The only reason I don't use water for the primary method of thawing is I want to make sure the rat is fully thawed. It is most likely just me being over cautious, but it also leads to me forgetting and leaving the rat out longer than I intended.

I rarely forget to feed her once I take a rat out, yesterday was only the 2nd time I have forgotten and left a rat out over night. I erred on the side of caution and threw the rat out instead of risking it and feeding it to her.

The rat wasn't rotting or anything, I just wasn't sure if I should feed her something that had sat out for around 14 hours or so. I tend to assume that she wouldn't eat something that was bad, but I don't know, and I don't know what affect it would have on her.