thawing frozen food

how does everyone thaw the frozen food?

I just got my ball a few days ago hes a Het ghost male name is IKE
just want to know how to properly thaw the frozen fuzzies i got 4 him

use a hair dryer in the same room as your ball python the scent will get him in the mood, and the upside of using a hair dryer is it warms the whole mouse/rat. Goodluck!

I fill a glass with water, mircrowave it hot. Put a frozen mouse in a ziplock back, then put it into the water for 15 min or so.

Dry and warm.

I let mine thaw naturally in the room where my snakes are. When the rats are all soft and smooshy, I open the bags and pre-scent the room for an hour or so. Then I use a blow dryer to raise the head heat temp signature. I use my hemostats to offer the prey.

I use a tupperware container filled with hot water. Add the rodent to be thawed and leave it in until it is completely thawed out. Then you can use a paper towel and dry it off as best you can. Just a note, on some larger sizes of rodents you may need to refill the tupperware with hot water a time or two as the defrosting rodent will cool the water down.

I take the mice out of the freezer the night before and let them defrost in the fridge.

Then at feeding time I heat them in a bowl of the hottest water my sink will provide. Depending on the size of the feeder I let the water get to a lukewarm state then dump it and refill with really hot to make sure the rat is hot all the way through.

Keep the mouse/rat in a ziplock so it won't be soggy.

I have a tray with a ceramic heat emitter under it. Can heat 50 mice at a time if needed.

Mine are still young so I'm feeding hoppers. I take a frozen hopper out of the store bag and seal it in a small zip lock. I put hot tap water in a mug and stick the bag in it for 10-15 minutes.

I tried the blow dryer and it didn't work well for me. I just pick up the defrosted hopper with my tongs and hold it under the heat lamp for 10-15 seconds, wiggle it in front of the snake and let it drop. Snake stares at it for a few seconds and then grabs it. Done.

JohnNJ

im feeding 2 adults, 3 hatchlings, and 1 GTP so i just take them all and toss them in one of the tubs in my rack filled with water. i can't wait until this becomes impossible due to me filling the rack with animals!!

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

im feeding 2 adults, 3 hatchlings, and 1 GTP so i just take them all and toss them in one of the tubs in my rack filled with water. i can't wait until this becomes impossible due to me filling the rack with animals!!

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i do this too but i dont use water and i use alot more tubs since i have 50 snakes

I thaw to room temperature. Open the bag for an hour or so to pre-scent. Then I close up the bag and soak (head first) into the hottest water my sink has then feed using tongs.

I put prey item(s) directly in a cup of hot water. Let sit 20 minutes. Replace hot water. Let sit another 20 minutes. Replace water 3rd and final time. Immediately dab prey on paper towels to remove excess water and feed.

Soaking gives extra hydration, if your snake will take a wet rodent. I have weighed mice before and after soaking and they seem to gain an anywhere from 5-10 mL of water, and rats would gain even more. A nice extra drink at feeding time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by simplechamp

I put prey item(s) directly in a cup of hot water. Let sit 20 minutes. Replace hot water. Let sit another 20 minutes. Replace water 3rd and final time. Immediately dab prey on paper towels to remove excess water and feed.

Soaking gives extra hydration, if your snake will take a wet rodent. I have weighed mice before and after soaking and they seem to gain an anywhere from 5-10 mL of water, and rats would gain even more. A nice extra drink at feeding time.

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one time i put really hot water in one of those butter tubs and put the lid on and put rodents on top, well lets just say that water was a bit too warm for my face and the rodents go all over the place.

I thaw in hot water until completely thawed. Then use a blowdryer until rat is either completely or at least mostly dry...and I blast the head of the food item for a few seconds with the blowdryer to give the head a heavier heat signature.

i never dry my feeders all the way. i just dab on a paper towel and then feed.

Feeding F/T we place in hot water (size and time dependant) so for an small to adult mouse, we place them, in a sealed plastic bag, in the "Mouse Hot Tub" (so marked) which is simply a tupperware container for 15 minutes.

I have started to move feed items to the fridge from the freezer a day before to slow thaw. Then place into the hot water as above...some toweling off (not to wet). We have not pre-scented as "Micky" readily takes food items.

Bet you never thought there'd be this many ways to thaw a rat, did you?

I put the frozen mouse in a zip-lock and fill the sink about half way with hot water and throw it in there till it thaws. Then I blast the bag with really hot water for about 2 mins and lay the mouse next to my cage vent for about 30 min. Then I put it back in the zip-lock and hit it with hot water again before I put it on the tongs. It's worked like a champ so far.

I put 6 hopper mice and two small rats under a heat light with a timer on. Takes about 2 hours for the rats. The smaller prey items are around the edges and get less heat. This way they all thaw at about the same time. This happens in the room with the snakes. Then I use a blow dryer to raise the temp of the heads, and I use tongs to offer the mouse/rat to the snakes.