Thanks for the info Rebecca. You bring up some interesting topics for discussion. Concerning thawing methods I'm wondering how everyone treats this detail.

For me, I dispatch the rat and freeze it immediately. I mark the bad with a month/year and rotate my stock so I'm always feeding the oldest rodents. Usually, I'm on a six month rotation. I put the rodents into a ziplock bag then wrap with several layers of newspaper to keep freezer burn to a minimum.

When I thaw I actually put the frozen rats into a bucket of very warm water for about 20-30 minutes. For pinks, fuzzies, weaned this time is shorter. After I make certain the rodent is thawed, inside and out, I wring out the excess water, towel dry and feed it.

And because I use aspen bedding in all my tanks I remove each snake to it's own plastic feeding tub, feed them, then return them to their enclosures. It's time consuming but it's worked for me.
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

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