my girl used to rip the stomach of the mouse.what i do now is,put it in a plastic bag to thaw it out,,leave it ontop of a warm radiator for an hour or so untill the mouse is warm enough,then feed it to the snake,,it should work and the belly wont rip.its probably the hot water that causes the belly of the mouse to rip.iv had the belly of a number of mice burst befoire i even got to give it to the snake.