How do you warm your F/Ts?

***Brokenangelr*** · 04-26-2012, 10:14 PM

I have been feeding my bp f/t since I brought her home in Feb. She has had a great feeding response, has never not struck at anything I have offered her. Tonight is feeding night and she struck at the mouse and now it's just sitting there and she is roaming the tub. I thaw the mice for a day in my fridge and then warm it in water in a coffee mug. If she does not take the mouse tonight, this will be 2 weeks in a row that she did not eat what she "killed."
I know that she is ok and that if she doesn't eat for a while she will still be fine. I've seen plenty of hunger strike posts so I'm not worried.
I think the reason she is not eating the mice is that they cool down too much as she is constricting. Would this cause her to lose interest in the prey item?
How do you guys warm your f/Ts, for those who feed f/t? Please do not suggest that I switch to live. I have a large cat who knows what the dying cry of a rodent sounds like and I really don't want him taking that much interest in the snake tub. Just wanted to get some ideas of other ways to warm the prey items.

**Mike41793** · 04-26-2012, 10:19 PM

I put all 4-5 rats in a ziploc. Then put the bag in a coffee tin and fill it with warm/hot water and put the lid on. I drain and refill the water like 3 times usually. Thaws them out in about an hour.
And if they dont wanna take them then i hit them with a blow dryer right before i offer them.

**Slim** · 04-26-2012, 10:23 PM

***Brokenangelr*** · 04-26-2012, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by Slim

Thanks. I really should have done a search first huh. Have to be heading to bed now to get up bright and early (or dark and early, as it actually is at 5am) for work. I will read these on the bus though.
Thanks again

***Brokenangelr*** · 04-26-2012, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by Mike41793

I put all 4-5 rats in a ziploc. Then put the bag in a coffee tin and fill it with warm/hot water and put the lid on. I drain and refill the water like 3 times usually. Thaws them out in about an hour.
And if they dont wanna take them then i hit them with a blow dryer right before i offer them.

The mice are usually thawed completely after being in the fridge for 24 hours and just need warming at that point. I will be reading the other threads in the morning and we will see how it goes next week on next feeding day.
I did think about the blow dryer. Might try that too.

**jeff_blake** · 04-27-2012, 01:08 AM

i usually get luke warm water and let them unthaw that way, seems to work, hasnt missed a meal since she was a hatch. (9 months later) knock on wood!

***mpkeelee*** · 04-27-2012, 01:33 AM

Question 1: Are you sure of the sex?
Question 2: what is he weight in grams?

There are many ways to thaw a rat...as posted....I prefer to thaw them in the fridge in a plastic bag while I am at work... and then throw them in a sink of hot water. after about 10 minutes they r usually warm enough. I will lay out double layered paper towels...lay the rat in and roll them up like a burrito...then carry them away...unroll and feed by hanging from tail

***Brokenangelr*** · 04-27-2012, 06:03 AM

Originally Posted by mpkeelee

Question 1: Are you sure of the sex?
Question 2: what is he weight in grams?

There are many ways to thaw a rat...as posted....I prefer to thaw them in the fridge in a plastic bag while I am at work... and then throw them in a sink of hot water. after about 10 minutes they r usually warm enough. I will lay out double layered paper towels...lay the rat in and roll them up like a burrito...then carry them away...unroll and feed by hanging from tail

Bp is female and was 246grams at last weigh in earlier this week. I plan to switch over to rats soon but need to have some money to order some from rodentpro. My local pet shops dont have the size I would need and I dont really want to trust the quality of the ones at petco and petsmart. I usually put mine in the fridge the night before so it has all night and all day to thaw. I am going to read these other threads and see if I can get any more ideas for next feeding day.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

**M&H** · 04-27-2012, 09:02 AM

My albino male used to do the same thing. He would strike, coil around it for AGES, and then leave it there. I kept being told (not here) that it he was uncomfortable which is why he wouldn't start to eat it. (I feed outside of the tank in a feeding tub.) Bollocks. I thaw my rats in the fridge over night, then I boil water in the kettle and put the ziplock baggie inside a mug with the boiling water. I usually do this right before pulling him out of his tank, you have to be careful you don't want to cook the rat. Even then with it super hot he won't eat it. I have to dip the head of the rat in the boiling water for a few seconds, dry it off and he will strike every time within seconds. He still takes forever to uncoil and eat it but he has eaten every time since. *knock on wood* Good luck!

***Brokenangelr*** · 04-27-2012, 01:27 PM

I want to try again tonight but I would have to have my fiancée put the mouse in the fridge now and it would not be thawed by "feeding time" (when the night lamp clicks on) so I think I'm just going to wait until next weeks feeding day. This ops not the first time she has done this but this is the second week in a row that she has. When she finally lets go, she moves around like she can't find it. Moving around the general vicinity of the prey item, nose to the ground like she is scenting for it. I know snakes don't do that, but that is what it looks like.

I will try to feed again next week and will invest in a temp gun when I get paid again

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