Feeding question needs answering

[Mexecutioner]

That's exactly what my recommendation would be in your case, yes. Better safe than sorry.

Yeh there getting thrown away I'd rather loose a couple quid then to cause any harm or problems for him

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

[EL-Ziggy]

I've reheated uneaten prey items before. I would only do it once though. Fortunately I don't have that problem anymore. Most of my snakes eat pretty consistently and now that I have 8 snakes there's ALWAYS somebody who's ready to eat.

[SpacegirlSpiff]

I wouldn't re-freeze if it was warmed up (either with hot water or blow dryer or whatever)

MAYBE I would if all that had happened was it was thawed in the cold fridge but not warmed....even then I might hesitate because I'm a nervous nelly

The way I do F/T that seems to work well is thaw in the fridge for like 12 hours (when I get up at 6-7am and then go to feed at around 7pm)... and then blow dry it for a little bit to get it up to around 100 degrees (use infrared thermometer gun to check). If I had already blow dried it to the warmer temp, I would NOT attempt to refreeze.

Did you leave the feeder in the enclosure close by the hide to see if maybe your BP would eat it on its own? the feeding before last, I hadn't realized she was in the shedding process (I'm still a newbie lol), and she wouldnt take it from my tongs ...but I left it right in front of her very close as she hid in her hide and then wrapped a towel around the glass to increase privacy...she ended up eating it on her own after about 20 min. However, I don't think she was "in blue" until the next day so maybe her sight wasnt AS bad.

[Mexecutioner]

I've reheated uneaten prey items before. I would only do it once though. Fortunately I don't have that problem anymore. Most of my snakes eat pretty consistently and now that I have 8 snakes there's ALWAYS somebody who's ready to eat.

This is my first snake and I think they will be more to come now he's a good eater he's 5 month now and it's first time he's refused his food but I'm certain it because he's in shed

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

[Mexecutioner]

No I didn't leave the feed to see if he would take it but I don't like to leave him long after feeding because I take everything out of one side of his enclosure and lay news paper down and put him on that to feed him as I'm nervous about him swallowing any bedding with his meal once he's eaten he will go to the other side In his hide or climb up near his heater that's when I remove the paper and put everything back in then i leave him to settle and digest.

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

[Mexecutioner]

Also need to purchase a heat gun they seem to be a lot more accurate from what I've read

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

[Mexecutioner]

Raptor is fresh out of his shed now so will try feed him again on his usual day on Wednesday and the pic of the sheds is his first one with us on the right to the second one with us on the left I'm positive he will feed this time as he was a lot more alert this time and was following my hand about like a locked on missile at first lol so will let you all no the outcome on Wednesday thanks for all the input peeps

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

[ballpythonsrock2]

I feed most of my collection f/t as well. From a safety perspective, it's fine to refreeze as long as you've thawed the rat(s) in a refrigerator that didn't get above 40°F. If you thawed at temperatures warmer than that (or they've been left out for longer than 2 hours), just throw it out and chalk it up to a lesson learned - don't thaw f/t rats for him when he's in blue.

Spot on advice as usual. I think Eric gives spot on, accurate advice in such a friendly way. I've never personally disagreed with anything he has said that I can remember. A great help to this website and it's posters. I've recently decided a couple months ago to wait till after shed to feed my snake when he is shedding
even if it is his scheduled time to eat, because most the time he is not interested in eating but sometimes he would eat but I think there is more chance of a better shed when he hasn't eaten real recently or during shed. Then after the shed and (sometimes poop) he is hungry and ready to eat.

[Eric Alan]

I think Eric gives spot on, accurate advice in such a friendly way.

Thanks for the kind words!

I've never personally disagreed with anything he has said that I can remember.

Challenge accepted.

[Trisnake]

I thawe them out in two food bags with boiling water and add half cold water then leave them sat there for half hour to 40 mins that's how I was told to do it when I got him so I arnt entirely sure on the tempreture he's thawed in what's your suggestion maybe just get rid to be on the safe side

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

Dont ever use boiling water to thaw rodents, in any way. The risk of accidentally cooking part of the thawed food and having your snake either refuse or, even worse, eat the cooked rat and then get sick is not worth the minuscule amount of time saved. Snakes can usually tell when there's something wrong with an offered prey item (i.e. still frozen in the center, overheated/cooked, spoilage, etc) but if they do end up ingesting something that was prepared incorrectly for them it can cause a multitude of issues that will make them very ill and possibly kill them.

Just go the safe route and thaw them in the fridge (or even on the counter in some cool water) until they're soft all the way through, then just run them under warm water. After they're warm all the way through (hold them under the tap for a minute+ depending on the size of the prey item), I usually set the water as hot as I can without it being too hot for me to hold my hand under, and run the tap over the rodents head for about 30ish seconds. If you're uncomfortable with your hand under the tap for more than 10 seconds it's too hot. Pat dry with a paper towel and then offer! Btw I run the head under hot tap so that when I offer the snakes focus more on the head than the torso. Helps get them to aim where I want (I don't feed with tongs) and they don't spend a bunch of time playing "find the head".