Feeding frozen thawed

[deftones2015]

I have tried feeding my blood frozen thawed rat and she will not take it. She flicks at it but that's it. She'll take live like there's no tomorrow. The guy I got her from said he fed f/t. I'm not used to feeding frozen thawed but this is how I've been doing it (I do the same procedure with the corn and she takes it with no prob). I let it un-thaw at room temp. or if I'm in a hurry I'll put it in warm water to thaw faster. Then I take a hair dryer to heat it up. Last time I thawed her rat water got into the ziplock bag could that be an issue? I'm wondering if I bought too large of a rat but it is no larger than her body. I hate to keep buying frozen rats, especially if she wont take them. Around here they cost as much as live. If I can figure out why she wont take frozen I'd like to go through rodent pro and save a ton of $$$$. I bought the frozen rat at petco as well if that matters.

[spitzu]

I know exactly nothing about blood pythons, but have you tried leaving it alone with her for a few hours, or even over night?

[deftones2015]

Yeah. The first time I left it in over night. Second time I left it for a few hrs. She'll go up to it and flick at it, I may try braining next. I just hate thawing and freezing multiple times. Makes me wonder if its the rat lol.

[spitzu]

It could be. I know I sure won't eat food that's been frozen more than once.

That braining trick might be a good idea.

[bruster]

May be the temp of the rat, i had a few issues before then got a cheap temp gun from one of the tool salesman from work. The temp of a live rodent is around 102 degrees, and also like spitzu said leaving it alone can help to. But I would check the temp of the rat.

[AkHerps]

Some snakes don't like frozen thawed and have to be "trained" to take it. Have you tried shaking it while holding it with tongs?

Up here live is more expensive than frozen thawed so I wanted to put my ball python on it as soon as possible but he wouldn't eat it as a hatchling so he had to get started on live.

Basically what I did was start feeding him live in a separate feeding tub. He got so used to eating in the tub anything that moved in their was food. So he took frozen thawed easily when I "zombie" danced it and then I started feeding him frozen thawed in his living tub. Sometimes he will take it if it is left over night, but often I need to twitch it for him.

My baby blood eats them over night when I leave them in his tub.

I also wash of my Rodent Pro rats from Petco because often they are bloody and packaged with feces or urine and my snakes seem to not like that.

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

Try this for your blood. This is what I do with my BPs (when they were eating at least ).


1. Thaw prey. Don't worry about how long you forget about it if it's not longer than 3 hours.
2. Get a cookie sheet you don't care much about, put foil on it.
3. Preheat a toaster oven (or put a normal oven on 'Warm') to about 135F, up to 200F for large rats. Use a thermometer with a probe to check the temp. I suction cup mine to the door of the oven and bend the wire so the probe is in the air kinda in the middle of the oven.
4. Place prey on cookie sheet and into toaster oven.
5. Check every 5-15 minutes to see when the prey is HOT. I mean HOT, too. Not SCALDING hot, but definitely hotter than a live item (ask a pet store to see a calm rat or mouse to get an idea of this). Takes 30-60 minutes for me, but my toaster oven bounces around from 140F to 90F. This is why I say keep an eye on it.
6. Take the cookie sheet with the prey (use oven mitts please!) to the area you feed at.
7. Get your animal ready to be offered prey.
8. Get a secure hold on the prey by the back legs with some long tongs (can find in reptile area of pet stores).
9. Hold the prey close enough for the animal to see but not far enough that if he strikes he'll go flying.
10. As he shows interest in this hot item, wiggle it well. You'll be able to figure out if you just need a little movement or if you need to really try doing the zombie dance.
11. As he closes in, get ready to let go, but keep a good hold on the prey still! I've both had my BP coil around the tongs and miss the item because I either didn't let go or did too early. ...Actually, all three my colubrids have tried strangling the tongs, too...
12. Either reap the rewards of your work or find someone else to nom the prey if you fail. Don't be afraid to try again if he coils and lets go. Also, don't be afraid to leave it in the cage overnight, and don't be afriad to reheat it a bit (not as long as before or you'll end up cooking it) and then cut into the head and shoulder region a bit to make it bleed, as the smell of blood is very enticing.

[Hapa_Haole]

If you don't want to put a rat in the oven, a space heater works well (for me at least). I found that a hair dryer shot too concentrated of a hot air beam so once I was done warming one area and moved onto the next, the first area was cold again after a minute. Placing the rat in scalding hot water also warms the entire rat nicely (after its thawed) and does so relatively quick.

I had trouble switching my guy to f/t, and he liked MOVEMENT. I just wiggle my f/t rats for my BP, but my Borneo wanted to see that rat scurry around the tub. Quick, almost jerky moves also seemed to catch his attention more.

Dennis

[aahmn]

Also you can try buying a human heating pad. I use those and fold the rats in them until they get nice and toasty.