Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I have learned that thawing and refreezing is a NO NO! Now I need to learn all over again how to feed my collection a DIFFERENT way. So now instead of thawing the whole bag of rodents by taking it out in the morning and then feeding at nigh, now I am going to package all my rodents individually and am only going to thaw what I think my snakes will eat. So my question is;

If I do not thaw enough, how can I thaw another one out FAST? Before It would take ALL day for a bag to thaw, but If I am only going to need to thaw one at a time, what are the fastest ways, and just HOW long does "your" fastest way/s take?

Thanks.

Hot or Warm water....let stand a little....replace with warm or Hot.....let stand....repeat as needed.....I used to throw maybe a hundred mice in a bus pan and refill with Hot water like 5 times...thaws fast...while I stand there and clean cages...

less mice /rats...less heat....it will cook them ....I used alot...so it got warm really fast...

thawing in warm water keeps the rodents firmer than setting all day too at times....

...and no...never refreeze...unless your brother also wants to grind them up for trapping bait /lures.....

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........JY

i have had no problems refreezing rats and giving them a second thaw / go.

mice are another story; they will explode when the snake hits them.

at this point, i just know what i need to thaw and rarely have leftovers, and that will happen for you as well. if anything, err on thawing too little as you can always thaw more the next day if you think you undershot it and still have hungry snakes.

Establish a "feeding night"

Take out of freezer the amount I need to feed the night before "Feeding night" - stick them in the fridge. Concealed so family doesn't have fit that there are dead rodents next to their cheese.

One hour before feeding pull them out of fridge take up to snake room - let them come to room temp. I usually do this while I am cooking the family dinner.

Feeding time - stick under heat lamp for as long as it takes me to go thru my email.

Open drawer - feed - check back later to make sure eaten.

Left overs go to garbage disposal snakes - you must have one or two snakes that will gladly accept leftovers.

Rats - are ok for one refreeze as long as you haven't heated them up.

Mice - trash any that are not eaten or you will live to regret it.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

nihil facimus sed id bene facimus

I put mine in a ziplock bag and put them in the sink with HOT water. It helps if you put something heavy like a bowl filled with hot wateron top of the bag also to hold them under the water. I then take the ziplock in to the snake room and run a blowdryer over them just before feeding to get the smell going in thew air. This takes about 45m total depending on how many rats/mice you put in each bag. Hope this helps. Chris Hall

I feed on Sunday morning. I take out what I need late Saturday night and let them thaw on paper towels until I get up(6am)then I put them in gallon ziplocks and submerge in 115 degree water for 10 min. then turn snakeroom lights on low and feed immediately. I rarely have any refusals and ALL of my snakes eat frozen thawed.
I used my tempgun to check the temp of live rodents and they were all right around 100 degrees. 10 minutes in 115 degree water will get you there. This temp and a set routine is key.

Good luck,
John