Posted by:
BrandonSander
at Fri Jun 26 00:51:11 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by BrandonSander ]
Sorry, man. I know I promised these pictures months ago, but I honestly just kept forgetting to take them.
I think that you'll be able to note most of the construction details from looking at the photos. It's essentially just a box with a UTH along the bottom. There is a hole drilled on one side to allow the cord to be threaded through and the lid (which is not on hinges but that could easily be remedied) is lined with reflective tape. I also used a cookie cooling rack to keep the frozen rats somewhat elevated off of the UTH.
Generally, I just remove the rats I'll need from the freezer and place them into a zip-lock type bag. I don't zip the bag closed because I've noticed a tendency to end up with more "belly bursters" when I do. Simply plug in the UTH and place the top on the box. I do not have it hooked up to any type of thermostat or other temperature controller. The pad itself warms to about 130 degrees F and the rats end up being about 100 degrees F after about 3-4 hours.
Below are the approximate times for various conditions for the rats to be ready to feed (The times can vary depending on the size and number of rats - how full the Thawing Chamber is):
Frozen - about 3-4 hours
Thawed - (refrigerator temperatures) - about an hour
Thawed - (room temperature) - 1/2 hour to 45 minutes
I'm sure that results will vary from person to person as will the design and materials used, but this system has decreased the number of refusals I have on any given week and I no longer have to deal with buckets of hot water and leaking baggies.
Here are the pictures (I think they are fairly self explanatory but feel free to ask any questions you may have):
I just noticed that I didn't have the tape measure positioned very well in these pictures, but the last picture gives a fairly decent view. It really doesn't matter. I simply found a UTH that I liked (I prefer the ones that beanfarm.com sells) and customized the box to it. The entire project took less than an hour. I suppose I could go back and paint the exterior, add a hinge or two and also line the rest of the interior with reflective tape, but right now I'm not overly ambitious to do so. Perhaps it will end up being one of my mid-winter projects to ward off cabin fever. We'll see.
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Stay United!
"...I say 'apparently' because despite all our progress she is not at all a tame or handle-able snake and gettting her from that cage would re-start a war.. and we've had a good armistice for several months now."-Gus Rentfro - I love this quote!
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 Thawing Chamber Pics for Pitoon... - BrandonSander, Fri Jun 26 00:51:11 2009
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