Originally Posted by MrLang

You don't want to cook it. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this, but I think if the meat is cooked at all the snake can get very sick. I think a lot of people use hot water from the tap, but I wouldn't put it in actual boiling water.

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Yeah I know what you mean. I don't like fully boil the water, I just make it hot. I should have said that in my original post. And I also don't keep it in there for long.

Well you shouldn't feed the snake in the tank anyways. You always should feed it seperate from the tank it lives in, because you don't want the snake to associate you opening the tank as feeding time, and become agressive and ready to eat. It's just like the theory of when Ivan Pavlov rung the bell and his dog started drooling because the dog associated that ringing of the bell as feeding time. If that makes sense.

I thaw mine in a container of hot water... I have roommates that would freak if a rat was thawing in the fridge. :)

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Originally Posted by Quinnster

Well you shouldn't feed the snake in the tank anyways. You always should feed it seperate from the tank it lives in, because you don't want the snake to associate you opening the tank as feeding time, and become agressive and ready to eat. It's just like the theory of when Ivan Pavlov rung the bell and his dog started drooling because the dog associated that ringing of the bell as feeding time. If that makes sense.

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I just read on this site's FAQs that that's a myth if you regularly open the tank for maintenance and water changing. Which makes sense to me. Also, I plan on handling the snake frequently once she's regularly eating, so the door will open for that, too.

I may end up getting a separate feeding container anyway though cause I'm considering housing 2 together, and that seems like the easiest way to ensure proper feeding in that situation. That's all hypothetical at this point, though. Step 1, get the first snake to eat.

Okay :~) I wish you luck when you feed your snake! Let us all know how it goes.

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I'm considering housing 2 together

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Bad idea. BPs are not social animals and do not care if they have a "friend". When someone sees two snakes "cuddling" they are actually competing for resources and are likely stressed. It doesn't save you space either, as you need to have a cage way bigger than if you even had two separate cages in order to provide enough space for each snake, plus at least 2 hides on the cool and 2 on the warm so they aren't competing for hides.

When housing snakes together, you are risking their lives, as one might kill the other one, even if they are the exact same size. They also can give each other diseases (which means taking TWO snakes to the vet and paying twice as much for meds), and if one of them is not pooping or regurges their food, you won't know which one it is.

The only reason 2 BPs should be in the same cage is if they are mating.

Two can be housed together, but it will save you neither time nor money. It's not recommended for beginner keepers simply because things can (and sometimes do) go wrong. If you have to ask how to thaw and offer your rodents, you shouldn't be keeping multiple snakes in one enclosure.

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Originally Posted by Quinnster

Well you shouldn't feed the snake in the tank anyways. You always should feed it seperate from the tank it lives in, because you don't want the snake to associate you opening the tank as feeding time, and become agressive and ready to eat. It's just like the theory of when Ivan Pavlov rung the bell and his dog started drooling because the dog associated that ringing of the bell as feeding time. If that makes sense.

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That's not true. Putting the snake in a separate container works the same exact way only when you move it to a different container, it knows that every single time you put it in a separate container you are going to feed it. When you feed in the tank and open the cage at other times (not during feeding) it will create less of that Pavlov effect.

Yeah the topic of moving your snake into a feeding box VS feeding it in the tank has been beaten to death over and over again.

But I will say that a vast majority of experienced reptile keepers as well as the professionals feed snakes in the enclosure with no problem. I do it as well and it hasn't made my snakes anymore "cage aggresive". They're still puppy dogs when being handled :)

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Originally Posted by dkspftw

Should I move it around a bit where the snake can see and then leave it there, or actually wiggle it about in front of the snake until it strikes and takes it directly from the tongs?

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Looks like this is your only question that hasn't been addressed. I think it depends on the snake. Mine will eat f/t or live. I usually feed live, but occasionally I buy more than she wants and the leftovers end up in the freezer until next week. When I do f/t, I just lay them in there and she eats them at her leisure, which is usually right away. I'm not sure if not feeding either/or all the time has anything to do with this or if I've just lucked out and she hasn't been picky yet.

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Originally Posted by BrandiR

I think it depends on the snake.

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This :gj:

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Originally Posted by MrLang

You don't want to cook it. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this, but I think if the meat is cooked at all the snake can get very sick. I think a lot of people use hot water from the tap, but I wouldn't put it in actual boiling water.

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I dont know if they would get sick right away, but if you do it often then probably, but feeding an animal a cooked meal is pretty silly when you think about it, they didnt evolve to eat cooked meals, when you cook it you pretty much cook all the good stuff out. Similar to why people feed their dogs raw vs processed kibble. You cook it, you "ruin" it nutritionally.

So I've got a pretty great conclusion to this.

Took about 30 seconds for me to convince her to heat a thawed hopper mouse. In retrospect, she probably could have taken bigger, but I can't complain!

Unfortunately I forgot to turn off my camera flash when I took the pic, but it didn't stop her from gulping it down. Think I was more stressed by the whole process than she was.

To reiterate, my juvenile, first-ever-owned BP, who was raised in a tub on live and is now in a tank setup with loud music and me hovering over her, ate frozen with no qualms.

I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!

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