Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think I may have heated my rat a little to much last and when my bumble bee bit into it its guts started to tear out the side. She still ate it but I was wondering I this ever happens again what should I do, Should I have taken the rat away and given her another one? I know I should not over heat them, this whole thing made my wife sick, so I really can't make this mistake again.

Its never good with the wife isn't happy,
matt

lol... i made the mistake of thawing mine out... then some snakes didnt eat so i refroze them... when i thawed them out again that happened... kinda nasty

maybe the the rat was passed its expiration date?

I've had that happen a couple times over the years. Not really sure exactly what caused it. No big deal. Just a little messy. It's a rare occurance. I doubt your wife will have to be subjected to it again. But if she happens to be, and it bothers her, maybe she should...not watch. Hmmmmm.

Yah you should have seen it because she helps me weigh everybody when we feed and after the snake struck the rat my wife says it's pooping, and then there was that great smell that fills the room and she takes off to the bathroom and there goes her dinner. Needless to say it was a long night, but I figured it is something we can all laugh about after the fact.

matt

How are you heating them up? When I started with one baby ball, I had that problem with pinkies and fuzzies. I learned to let them thaw at room temp, then dip in hot water, but even then, they were pretty fragile. I also learned that the microwave is bad, really bad. I feed adult mice to all my f/t eaters. I've done frozen rats as well and never have any problems. I've even re-frozen mice before and it wasn't a big deal. What I've been doing for a while now is letting the mice thaw completely at room temp (the nice warm garage in summer works really well). Then, right before I feed, I hit them with a hair dryer at very close range. I warm up both sides of the mice and then go straight to the snake. With the exception of blowing some fur around, it works perfectly for me.

Funny note, my wife and daughters got tired of having to go looking for their hair dryer in the mornings before school, so guess what I got for my last birthday. Yep, my very own hair dryer. Just what I wanted.

Eddie

try thawing them to room temp, then get yourself a cheap hair dryer to warm them. they dont need to be very hot.

I've had it happen a few times...do believe it's caused by overheating. Doesn't seem to be any problem with the snake eating it...actually I'd rather the snake eat it so I don't have to clean up the mess LOL.
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