Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I feed frozen weened rats to my yearling boas. I put the frozen rat in a ziplock bag and put it in super hot water till it defosts. Today I had a rat just fall apart when the snake grabbed it. There was a little bit of the insides coming out when I fed it, then when he struck the rat, almost all of the guts just fell out like there was a huge whole in the body of the rat. I decided to just let him finish his messy meal.

Has anyone had this problem? Do you think it can hurt my snake? Is there anything I can do so they dont fall apart?
Thanks.
Mike

That will happen a lot when you use really hot water. Try thawing them over a longer period in room temperature water.

Chris O
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www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing

try defrosting them in the microwave !! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA !!!!!!!!
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NO BEAUTY LIKE THE BEAUTY OF A TRUE REDTAIL !!

the microwave is a pain to clean up when its done!

Sincerely,
Rose Hipskind
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www.srsnakes.com

the 1st time i tried to do that .. i seriously had to throw that microwave away .. lol .. rat everywhere !!my ex-wife said there was no way shed of eaten anything cooked in that thing again .. LOL
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NO BEAUTY LIKE THE BEAUTY OF A TRUE REDTAIL !!

and then on low power for 10-15 second bursts....
no problem!!!

That was the first few years for me...

I even did the stove, the oven!!!!
Just put foil over the racks, laid them out, put on preheat for a while... or, you can do a couple-minute bursts with 200-300 degress, opening the door occasionally so the heat doesn't get too extreme and the guts don't spill out.. lol

Then I had an apartment where I would lay them over the boiler, in the boiler room...
same thing as the over, except no on/off swtich or temperature regulator!
OH BOY!!!
Imagine working all day with the snakes then falling asleep and forgetting them on the boiler? WHOOOAAAA DOOGGGIIEE!!!!
I don't wish that smell onto anyone !!! LOL

Jeez... fun times, eh?

lol

Have fun guys!
and..
come see me at the 2005 NRBE in Daytona this year! I'll have an endcap with Ben Cole and Winston (Premium Herps).

Take care, Joe Rollo - Bci Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

Hey Joe ,

Just wanted to thank you again man on the poss super salmontine. He is doing awsome and i love the "bluish steel" head he has im planning on taking a million pics today and hopefully a few will actually turn out good enough to post .

gessh i needa good camera

later and take care and ill stop by in daytona would be nice to meet ya there

later
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Buisnesses come and go everyday, what keeps you here is how you treated the customer the day before....My Boa Can Kick Your Boas _ss!www.cheapcages.com

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edited sig file 2/8/05

.
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

I've read that it happens when you defrost them to quickly. I've always started with cold water, then gradually added warmer water over a period of about two hours until it was sitting in hot water. I've not had any problems with rats bursting.

You can also skip the ziplock bag, if you want. I have a designated rat bowl that I thaw mine in, and just stick them in as is. Sure they're wet, but they also smell a bit stronger and my guy likes 'em
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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

Your pirahna?

I think she means for her suri boa but she didn't add him to the sig.

I've fed pinky mice (f/t!) to our cichlids, it's kinda neat and kinda gross sometimes! lol
I think this guy (the guy is the big one) would eat an entire small rat if I let him!
(wolf cichild/dovii)