I don't think that they would have been warm enough just by thawing them on the back porch. You want them to be around 90-100 degrees.

I thaw mine by puting them in ziplock bags and then placing these in very warm/hot water for a few hours. Then right before feeding I replace the water with new warm/hot water to make sure that the rodent is nice and warm.

When I offer the food I do it by dangling the thawed rodent with a set of BBQ tongs and moving it a little until the snake takes it. There is one snake that won't take them this way, I need to place the rodent in the cage with it's head under the snakes hide. She only eats this way once every 2 weeks, she used to take mice off of tongs but when switched to rats she became a little more of a pain.

You should let them get nice and hungry for a week or two, then only thaw one at a time. That way if one doesn't eat you just keep offering the same one to eat of them. Once one takes a F/T then thaw another one and continue where you left off. This should help to cut down on any waste.

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