Need Exact Thawing Time Measurements

I've been thawing out my rats by just leaving them out in a bag for a few hours, but I'd like to switch to leaving them in hot water as my BP has trouble aiming and the heat should help (taking a hairdryer to one for a moment has worked before, but is a bit of hassle). Problem is I'm autistic and have a lot of trouble with "just leave it till it looks right" and vague measurements- so how long would I leave each size rat, and how hot should the water be? He's on rat fluffs for now, but is going to be moved to pups really soon.

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Originally Posted by mzh3de

I've been thawing out my rats by just leaving them out in a bag for a few hours, but I'd like to switch to leaving them in hot water as my BP has trouble aiming and the heat should help (taking a hairdryer to one for a moment has worked before, but is a bit of hassle). Problem is I'm autistic and have a lot of trouble with "just leave it till it looks right" and vague measurements- so how long would I leave each size rat, and how hot should the water be? He's on rat fluffs for now, but is going to be moved to pups really soon.

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Body temp of a rat is in the range of 100 degrees. I have no problem soaking in hot tap water, then I use a blow dryer and temp gun to bring it close anywhere between 90° to 100°


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Originally Posted by Thorbp

Body temp of a rat is in the range of 100 degrees. I have no problem soaking in hot tap water, then I use a blow dryer and temp gun to bring it close anywhere between 90° to 100°


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I forgot to mention I bag them to soak.


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I agree that an IR temperature gun will help to determine the actual temps of the rat. I like to let mine thaw out in the fridge for 24 hours (in a plastic bag), then let it sit on top of the cage for 30 minutes, then put hot water in a bowl and put the rat (still in bag) in the bowl until it reaches around 98F or a little higher.

It's going to vary a bit, but if you really need something specific but don't mind a bit of arbitrariness, you could pick something overly generous with the thawing time. I.e. : rat pup or smaller - thaw in water 1 hr. Finish with hot water 100F+ for 3 min. Feed rat at 95F - 105F. That way it's absolutely guaranteed to be finished every time, even if it was really finished a decent bit earlier.

Thaw them over night (24 hours if you want exact measurements) in a refrigerator (most refrigerators are roughly 36 degrees F) then before feeding put them in a container containing the hottest your tap water will get and let it warm for 30 minutes. Halfway through that 30 minute time frame (that is at the 15 minute mark) drain and refill the container with again, the hottest your tap water will get. This will get the rodent to the desired temperature.

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Originally Posted by SDA

Thaw them over night (24 hours if you want exact measurements) in a refrigerator (most refrigerators are roughly 36 degrees F) then before feeding put them in a container containing the hottest your tap water will get and let it warm for 30 minutes. Halfway through that 30 minute time frame (that is at the 15 minute mark) drain and refill the container with again, the hottest your tap water will get. This will get the rodent to the desired temperature.

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Just want to exercise some caution with using the hottest water right away because it's not unknown for some feeders to rupture. Or having them susceptible to bursting when constricted. Had it happen to me when I was thawing a feeder in super hot water, came back to find all the rat's guts where spilled out. Thankfully it was in a ziploc baggie and all contained :p

So it may be better to start thawing in room temp or cooler water before replacing with warm/hot. Otherwise you may end up with a super mushy feeder.

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

So it may be better to start thawing in room temp or cooler water before replacing with warm/hot. Otherwise you may end up with a super mushy feeder.

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That is why I suggested actually thawing in the refrigerator. You are not thawing them in a hot water bath, you are warming them up via heat transfer in a hot water bath. Hot water tanks are recommenced to 120 degrees so that is not enough to burst a thawed rodent that is not already degraded.

So, if you live in a household that someone has modified unsafely the hot water heater to be above 120 degrees, get a candy thermometer or some other water resistant thermometer and test it. If it is above 120 degrees F, cool it to 120 before submersing the rodent.

Also, thaw mine in hot tap water, then I lay them out and use a spare basking light I have from my beardies, place em all under the hotspot about 12" away. Bout 30 mins of that, since I do that right in my snake room and everyone is ready to eat since the smell gets in the air.

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I would be a single man very quickly if a rat ever found it's way into our refrigerator, so I have used the warm water method for years.

I use hot tap water to thaw my rats to the point where I know they're pliable and not frozen in any fashion, they can be then fed directly if they're pups or small rats.

If they are medium/large rats (where the frozen rodent actually cools down the water)......then after thawing in the initial hot water bath, I will drain the water and let them sit in hot tap water again 15 minutes as well before feeding. I have never had one burst in many, many years of keeping snakes and I hope I don't have to (keep in mind my tap water isn't steaming when it's coming out of the faucet though, but you can barely keep your hands under it for more than a few seconds)


Everyone has their own method though, I think most larger breeders actually take a slightly different, but similar approach...

(BHB does this)......thaw all rodents in cold water (5 gallon pails), drain, then refill with hot water and feed.

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Originally Posted by KevinK

I would be a single man very quickly if a rat ever found it's way into our refrigerator

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LOL I'm a married woman and the bottom two shelves of my mud room refrigerator are dedicated to thawing feeders. Rabbits can take days since bunny fur is a great insulator.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

LOL I'm a married woman and the bottom two shelves of my mud room refrigerator are dedicated to thawing feeders. Rabbits can take days since bunny fur is a great insulator.

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I've often wondered why I don't have a separate freezer/refrigerator in the garage, just for venison and beer and such.....maybe I'll have to start browsing Craigslist. I keep my rodents in our normal freezer but believe me....it's a process to do so as the Mrs. doesn't want to see them in any fashion. You've never seen so many plastic/paper bags wrapped and tied around frozen feeders before in your life.

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Originally Posted by SDA

That is why I suggested actually thawing in the refrigerator. You are not thawing them in a hot water bath, you are warming them up via heat transfer in a hot water bath. Hot water tanks are recommenced to 120 degrees so that is not enough to burst a thawed rodent that is not already degraded.

So, if you live in a household that someone has modified unsafely the hot water heater to be above 120 degrees, get a candy thermometer or some other water resistant thermometer and test it. If it is above 120 degrees F, cool it to 120 before submersing the rodent.

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I was replying with pre-thawing in the fridge in mind. So that was probably a terminology error in my part by referring to heating feeders in hot water as "thawing" instead of "heating" in my response to your suggestion. So my bad there!

Heck the incident I mentioned I had also thawed my feeder overnight in the fridge for a solid 20-24 hours and it still burst open when I put it in hot tap water to sit in (I doubt it was over 120).

Maybe I was just one of the few unlucky ones and it was a fluke since I've been using the thaw in fridge then hot water method before with no explosions, but it was unpleasant enough that I decided to start with cooler/warm then hot water and never had a problem since.

In the end entirely up to OP. I've also seen people use hot water without any issues (and there are already examples here) while others had problems with hot water off the bat. Not too uncommon but not gaurentee to happen either. It's just one of those possibilities that I figured OP should keep in mind so they don't get any nasty surprises in case it does happen :p

Double post

I thaw in warm water, just enough that I can run my hands under it comfortably and not feel like I'm going to get burned. I also warm the rats up at that temp right before offering (I offer my rats warm and wet LOL).

There's no sure time for how long to thaw, it depends on how cold your freezer is, how cold your fridge is (if you thaw in the fridge), how cold the air temp is, etc...

The way I do it to know for sure is to squeeze the thawed rat's skull between my fingers for awhile. I also do that for the torso/ribcage. If there's a cold feeling coming through, it means it's not thawed yet. If it is entirely warm, it's thawed.

Thanks guys, this was all super helpful- but it turns out I might not need to anymore. Very recently the BP has become an incredibly aggressive eater- I had to feed him inside the viv for the first time today bc trying to take him out would have ended in me being bitten (I guess the warm wiggling fingers look a lot more appetising than a stinky rat :P)

I just take whatever I need out, in a ziploc bag, leave it for anywhere from 30 mins to a hour or two, just depending on what it is. Then I run hot water in a yeti type cup and put the ziploc bag in there and put the top on. I bought it for this exact reason because the water stays hot.

Fresh killed with CO2 is the easiest for me, always at the perfect temp in about three minutes LOL. When I do frozen thawed I'll defrost my rodents in a fridge overnight, it's a separate smaller fridge just for defrosting rodents. Then I'll put them in an incubator at 110F and check them with an IR gun until they are over 100F. For jumbo rats I'll skip the fridge and leave them out at room temp in a cool basement before going into the incubator. Small rodents are ready to feed much faster, big ones take longer. I'll also feel the bigger ones to make sure they are not frozen solid on the inside before going into the incubator. Getting rodents wet before feeding really turns me off, I prefer to keep them dry the entire time.