Quote Originally Posted by sbirocco
RE: Marla and HHW-- Thanks for the advice. I've been feeding him one mouse a week instead of rats for the past few weeks, trying to get him a little hungry to make the switch easier. I guess I'll skip a week and then try a dead mouse or rat. Do they feed on smell or heat signature though? Is their a proper method for thawing and an ideal temperature for the snake to recognize the rat as food?
You're welcome. Rat normal body temp is the same as ours, so 98.6 or a little higher is ideal temp for serving deceased rat. Smell and heat signature both play into feeding, with smell identifying it as a known prey item and heat signature helping with both locating the prey and recognizing the size of it.

There are multiple thawing/warming methods that work for people and you'll find one that works for you. I use hot tap water to warm prey in a ziplock freezer bag (the thinner ones tend to let more water in), which can take three or so fills with hot water if the prey starts out frozen. You may want to let the prey thaw overnight or during the day to get a headstart, if you can do that without unintentionally feeding another pet. Also, bear in mind that the freezing process does begin to break down the cellular structure, and prey that thaws and is refrozen or that is warmed too quickly has an alarming tendency to rupture and create an impressively disgusting mess.