Thaw feeder rats?

[Jane-Pythons]

I do exactly the same up until drying. I prefer to feed wet prey as long as the snake will take it (very rarely snakes will only take dry prey). The added hydration definitely won't hurt.
I've been using this technique for 15 years or more and it's always worked.

I can't say I've ever tried feeding wet prey but that's interesting, I might trial that if any of mine ever decide to get fussy all of a sudden!

To OP, with bigger prey like rats (or anything I suppose) at least on my end I'd check that the center / inside is thawed and soft also - sometimes it can be decieving when they're warm and squishy on the outside then you give it a feel and the inside is still cold and sometimes hard, so I always double check but it just means leaving it for a few more minutes. As long as the prey is well sourced, water is clean etc then it's easy peasy.