Great advice above Id like to ad that i used to defrost my rats/mice in a platic bag in warm water. What i do now is take them out of the freezer in their bag about 4hrs before feeding. Then around 10-11pm when the snakes all are out and active i will give the rats a final warm up with a blowdryer. I use my infrared thermometer to get their body temps up to about 95degrees. My snakes almost never refuse a meal at this temp. I read somewhere that an active mouses body temp can reach 100 degrees. I think a common problem people do is not warming up their feeders to the right temperature. Sounds like your doing a great job with your snake though