Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm attemping a frozen mouse tomorrow for my ball python and would appriciate any tips on heating the meal to the right temp for him. He ate a live pup last week, but I'm turning him over to frozen, any tips??

The best advice...(thank God for this forum)...was to dispense with the Zip-Lock bags and all that bologna. Just take a large metal pan, fill it with steaming hot water straight from the kitchen sink (as hot as it'll get), drop in the mice/rats, and wait...(I find that once the rats start to sink, they're ready)...wrap them up in paper towels to quickly soak up the excess water, and then drop the damp mice/rats in the cage. Chomp. Chomp.

Chris
-----
0.1 Normal
0.2 Het Piebald
1.0 Reduced Pattern
0.1 Banded
0.1 Screaming Child

Hot water is the best. I have done the leave em at room temp thing, the setting them on a heating pad thing, and the turn a heat lamp on them thing. Sometimes they get TOO hot and then you have a nasty half-cooked rat on your hands. It's not worth it to overheat them, very gross!! Other times, they are thawed but not warm enough. Warm water works very well for me in that you can't overcook them, and if they are too cold, you can soak them again in warmer water. Make sure to dry them thoroughly.

If you have acess to live rats, you may want to try killing the prey immediately before you offer it if this frozen thawed stuff doesn't work. Then wean the baby onto frozen thawed from fresh killed. Check out Pro Exotics' website for some great FAQs on switching.
Link

Thanks for the suggestions, it worked great! It took two tries but then he swallowed it right down! This forum is awesome!
-----
1 Normal Ball
2 Red-ear Slider Turtles
2 Betta fish
1 Childlike Significant Other