Picky Eater--but the WEIRD kind?

[Bogertophis]

Now that's fascinating! I'll have to try it next week and see if it changes anything.

Snakes are so weird! "My rat is too wet so I'm not gonna eat it." Gotta love'em anyway though.

It depends on the snakes- they're all different. When I lived in the desert & worked with (local, wild) rescues, they LOVED wet food! Not much rain in the desert, wet rodents were a bonus.

When I feed my rat snakes (& others) on f/t, I do thaw directly in water- while it does wash off some scent, MY snakes don't much care*- and also, you can use your feeding tongs to "pinch-damage" the rodent's nose just a bit, as that will also release more scent, & right on target where you want your snake to grab. *But, it does likely matter greatly to YOUR snake...

So I agree, you should try thawing in a baggie that keeps them dry- try to get as much air out first, as that slows down the thawing process by quite a bit. That's ANOTHER thing that causes refusals too- if the rodent isn't thawed completely so they're soft in the middle (always feel by hand before feeding). If they're still frozen in the middle, your snake will likely refuse it, & if it's taken, they'll probably upchuck it- you really don't want that to happen either.

This should all get easier with practice & figuring out what your snake prefers.