Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How does everyone here who feeds frozen/thawed, like to thaw out there snakes next meal?

we do 2 diff. things- One is
Day 1- get the 'prey' out of the deep freeze and put in fridge overnight in one of those turkey roasting pans-
Day 2- in the morning/early afternoon- we set the pan out on the counter- then in the evening we'll hang a heat lamp or 2 above them.
This doesn't work as fast for jumbo rats or rabbits- those go in the fridge for 2 days and under the light all day on day 3

-OR-
we will put smaller things- pinkies, fuzzies, mice- in a cup of hot water and when the water gets cold, replace it with hot again- until the item feels warm.

Beth
-----
The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

I have several small coolers (12-16 quart maybe).

For mice through small rats, I fill a cooler most of the way with fairly hot tap water, not quite too hot to submerge your hand in for a few seconds, and throw them in straight from the freezer. Occasionally, I may have to swap out the water once. They're ready when you can take one out for 10 seconds or so and it still feels warm. Freezer to the snake in 30 minutes or so.

For large rats, I give them a couple cycles in cold tap water first to give the center time to thaw, then go on to the hot water. 2 hours maybe. If I'm in a hurry I may start with warm water and cut it down to 1 hour or less.

For rabbits, I use a larger cooler and leave them in the fridge over night first (when I remember).

Most of our snakes are kept on paper so substrate sticking to the wet food is not an issue, and most snakes don't seem to mind. Some really seem to prefer wet food (or maybe get so used to it that they don't recognize it dry).
-----
What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

I also use a strofoam cooler to thaw my mice rats and rabbits. this method is used b/c it hold the warm temp better than a bowl and my wife hates dead rats in the sink. With the cooler I can fill it up and sit it out side.

i put larger frozen items in plastic tub and thaw in unused incubator overnight

winslow