Mizunch (Chow Time!) - Dial-up WARNING

[BigKenjDogg]

These are the first pics of Munch that I've posted. As you can see, he had a pretty crappy shed recently. I've been trying to get the rest of the skin off, but it's tough. I made a humid hide for him yesterday, and I'm not sure what else to do. But here are some pics of him eating. Hope you enjoy them.

[Blink]

I like the blonde high-lights.
Those pictures are huge.

[Cody]

Yep, those pictures are rather big. Might want to resize them.

Nice feeding pics. Other than the shed that's left over, he looks nice. He's got some nice white highlights. I look for that in bp's. High white is what sold me on the bp I chose from the breeders website. Now I've had her for 2-3 weeks now, and I still stare at her beautiful color and pattern in awe when I hold her.

One question though. Why is the mouse wet? I've heard some people say it's because it was a frozen thawed mouse or rat. But I've thawed 4 frozen mice in the little while I've had my bp, and the fur has always stayed dry in the thawing process.

[BigKenjDogg]

Thanks. Yeah, I think Munch has a very unique look.

Well, as far as the rat being wet,I usually leave my f/t rat out for a day, so I assume it was from condensation.

[Brandon.O]

i would try to get that extra shed off of him.

they way i thaw is......leave the rodent out for a long time in room temp air, and then warm it up with somthing, either a heat pad or a heat lamp works good, i tried the whole warm bag in water but the mice get wet sometimes.

i only feed frozen pinkies to my baby corn snake and pinkies are really easy to thaw, i dont know about larger things, such as rats, i just pre kill those.

[BigKenjDogg]

Getting the extra shed off is the plan. I'm going to let him digest for a couple days, then I'm gonna work on it. I'm also going to a Herp meeting tomorrow, so I'll also get some tips there. Thanks.

[UberAlice]

Well, as far as the rat being wet,I usually leave my f/t rat out for a day, so I assume it was from condensation.

Not so sure if this is a good idea....bacteria can grow pretty quickly, I wouldn't leave it out all day if I were you.
I usually pop my f/t feeders in a Ziplock, thaw in an ultra-hot cup of water, and pop under a heatlamp right before feeding to make sure the snakes pick up on the heat. Never had a problem with feeding wet, though; maybe Roo thinks the rats went swimming before getting into her tank?

[Blink]

Cody, It's funny you mentioned that your F/T rats aren't wet after you defrost them.
I was on another forum and they were discussing how to "dry" rats.
I asked why the hell are they rats wet if they put them in a tight zip-lock bags?
They asked me if I was a beginner to defrosting rats, rotfl.


BigKenJDogg, If I was you ... I'd get that rest of the shed off before feeding.

i would try to get that extra shed off of him.

they way i thaw is......leave the rodent out for a long time in room temp air, and then warm it up with somthing, either a heat pad or a heat lamp works good, i tried the whole warm bag in water but the mice get wet sometimes.

i only feed frozen pinkies to my baby corn snake and pinkies are really easy to thaw, i dont know about larger things, such as rats, i just pre kill those.

Defrosting rats isn't hard at all, you just put em in a baggy ... the baggy goes into the hot water ... after ten minutes, pour out the water ... and pour in some more hot water.
I also put my rats under a heat lamp to get them nice and warm so its easier for my BP to pick up its heat.

[Cody]

Yep, I do the same thing. They already come in a nicely sealed baggy from the petshop, so I just fill a small rubbermaid sandwich container with hot tap water, and put the mousie in the water. I just put a heavy enough glass in to weigh the bag down so the bag-o-mouse is fully submerged. Since I'm still only feeding my ball adult mice, they only take about 20 minutes to thaw out. Then by then it's 8 or 9 o'clock, so time to feed. So I just take the mouse out of the baggy, and put it under my heatlamp for 5 minutes to get nice and warm. Never had a problem feeding yet. (knock on wood)

[BigKenjDogg]

Not so sure if this is a good idea....bacteria can grow pretty quickly, I wouldn't leave it out all day if I were you.
I usually pop my f/t feeders in a Ziplock, thaw in an ultra-hot cup of water, and pop under a heatlamp right before feeding to make sure the snakes pick up on the heat. Never had a problem with feeding wet, though; maybe Roo thinks the rats went swimming before getting into her tank?

There's been an misunderstanding. I leave it out for 3-4 hours, still frozen, but less frozen then what it was. Rats are thick, so it's like a frozen chicken. I'm not worried about bacteria. Then I run it under hot tap water in a plastic bag.

So I know everyone's obviously a resident expert, but I also understand what I'm doing. Thanks for all the tips.