we are going to feed our bp for the first time today. we have a frozen hopper mouse and i don't know how to thaw it correctly.

also, it was fed outside its tank at the pet store, is it ok if we start feeding it in its tank instead? i was told that it could make them more aggressive when you go to pick them up other times, but how true is that if you use the tongs to feed? this is a snake that my 3 1/2 year old step son handles as well, so we want it as tame as possible. (by handles i mean we will hold it while he pets it)