My method:

1. The night before feeding, I put the prey item in the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
2. On feeding day, I take the prey out of the fridge when I get home from work and let it come up to room temp while I'm doing other stuff.
3. When it's time to feed, I put water on to boil in a tea kettle.
4. I put the prey in a little Tupperware dish I have and cover it with tap water.
5. I then add hot water from the tea kettle until the prey temperature is 100 - 104 degrees. I try to get the head warmer than the body. I use a probe thermometer pushed against the prey to measure the temp.
6. When the temp is right, I use tongs to remove the prey from the water and dry it thoroughly on a paper towel.
7. Hubby uses tongs to grab the prey by the tail and offer it to the snake. He wiggles the prey a bit and keeps it just about head height.
8. Usually within about half a minute, the snake zaps the prey and coils.

My little boy is a strong, aggressive feeder. He sometimes zaps the prey so hard that my husband is left holding nothing but a rat tail in the tongs.