My whole process involves me filling up a cup of water with hot hot tap water, then placing the frozen bagged rodent in the water. I weigh it down with a shot glass so it sits submerged instead of floating. I leave it for 20 minutes, then change the water out and put more hot water in. I do this until the rodent is nice and soft. Then I go up to my room, take the two cinder blocks I have on the cage, place them on my table a bit apart, then place the rodent between them, and put the heat lamp on the blocks so it's raised up a bit from the mouse. I'll leave the mouse under it for a good 5 minutes until it's nice and warm. Then I'll take the nose of the mouse and put it right to the bulb for 5-10 seconds to get it nice and warm for the snake to strike at. When I do this, my bp strikes head on everytime, within seconds.