Smelly F/T Rats. Is There a Fix?

[SomeTallGuy]

My BP has had some trouble with eating recently. When I try to feed her, she just ignores or tries to avoid the frozen thawed rat. I think she's not going for the rats because some of them have pee/poop on them and that smell might be covering up the natural rodent smell. Is there a way I can get rid of the pee/poop smell without getting rid of the rodent smell? I've tried the soaking in chicken broth thing, but that didn't work.
Thanks in advance for any helpful advice you can give.

[Neal]

Where are you getting your Frozen rodents from?

Also, are you smelling anything?

[SomeTallGuy]

I got them from Rodent Pro.
And yeah, today, before I tried feeding my snake, I sniffed the rat after it had thawed and it smelled like urine and poop. It wasn't a super strong smell, I had to get my nose pretty close to pick up the smell. I hadn't smelled any of the rats before that, but because the rats aren't individually packaged, I would assume all the rats in the bag would smell as well.

[Bogertophis]

I actually thaw frozen rodents in cold water, & change the water (depending on how big they are & how long it takes), so that tends to wash off such contamination
& some of the scent, but that said, I've never seen snake that objected to rodent droppings, & they even eat them backwards sometimes...

Now spoilage is another thing altogether...if that's the case, that can make your snake ill, & there's no excuse for that, unless you thawed them incorrectly.
Thaw in refrigerator, which takes a LONG time, or thaw in COLD water, which is much faster; never thaw rodents by leaving them setting out at room temp.-
& if you thaw rodents in WARM water, they can spoil on the outside (where they thaw faster) before the insides are completely thawed. Remember that
frozen foods aren't bacteria-free...it's there but dormant in freezing temperatures, & when you thaw it, bacteria comes to life & causes spoilage.

At some point, we can smell if rodents are spoiled...but snakes have FAR better noses than we do & will know things that we don't.

[Sonny1318]

I used Rodent Pro in the nineties, they were kinda not the best back then. I not saying that’s why he’s not eating, but I would never use or recommend Rodent Pro. Maybe the fix would be switching to Big Cheese or Perfect Prey. Layne Labs is really good too.

[slseals1969]

I use rodent pro and have no complaints. I have noticed a smell but they are dead rats. I can't say that the rats that I got elsewhere smelled any different. There is no matting of the fur and I have never found any droppings. Our two snakes have only turned them down when they were in shed and obviously couldn't see well. They have the lowest prices I could find when they are on sale, which seems to be all the time. I will continue to buy from them. Ymmv.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

[Neal]

If you put your nose close to anything thawing out rodent wise you're going to smell something. Some BPs just don't like frozen feeders. I personally would never order from Rodent Pro as I used them over a decade ago and I would never recommend them either. I would stick with Big Cheese or Perfect Prey. They're the best quality wise.

I actually thaw frozen rodents in cold water, & change the water (depending on how big they are & how long it takes), so that tends to wash off such contamination
& some of the scent, but that said, I've never seen snake that objected to rodent droppings, & they even eat them backwards sometimes...

Now spoilage is another thing altogether...if that's the case, that can make your snake ill, & there's no excuse for that, unless you thawed them incorrectly.
Thaw in refrigerator, which takes a LONG time, or thaw in COLD water, which is much faster; never thaw rodents by leaving them setting out at room temp.-
& if you thaw rodents in WARM water, they can spoil on the outside (where they thaw faster) before the insides are completely thawed. Remember that
frozen foods aren't bacteria-free...it's there but dormant in freezing temperatures, & when you thaw it, bacteria comes to life & causes spoilage.

At some point, we can smell if rodents are spoiled...but snakes have FAR better noses than we do & will know things that we don't.

Now here's where I'll correct you. In the wild snakes will eat carrion(dead & decaying animals), so please don't start saying things that you don't actually know. It's one thing to make recommendations but don't go throwing false facts.

[Alter-Echo]

Wow.... shots fired... lol

Yeah, while pre and poop is disgusting, I doubt a snake will care.... My guess is that your bp is just doing what they do best.... not eating. Lol

[Neal]

Wow.... shots fired... lol

Yeah, while pre and poop is disgusting, I doubt a snake will care.... My guess is that your bp is just doing what they do best.... not eating. Lol

Nah. I just hate when people state things making it seem like fact wen it's their opinion or something they wouldn't do, not actually because they know what they're talking about.

[Bogertophis]

....Now here's where I'll correct you. In the wild snakes will eat carrion(dead & decaying animals), so please don't start saying things that you don't actually know. It's one thing to make recommendations but don't go throwing false facts.

Yes, obviously in the wild many or most snakes will eat carrion, some more willingly than others, and depending on their level of desperation.

That is still not what we (at least it's not what I-) aspire to for our pets, as rotten prey is not without health risks.