Exploding Rat o_O

[Lobo_Reptiles]

So just fed Hyperion for the first time today. His breeder said he was eating live, but as it's hard to get live feeders where I live, I decided to go for a F/T. He has a very aggressive feeding response. I am impressed! However, as he hit the rat off my tongs I instantly heard a...farting noise lol I look and see that the rat has been eviscerated. It literally exploded. I have never had this happen to me before, not even with Kozma and his jumbo rats. Picture is kind of dark, but you can see the rat guts. Does this mean I got a bad rat?



Some background, I thawed it using hot water in a cup for 10 minutes. I've been buying feeders from this store for a while and never had any issues.


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[Louie]

Can't really tell from the picture but same here. Never had that kind of experience. Or I can't imagine what or how it exploded.

Maybe your thawing method was the problem? I find this method, the best.

First, put the feed in a little plastic zipbag
Second, thaw them in the cold water first
(Instantly thawing frozen/very cold item will thaw unevenly or just imagine cooking frozen stuff that you eat without thawing them but throwing them right on to the hot pan)
Third, after the feed is all thawed, change water to warm/ -ish hot water.
(It should be mild warm or so)
Finally, take the feed out of the bag and hairdry it for about 2 minutes.

I find this method the best way to thaw the feed and it has been working fine for very long time!



"Snakes don't bite. Just humans."

[Lobo_Reptiles]

Thanks for the advice. My thaw method is thawing in the ziploc bag so the prey doesn't get wet at all. Or at least minimally. I dry them with a paper towel before serving. I think you're right, but I'm just surprised as I've been thawing this way for a decade and never had this happened. I was shocked. I laughed a little as the noise was funny but sheesh lol I saw murder in Hyperion's eyes.


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[OctagonGecko729]

This happens to me on occassion it happens when the animal constricts both the prey item and my tongs, and the tongs are around the mid section of the rat. The tongs get pinched shut around the rodents mid section and with the added pressure from the BP, you get rat guts and blood everywhere. This has never happened to me when the animal constricts without the tongs getting wrapped up as well.

[Lobo_Reptiles]

Yeah no tongs, he blasted it right off of them. He ate the whole thing though, guts and all


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[MootWorm]

Do you know if it had been thawed and refrozen repeatedly? I've had this happen a handful of times from a batch of kind of sketchy feeders I got. I think it usually happens with 'older' (longer frozen) prey items, or ones that have been thawed for too long. Interestingly enough, I've never had it happen with animals I've frozen myself.

[Bluebonnet Herp]

I laughed a little as the noise was funny but sheesh lol I saw murder in Hyperion's eyes.

Sometimes, if I look hard enough, all I ever see are pupils in my BP's eyes.

/offtopic

[Lobo_Reptiles]

Sometimes, if I look hard enough, all I ever see are pupils in my BP's eyes.

/offtopic

Aw well aren't you the stick in the mud :p

And I personally didn't freeze and refreeze the rat. I pulled it from the freezer at the store and thawed it when I got home. But that's not to say it somehow didn't thaw at some point before it came into my possession. Good call though.


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[NH93]

I think it oozed because of your thawing method.
Try just thawing the rat in a baggie on the counter for 1-2 hours (depending on size of rat). I do this with all my mice and rats and have never once had an explosion
I have heard that hot water can actually start to cook the insides as well, turning them liquidy.
I do put my rats in hot water, not boiling, (again, in a baggie) once thawed for 15 minutes to scent the air, but that doesn't appear to change the insides.

[Artemille]

Smaller rats; pups, weanlings, some smalls have thinner skin and are more prone to popping open in overheated, Especially with hot water.

If they go from pink to grey, they're gonna pop.