Has anyone else ever seen this happen?

[Reptile King]

I'm new to the ball python world as I've only had one since April of 2009. I fed my ball python a frozen-thawed mouse and she constricted so hard that the mouse actually popped! I must have a bionic ball python......lol! I have seen her hug her mouse so hard that the mouse's nose will bleed but to actually pop? That was a sight to behold!

[dr del]

Hi,

That generally means you cooked the mouse slightly during defrosting it or it had been defrosted and re-frozen before.

How did you defrost it?


dr del

[MsPrada]

All I got to say is...

eww.


Lol. No, my gal hasnt done that. But since we changed her over to f/t she doesnt seem all to keen to actually wrap around it. Even when the strikes it she just kinda lays on it.

[Reptile King]

I soak mine in warm water for 15-20 minutes then dry it with a hair dryer. This method okay?

[MsPrada]

I do the hot water thing, but mine are in baggies so that I can pre-scent by cutting the bag and putting it over the ventillation hole in top of her tank. I heat it up with a blow dryer to make it hot, but it never gets water logged.

[Reptile King]

I do the hot water thing, but mine are in baggies so that I can pre-scent by cutting the bag and putting it over the ventillation hole in top of her tank. I heat it up with a blow dryer to make it hot, but it never gets water logged.

I do the same thing.......usually don't pre scent the room though.

[dr del]

Hi,

That certainly sounds ok - it's not like your using boiling water I take it?

I defrost mine in a spare tub in the snake rack for about 3-6 hours depending on the size of the mouse then use the hairdrier just before offering and even when hit by my most enthusiastic nutter of a snake they don't split.


dr del

[justind]

how long are you holding the hair dryer to it? I cooked one befor with a hair dryer.

[PrioBull]

I use the most common method, by putting the F/T rat in the ziplock baggie and run it under hot water running from tap and just let it sit for 15-20 min. Once its done then I "borrowed" my roommate hairdryer and let it run on high/hot for few min just to give it little extra warmth. After that, I just grab the tail and just lowered it in then you know whats will happen.

[Kryptonian]

I thaw mine in luke warm water then just before I feed I give them a quick soak in hot water and pat dry with a towel. This works really well and the hot rodent really gets the attention of the snake. Just check out my feeding vidoes thread you can see how fast they strike. I only use water as hot as I can get from the tap, by the time I have taken it and dried it off its cooled enough not to hurt the snake but is still good and warm. Thawing in luke warm water prevents them from cooking, but they can still water log if left tooooo long. not as fast as they do in hotter water.

but yes I have seen some nasty mouseplosions. This is the worst one, poor girl was like, uh, mom the filling fell out now what do I do? She mouthed it but never ate it.