Well, I don't like to "disagree" with other members advice, but perhaps its not so much disagreement but a slightly different view.
I ALWAYS use "hot" water before offering f/t food items. If the rodent is even just slightly less then "very warm" , say room temp, hardly any of my snakes will even react to it.
That said, there IS such a thing as TO hot, for warming up f/t rodents. Of course there is.
It gets more tricky the smaller the rodent is. A large or medium rat can handle hotter temps before getting "questionable". If you use a nekkid little rat or mouse pinkie, you have to go about it slightly different.
Start out with a well thawed out rodent. I use cold water for a couple of hours.
After that, use slightly hotter then lukewarm water for about 5 minutes, then drain water and then hit it with hot water for about 5 minutes. Hot, as in hotter then just warm, but not burning hot !!!
The trick is to get them up to temperature a little slower then a larger rodent, and not leave them in that hot water for as long as a larger rodent. And of course, as everyone said, don't use water that is burning hot.
If you use barely luke or room temperature water, you won't get any but the most well established and "used to this" snake to go for that. Heat signature is one of the (big) ways to tell them this is "food". In time they get used to this type of feeding and not so picky about the exact temp or smell of the rodent. But a new/young snake can be trickier with that.
Those tiny food items also cool off rapidly. Sometimes on the way to the cage you already have a cold rodent. The wetness and air movement cools them fast.
I would try above method and wrap the wet pinky in a few sheets of paper towels as you carry it to the cage. It will dry it off and preserve the heat a bit longer. Then offer..
You can also hit it with a blow dryer near the cage, so you can offer quickly while rodent feels warm.
If you move him, then DO give him a few days to get settled before offering again.
Reply With Quote