Cutting Frozen Rats?

This might be a terrible question, but the smallest rat i could find for my new blood python is too big, is there a such thing as cutting the frozen rat to make it smaller? Will it still eat?

it would be a huge mess as the inards would be everywhere. Notice what happens when you squeeze a tube of tooth paste?

Not sure if a snake would eat it, but the inards don't go everywhere with f/t. I cut rats in half for my cat to eat.

Cats dont constrict either

I was referring to cutting open the rat.

I just don't see that ending pretty...

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Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

Cats dont constrict either

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They don't?! Maybe there's something wrong with mine, he's always trying.... :P

There were no mice the correct size for feeding available?

Try it. Worst that happens is you end up with rat guts everywhere and a snake that's still hungry.

How certain are you that it is too big? My blood has taken some impressive sized rats. Got any pics?

i think the results will be quite nasty. much of the stuff inside is held together by the skin around it, cut it and different internal organs go everywhere.

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

i think the results will be quite nasty. much of the stuff inside is held together by the skin around it, cut it and different internal organs go everywhere.

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I thought there would be some invisible force holding everything inside :D lol

To the OP if you did this please post pics!!

There's really no reason to be rude.

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Originally Posted by Awaiting Abyss

There's really no reason to be rude.

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I hope you were not referring to me. I was only joking... :tears:

I'm confused. I don't see anyone even close to being rude in this thread. :confusd:

You can cut FT prey.
Some people do so for their animals with no issue. I know people who feed FT avian and rodent prey to certain species in parts.

And some snakes do continue to eat FT prey that has exploded in half after a constriction.

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Originally Posted by Awaiting Abyss

I was referring to cutting open the rat.

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As opposed to...?

Surely no one thought you were referring to the cat!

I'm sure you could cut a rat in half and feed it to a blood, but there's got to be a better way. Plus, what are you going to do with the tail end?

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Corn snake people feed partial pinkies to hatchling corns that are too small to eat a whole pink all the time. There is also a theory that just making a few holes in the skin allows the snake's digestive juices to penetrate faster thus making it a little safer to feed a prey item that is borderline too big. I've heard that one of the dangers of feeding too big of a meal is that it does not get digested fast enough and the snake will regurge whatever remains when it begins to spoil in the stomach, but I'm not sure this is 100% true.

There will be no harm in cutting they prey item in half. It might get messy, but I think as long as the snake eats f/t in general, it will end up eating at least part of the meal even if some guts get squished out. There is virtually no mess if you just cut the head off, although this is obviously not an even division and since snakes go for the head it might not take the body part.

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Originally Posted by kc261

...since snakes go for the head it might not take the body part.

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http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/14/4u8u4ytu.jpg

I think we were absent when they taught that one...

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Originally Posted by patientz3ro

As opposed to...?

Surely no one thought you were referring to the cat!

I'm sure you could cut a rat in half and feed it to a blood, but there's got to be a better way. Plus, what are you going to do with the tail end?

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I was saying the inards don't go everywhere when cutting the rat. Someone else said that cats don't constrict so I said I was referring to cutting up the rat.

I would assume the other end would be frozen again and used at the next feeding.

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Originally Posted by Liquid311

I hope you were not referring to me. I was only joking... :tears:

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Okay. It just seemed like it could be taken as not joking is all.

Cut it while it's still partially frozen? No mess. Thaw out in a Ziploc in a container. Give to snake. Seems like it would work.

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Originally Posted by kc261

...since snakes go for the head it might not take the body part.

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I think we were absent when they taught that one...[/QUOTE]

LOL! I know! I've seen snakes eat "backwards" plenty of times too. But if a snake is being finicky, I can see it using the lack of a head as an excuse not to eat.

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Originally Posted by thejenius77

Cut it while it's still partially frozen? No mess. Thaw out in a Ziploc in a container. Give to snake. Seems like it would work.

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I would think after you thaw it all the blood will unthaw too

Right, but if it's in a container, it's not going to make a mess at least.

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I wouldnt wanna be around when the snake constricts it though xD

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ps9cef2c81.jpg

I wouldn't do it personally but if you want to try it why not?

Feed the head and butt and keep you blade away from stomach area to reduce guts pushing out and use a really sharp knife and its not that bad


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I've had to cut up frozen mice all the time for my snakes, especially some really tiny corns I've had.

Best tip.. Cut it in half when it's still rock solid frozen. No mess at all. You'll need a good knife, though.

Yeah, when it's thawed out, it might make a mess, but eh. Maybe put the heated half rat in a small tupperware? Or on a lid or something so innards don't get everywhere.

You could try slicing off the limbs - I wouldn't cut it in half just because of the guts going everywhere (wouldn't make me squeamish, but cleaning up the snake afterward wouldn't be fun - but I would think if you removed even just the rear limbs off a thawed rodent like you're cutting apart a turkey or something wouldn't cause too much mess even after constriction. There'll be blood everywhere but at least no guts.

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Originally Posted by Eazyyyb

This might be a terrible question, but the smallest rat i could find for my new blood python is too big, is there a such thing as cutting the frozen rat to make it smaller? Will it still eat?

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Wow,really,lol

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Originally Posted by Grim8899

Wow,really,lol

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This looks vaguely familiar. Perhaps someone with a new username?

Yep, that person's posts really sound like someone who was banned a little while ago...

Yup, cut when frozen, then thaw. I've done it many times! Not that big a deal. Corn hatchlings are TINY! Even for bigger corns I've cut prey and it's not too bad

Im surprised this sparked such a debate hahah i decided not to cut because i saw that bloods can take large prey but she didnt take it. Shes new so ill probably have to start on live but thanks for all the comments :D

How long have you had her? Live is usually a last resort and IMO people do not wait even CLOSE to long enough before going to live. If it's new, it probably needs an entire week or more to get settled in.

This might seem a little gross but usually with the pinkies i feed the largest part of the pinkie is the belly. Even when there trying to eat it the pinkie bunches up at the mid section. So maybe (viewer discretion advised) cut the belly and scoop or squeeze the guts out and it would be a much thinner food item. Also no mess from constriction. I imagine it would look like doing the same thing to a pizza pocket lol yummy


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I've acutally been thinking about you chopping a rat in half quite a bit....here is what I have come up with. The whole purpose is to reduce the size of the rat right? Well, rats being longer than they are wide made me think of this. How about gutting the rat like you would a deer. Make an incision from pelvis to neck, gut it, then wash it out and dry it with a hair dryer. You still keep the majority of nutritional components from the rat....granted some of the organs are lost....but your snake should find it much more managable and you won't have guts everywhere.

What do you think?

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Originally Posted by h20hunter

What do you think?

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Since we're talking about f/t feeders, I'd rather just get an appropriate-sized mouse.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Since we're talking about f/t feeders, I'd rather just get an appropriate-sized mouse.

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Pshh! You and your logic...

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Well yes.....that would be ideal. However, we are talking about chopping one up, not simply selecting a different size.

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

How long have you had her? Live is usually a last resort and IMO people do not wait even CLOSE to long enough before going to live. If it's new, it probably needs an entire week or more to get settled in.

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ive had her for 2 weeks now and im assuming she was on live before i got her so she might need to be switched i might try pre killed today

I have cut rat limbs and it works great. No blood at all, just like chiken. I used the limbless rat for a ball and the limbs for a colubrid. On the other hand, rat innards smell is something you dont want to deal with.

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