Frozen food warming, in the tank?

[dkspftw]

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!

[Trackstrong83]

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.

[MrLang]

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.

[SSALB]

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.

[BHReptiles]

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!

[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

[MrLang]

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

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.

[dkspftw]

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.)

[Quinnster]

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.

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.

[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.