Please help. I think I really messed up with feeding frozen

So my ball was on fuzzies and I was told to up. I got medium mice because the size looks good for him. Well I thawed it all morning and then put it in hot water. It felt thawed and so did the brain though the bag


well ell I tried I feed him and he tried to eat it but couldn't get it down. I ended up having to take it away and I was curious so I squeezed he head and it felt cold so I was obviously wrong.

I out out him back and he seems fine but what should I do? It was stupid of me but it was an accident and he didn't get it down so will he be fine? When should I try to feed him again?

Squeezed the head* of the mouse.

If its as simple as you not giving him a fully thawed mouse and he rejected it, your BP should be fine. You seem to know what you did wrong and will hopefully not repeat it. I suggest giving him a day or two to forget about it and try feeding him again. Of course, keep an eye on your buddy to see if he starts to act differently. You mentioned that he couldn't get it down meaning it was in his mouth. The only concern I would have is he may have lost a tooth while trying to spit it out. Not a huge deal at all but if he starts to act differently like constantly opening and closing his mouth or refuses to eat, you may want to investigate that.. Good luck..

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Originally Posted by Tarzan152

If its as simple as you not giving him a fully thawed mouse and he rejected it, your BP should be fine. You seem to know what you did wrong and will hopefully not repeat it. I suggest giving him a day or two to forget about it and try feeding him again. Of course, keep an eye on your buddy to see if he starts to act differently. You mentioned that he couldn't get it down meaning it was in his mouth. The only concern I would have is he may have lost a tooth while trying to spit it out. Not a huge deal at all but if he starts to act differently like constantly opening and closing his mouth or refuses to eat, you may want to investigate that.. Good luck..

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Everything was thawed completely but the skull. It felt slightly hard but I thought it was just because the mouse was a medium mouse and not a fuzzies. Also when I squeezed it slightly it stared bleeding so i just thought that it was thawed and just hard bones.

And yeah he he didn't get it down but he did tear it open and make a mess. He didn't swoops any part of the head though, I closely checked the mouse and it seems he just tore it.
Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely keep an eye on him and stick to thawing overnight in the fridge.

oh, if the prey item rips open and causes a mess, then maybe you also overheated the surface. if the water is too hot, the skin gets partly cooked, and then it loses its stability. normally it should hold together.

apart from that.... no problem, the snake refused a meal, nothing more happened.

Let me just make sure, you didn't pull it out of his mouth, correct? That's how I read it, but I'm probably wrong, since other people have responded as well.

If it's simply the case of a blowout, they're usually caused by heating the prey too hot, too quickly.

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

Let me just make sure, you didn't pull it out of his mouth, correct? That's how I read it, but I'm probably wrong, since other people have responded as well.

If it's simply the case of a blowout, they're usually caused by heating the prey too hot, too quickly.

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Oh no I didn't pull I out. He dropped it once and went after it again. He then was stuck in the ball he does before he swallows for a long time. I could tell he was having a hard time due to his previous movements and trying to adjust it. I took my tweezers and gently touched him and he dropped it. I made sure not to grab it from him. When he dropped it I picked it up with my tweezers and examined it.

Ok great, I read that and hoped it was just my cognitive skills, haha. Yeah, blowouts happen, and it's messy and sometimes stinky, but not life-ending.

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

Ok great, I read that and hoped it was just my cognitive skills, haha. Yeah, blowouts happen, and it's messy and sometimes stinky, but not life-ending.

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Good to know he will be alright. First snake anything that seems out of the ordinary makes me panic. Dealing with a smelling bad mess is fine with me as long as he's fine and at least I've learned from this scare.

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Originally Posted by _Victoria

Good to know he will be alright. First snake anything that seems out of the ordinary makes me panic. Dealing with a smelling bad mess is fine with me as long as he's fine and at least I've learned from this scare.

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I remember those days all too well, and it wasn't too long ago! Only about a year and a half, and not a lot surprises me about these guys anymore. They will always keep you guessing though!

People rush thawing a lot I feel. I read a lot of 'dropped it frozen into hot water' .. I don't think that is the best way to do it though admittedly I do not have evidence against it.

I like to leave mine at room temp in a baggie for 3-4 hours. They're nice and limp and room temp by then. I think it makes it easier for them to 'get it down' when it's soft.



.... that's what he said.

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Originally Posted by MrLang

People rush thawing a lot I feel. I read a lot of 'dropped it frozen into hot water' .. I don't think that is the best way to do it though admittedly I do not have evidence against it.

I like to leave mine at room temp in a baggie for 3-4 hours. They're nice and limp and room temp by then. I think it makes it easier for them to 'get it down' when it's soft.



.... that's what he said.

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I usually let thaw overnight but this time I took it out if my freezer a few hours before the hot water. It was my first time dealing with a larger mouse too. I'm just going to stick to overnight thawing. Seems the safest. :/

I use a blow dryer to heat my prey items right before I feed them. That is after I thaw them and warm them in water.

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

I use a blow dryer to heat my prey items right before I feed them. That is after I thaw them and warm them in water.

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I've thought about using my blow dryer but didn't know if it would cook the mouse. Good to know it's okay to do.

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Originally Posted by MrLang

People rush thawing a lot I feel. I read a lot of 'dropped it frozen into hot water' .. I don't think that is the best way to do it though admittedly I do not have evidence against it.

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I agree. I put my frozen prey into a pan of cold tap water. After 1 hour, I use lukewarm tap water, and I change it every 15-20 minutes. After 1 hour I switch to hot tap water, every 15 minutes for an hour.

Think about it like this, if you drop an ice cube into warm liquid, it pops and cracks. The same can happen to that frozen prey.

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Originally Posted by _Victoria

I've thought about using my blow dryer but didn't know if it would cook the mouse. Good to know it's okay to do.

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I use a hair dryer to :) it's a great tool to use when your warming them up. I let them thaw out completely or lose to it at room temp. Then put them in a ziplock bag and put them in a cup of hot water for no longer than 5 minutes. I poke a hole in my Baggie at the opposite end so I can press all the air out and the rat will sink down in the cup instead of float and the hole sticks out of the cup so water won't fill the bag. After that I dry it off in a paper towel if they did happen to get a little wet then use my blow dryer warming the body then focusing on the head. And it's funny because when I use the hair dryer they my snakes recognize the sound and they come out of their hides ready to strike. :)


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I've been trying to solve the floating issue myself, thanks Alexis!

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

I've been trying to solve the floating issue myself, thanks Alexis!

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Haha your welcome I see a lot of people put then in a container of warm water and put something heavy on top so it wouldn't float lol I was like why not poke a little hole in it? And I just use a plastic solo cup of hot water and twist all the air out and put them in head first. Everyone has their own solo cup and Baggie haha :)


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If this helps. We feed sm/medium rats. Here is our process. Fyi, our rats are frozen individually in vac sealed bags.

24 hour before, select rat and put it in the fridge to thaw slowly. Lie to wife about rat in fridge.
2 hour before, take rat out and leave on counter in plain sight to annoy wife.
30-45 min before, soak "rat hot pocket" in hot water with water change every 10 minutes or so.
5 min before, open up packet, lay rat on paper towels and use the wifes hairdryer to dry it off and warm it up further.
Go time.......scent the air with the rat to get the snake interested, hold with tongs, snake eats rat.

So far it is working great.

I thaw mine in the fridge 24 hours before, then at room temp for 15-20 minutes, in warm water in a baggy for 15-20 more minutes, then heat it up to about body temp with hot water. If you have an infrared temp gun you can check parts of the mouse/rat's body to get a better idea of what the temperature actually is (and hopefully avoid a rat with a brainfreeze). I aim for 90-100 degrees before I feed.

I hear a lot of people using "tap water as hot as it can go" but my tap gets steaming hot. You'll know from the smell and exploding rodents if you cook the rodent a little bit...

edit: If it's any help, my BP spit up a rat before when she was too twisted up to swallow it in her current position, but she ate it again and she was fine. So if your snake tried to eat the mouse and had to spit it out, don't worry about it; I was told it isn't anything like a regurge.

A lot of the thawing methods seem so extravigant! I do as MrLang does. Stick in a baggy, sit it on the counter for a couple hours until it is room temp, done.

No messing around with water.

The only time I use water at all is if my ball python is picky, I stick the baggy in a cup of hot tap water for a few mnutes to warm the outside (I suppose you could warm the outside however you like, so long as it doesn't cook the inside). The larger the prey, the longer you may need to warm it.

I don't do this with my corn snake though; she's not very picky in comparison.