Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need some guidance on a standardized way to know how long to boil frozen bunnys for my burm.

I am just switching to prekilled food and I have never done it before. Should I leave it in the bag to boil it or do I take it out of the bag and drop him directly in the water? Will the fur boil off? Does it have to reach a certain temp for my burm to be interested in it? If anyone has suggestions on how to make it fool-proof on how to prepare a frozen bunny, I would really appreciate it. Thanx

-Marco

don't boil the rabbit, put him in a plastic or zip lock bag and let the rabbit soak in warm sink water, until it is soft and unfrozen

I have to say your subject line made me laugh. Sorry, no offense. I wouldn't boil-a-bunny. I'd lay it out either overnight or throughout the day to thaw. I tried soaking mine in hot water and all it did was make the animal soggy and my snake wouldn't touch em. I get them out in the morning and fill the tray with frozen yummies. By the end of the day they are thawed well and still resemble what they were when live. Be careful if you have other pets that may explore your buffet lineup though.

DZ

N/P

i appreciate your advice, but I am curious, is thawing them in the open raise the body temp enough to make the snake interested in them? are they thawed all the way through? Are there any tricks to make my burm interested in the prey if it is too cold? this is a new step for me, I generally have fed live prey and am nervous I will screw up the feeding.lol.

thanx for your help,

-marco

It will raise their temp to roughly 70 degrees, (room temp). If you like, you can set the oven to it's lowest setting and put your thawed prey animal in for maybe 10 minutes to just raise the temp but not cook anything. I've never done it that way. My snake always takes prey straight off the counter. What I would do is feed your snake a fresh killed animal to see if he/she will even eat dead food. It's not to hard to thump a rat at the base of the back of the neck with a steel rod. Just make sure you get it done the first hit so it doesn't suffer. This way you'll know it will take P/K food. F/T isn't much different.

DZ

First let it thaw by sitting out for several hours, then warm it up for several minutes in a plastic bag in preheated water (not in a pot on the burner or you'll burn your bunny).