Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Another question about frozen mice. I've had an adult CRB for about 15 months, and I've been feeding him pre-killed, f/t mice. I've been using a microwave to defrost the mice and warm them a little, is this a bad idea? The posts I've read recently have not mentioned microwaves, so I'd like to know if there are problems associated with this. For what it's worth, I've never had any problems with him accepting the mice, regurgitating them, or passing stools. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!

Zoosnake,
. I use a microwave to thaw frozen rodents. You have probably already discovered that if you thaw them with too much power they will explode. Blowing the rodents up is probably okay for the snake but it may make feeding a messy ordeal. IMO rodents that are left out at room temperature to thaw for too long are more likely to have harmful levels of microorganism than rodents which are thawed in the microwave.
Jeff

>>Another question about frozen mice. I've had an adult CRB for about 15 months, and I've been feeding him pre-killed, f/t mice. I've been using a microwave to defrost the mice and warm them a little, is this a bad idea? The posts I've read recently have not mentioned microwaves, so I'd like to know if there are problems associated with this. For what it's worth, I've never had any problems with him accepting the mice, regurgitating them, or passing stools. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!

I always put a frozen rodent in a baggie, tie it up, then place in a jar with hot water. Change the water a few times, every half hour, and it's thawed before you know it. No risks, no problems.

I suppose, technically, if you can set the CORRECT microwave setting (defrost/thaw??) it would have the same affect. But the trick is that microwaves are highly variable, and also just moving an object an inch or two in the microwave can radically change what happens to it.