Should I Try Frozen Thawed???

[Reptile$ 4 Life]

I got a f/t today and I am thawing it out right now. If he doesn't take when offered should I just leave the rat in the tank or should I refreeze it so I can try again later?

[Bogertophis]

I got a f/t today and I am thawing it out right now. If he doesn't take when offered should I just leave the rat in the tank or should I refreeze it so I can try again later?

How old is this snake? (re shedding question, sometimes young ones can shed pretty fast)

Re-frozen prey probably won't get eaten the second time either. Some spoilage occurs when you thaw & warm it to serving temperature, so after re-freezing & thawing again, they tend to be gross & fall apart, & even if they don't, your snake can smell it's spoiled (even if you can't) & he'll be even more turned off. So I wouldn't recommend doing that at all.

It won't hurt to leave it in the tank for the night...some snakes want the lights out & complete privacy, & not some scary giant watching them eat! -Go figure? But BPs typically locate their food by the lifelike warmth sensed by their pits, so you'd do better to retry it later this evening (if he doesn't take it the first time) after warming it quickly with a blow-dryer. Refusals (by BPs) are often about the temperature of the rodent being too cool. You need to thaw, & then quickly warm & offer it before it cools too much. (NOT in the microwave, btw, it will explode, not kidding.)

[Reptile$ 4 Life]

I offered it to him but he didn't strike at it, but he seemed curious about what it was. I left it in the tank and I just check on him and the rat was gone! Looks like he ate it! I'll search around a bit tomorrow afternoon to make sure he didn't push it somewhere but I am pretty sure he ate it! Now I can feed f/t! So much better and cheaper than live.

[mingdurga]

All of mine on FT. Thaw in fridge, then warm them up to room temps. Use an old hovabator to get them to 110-115 degrees. Large rats take longer than mice of course. Don't set temps on hovabator. Use a temp gun to measure heat. 110 degrees about right for rats/mice, even pinks, fuzzies. Takes about 1/2 to 3/4 hr on average, depending on rodent size. I have a couple of BP adult females that prefer ASF rats, so I leave them in asf litter for a while so they smell like asf rats. If I don't have time, will euthanize one or two asf's. Have 3 small colonies to work with. Learned the hard way long time ago about feeding live rodents. Pinks and fuzzies live is okay. All snakes kept in racks, ARS or FB, with belly heat in back.

mike

[Zincubus]

I offered it to him but he didn't strike at it, but he seemed curious about what it was. I left it in the tank and I just check on him and the rat was gone! Looks like he ate it! I'll search around a bit tomorrow afternoon to make sure he didn't push it somewhere but I am pretty sure he ate it! Now I can feed f/t! So much better and cheaper than live.

Excellent... as I mentioned in my pm .. if they show any kind of interest in the food it’s worthwhile you keep reheating with a hairdryer and offering ..


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[Reptile$ 4 Life]

I tried that but no go. He didn't eat the last frozen thawed I offered but I think it was a little to big.