Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

I realized that there are a number of ways to thaw our frozen mice and pinkies. I believe that my thawing method, although effective, is a largely a waste of time and materials. So, I wanted to see how you, the other owners of snakes, thaw your mice.

I have been placing them in a baggie and then running warm water over them. It takes about 15-20 minutes but I'm wasting both water and baggies.

So, how do you thaw your mice?
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1.0 Ambanja - LESTER
0.1 Nosy Be - KUBO
0.0.1 Scarlet Kingsnake - UNCLE WIGGLEY
0.1 Thayeri Kingsnake - BOO BOO BUNNY
1.0 Thayeri Kingsnake - FUNKY MUNKY
1.0 Thayeri Kingsnake - ???

i just put the pinky/mouse in a ziplock baggie, fill up a bowl of hot water put the mouse in there and usually put something on top like a spoon or something to hold the mouse underwater so it thaws quicker, with pinkys it takes me about 5 minutes and i read somewhere that if u dont thaw them out in bags, it will lose alot of the smell and the snake might not notice it as much.
Chuck

If your username is any indication, you probably have plenty of ziplock baggies lying around...

HAHAHAHAHAHA tons

But try not to suck the flavor out.

I have 2 large insulated sports drinking bottles, the ones with the screw on lid and the plastic straw goes through the middle. Anyway I will buy those real cheap baggies from the grocery story put and put some of each size rodent in them. I then take a fork (the "snake fork" as my wife wont use it LOL) and punch the tines of the fork through the knotted part of the bag to sink them. I just use real hot tap water to thaw. When Im feeding the adults I do the same thing but with a 5 gallon bucket and a hammer to sink the bags. Seems those dead rats are pretty bouyant(sp).

Keith
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i just put them directly under a desk lamp for about 10-20 minutes. No effort or fuss. turn them once, and then take it off. you have to wait a minute or two and feel it to make sure that the inside is fully thawed though.

I just lay paper towel on my heat tape & put the mice & rats belly down........when I didn't use heat tape I used a stand up heater & layed them across the grill on low of course.lol

Mike

I also use zip lock bags in hot water. I soak the bags in a small tub as opposed to useing running water. I live in Las Vegas and during the summer I can thaw them on the patio in about the same amount of time. I thaw anywhere from 10 to 50 rodents on any given feeding day. Here is a pic of my ltc L g californiae.

Randy

Firehouse Herps

I have a plastic container (about 2 gallon size) which has a snap on lid (like any Tupperware plastic containers). A typical thaw for me includes a couple jumbo guinea pigs, a couple jumbo rats, and several pink mice.

I just put the whole lot of them into the container and fill it with hot water. I change the water once or twice to refresh it with hot water and keep the thawing moving along.

I like this method because, while there are several methods to simply thaw the prey items, this one also washes them. It also has the added benefit of wetting the items, making them both easier to ingest, and easier to digest.

I have never had even the slightest issue with this method. All of my (three) snakes eat eagerly. One of them even still treats his moist dinners as if he was killing for the first time (it's actually kind of funny to watch a snake try to 'kill' pre-killed prey).

That's my method - no baggies, no lamps, no cups, no anything but hot water.

Thanks for reading,
- Mark

i have a bunch of 5 liter bowls, toss the critters in there and thaw with hot tap water.I put a lid over the bowl and sometimes "insulate" the bowl with a towel to try to keep the heat in for as long as possible. It usually takes about the same 15-20 minutes for the rodents to thaw ( depends on how many are in there) but I try to do other things like scoop poop or change water during the thaw so it is not a loss of time. That also gets me "warmed up" for all the #$%&#!& kingsnakes flying out looking for someone/thing to nail...
dB

Human heating pad on low.

Jim Baptista

I just put them on a paper plate in the snake room and wait or as someone else said, get other work done while I'm waiting. What's the hurry?
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Martin Whalin

"It is foolish to let singleness of purpose deprive one of the joy and delectation of the many wonderful sights and sounds incidental to the quest."
-Carl Kauffeld
My Email

I just set them out on a feeding tray on a paper towel. I don't put them in the snake room however or my snakes will destroy their cages trying to get at them while they are thawing and are then psychotic when I try to open the cages for feeding.

It only takes a few hours to thaw them that way and I spend the time doing other things.
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Chris Harrison

I have a simple rubbermaid/sterlite container,
first I count the snakes I plan to feed if they are shedding I dont feed them.
all of them are fed out of the cage so they wont ingest the aspen bedding.
i just put warm water in the container and out the mice in it and wait 15-30 minutes depends alot how many I feed. Right now my snakes are still babies and on large pinks and fuzzies.
as for the losing scent thing I have not had a problem. I even leave my pinkies a little wet with the warm water. I think they can find it better. today I fed two. Both of them grabbed it and began eating in first five seconds they came in contact with the mice. I didnt use to leave them wet. i dont live them soaking wet just enuff to get a few drops of the water they was thawed in. just my 2 cents.

if your in the north west ga are and wanna join a free herp society check out our link at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthWestGaHerpetolgicalSociety

john
North West Ga Herpetogical Society

I put them under my armpits for 20 to 30 minutes. Makes 'em soft and warm.

LOL. Just kidding. Warm water soaking for 20 minutes or so.

-Brandon
www.nosnakeban.org

I have been doing this method for the last 13 years and works great for me.

I have a small cooler that I thaw the mice and rats in with hot water. It only takes about 15-20 minutes. Then, I dry them with paper towels and my snakes are then very happy.

It only takes, including thawing, appr. 45 minutes to feed my 31 snakes this way.

Take care!

Hypo northern pine ( Alabama locale )

Billy

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Genesis 1:1

I'm dealing with 12 kingsnakes of various sizes so I use a small plastic ice chest, fill it with really hot water, put the lid on it, and let it sit for about 15 minutes; that thaws them evenly and lets me close it up - maintaining the heat - pull out mice, pat them dry on a towel and feed my crew without having to worry about them getting cold while I feed everyone, which takes about an hour for 12 snakes eating at different "speeds."

As far as them losing their "scent" I don't buy that at all - snakes have such a keen sense of "taste" that I don't even think we can comprehend it. Let me put it this way - when I go into my snake room with a closed-lid ice chest full of mice/rats, my snakes are on the move within a minute or so, and the tongues go a flickin' in about 20 seconds; they know "daddy" is there and it's time to grub!

-John