How do you thaw your prey items?

[GDZILLA95]

I place the rats in a ziploc bag & leave them on the counter top to thaw for around two hours at room temp. I heat a coolwhip bowl filled with water in the microwave for two minutes. I then place the bag of rats in the water for 1-2 minutes, then feed.
The first time I thawed some rats, I used the same method, but left the bag of rats in the water for a longer period of time. I had one rat bust when it was constricted, so I cut the time back and haven't had another rat rupture since.

It should be noted that my "rats" are rat pups, not adults.

[Revenant]

I try to freeze bags of feeders in roughly the assortment I usually want to feed so I have two big Ziploc bags to make a meal. I also have bags of spares of like sizes in case I want to add more. I usually pull the bags first thing in the morning and set them in a tub with a lid on top of a shelf to defrost. I haven't had a problem yet, but I'm not keen to have a first time I lose a whole week's feed to a dog, cat or toddler.

I usually let them defrost for at least a few hours, depending on how warm the house is.

Usually after lunch I'll get off my bum and decide to feed them. I fill a small container with hot water. I just dip them in and pull them straight out to make sure the snakes can find them right off, but most of my snakes don't have any complaint taking them after they are only room temp either. Pretty straightforward.

[Wildside]

Originally Posted by EmbraceCalamity

I had heard (don't remember where) not to use hot water, just warm. Is that not true then?

~Maggot

I learned the hot water trick when I came here. Works like a charm!

[Hillsberry]

I take mine out in the morning let them thaw and then I will warm them up in a tub with hot water. Sometimes the XL rats need a little help thawing out.

[Laery]

I usually place prey items in a Ziploc and let thaw for several hours (until completely thawed) and then boil water hover the bags over steam 1-2min until relatively warm (NOT cooked) this then gives me time to move the snakes into their feeding bins while the prey item cools into an eating friendly temp and then feed. I wait roughly 1-1.5 hrs after a feed to return the snake to its original housing.

[Loucifer]

Rodent completely sealed in plastic. Warmest water out of the tap for about 15 min., rodent fully submerged. Then pre-boiling water for 4-5 mins. Lil man nails it!

[Gregg M]

Hot water, in a bucket for a half hour. Anything else is just a needless waste of time. I see no reason to defrost at room temp and I really do not get the hair dryer thing at all. I do not even bother to pat dry the rodents. A little extra hydration never hurts. Snakes and lizards feed in their racks and cages complete with substrates.

[dshin963]

Bucket, Check
Hot tap water, Check
Rats, Check
45-120 mins... (depending if i forget),Check
Fed happy snakes! CHECK!

I Throw all the different size rats into the same bucket and feed as they are ready... rat pinkies take no time so I pull those out first and feed and let the rest continue to thaw... I also give the rats a good squeeze to make sure the insides are not still cold... usually squeeze for 30 seconds or soo. Then I temp gun them... jeez... never realized I take all these steps....

[limey]

Some snakes will take warm, some take room temp, some only take hot.

I tried the hot water method one time - I kept the rodent in it's bag, put it in the sink filled with hot water. Half an hour later, I took it out the bag and it STANK!!! It had been been partially cooked inside and smelt up the whole house. The snake would not take it.

Now I just thaw at room temp while I'm at work. And give it a 45 secod blast with the hairdryer right before serving. It works best for me and doesn't smell as bad as the hot water method.

[KORBIN5895]

So my question is what size are most of you feeding when you throw a feeder into a bucket of hot tap water for an hour? There is noway in hell a 900g guinea pig is thawing out in n hour using that method.

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by Zoo Nanny

After reading through this thread I see that very few people after thawing rodents do not warm in hot water. I was under the impression that during the freezing process rodents dehydrate and should be rehydrated in water. I've always rehydrated for both reptiles and raptors.

I've never heard that before! Maybe I should add some water to my process...

I don't have anything that eats anything bigger than hoppers, so I usually just put about 5 in a coffee mug and set them on top of the Bearded Dragon cage which has the hottest top. About 20 minutes later they are de-thawed and ready for feeding! I feed off tongs.

[Little Wise Owl]

I do it the same way as Aaron_S but sometimes I just leave them out over night.

[dshin963]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

So my question is what size are most of you feeding when you throw a feeder into a bucket of hot tap water for an hour? There is noway in hell a 900g guinea pig is thawing out in n hour using that method.

I feed from rat pinkies to XL-Jumbo rats... For the larger rats I usually have to drain the bucket and fill it a second time.

[Herpophiliac972]

I fill up a pot with hot water, heat it up on the stove, put the water in a bucket, put in the feeders, and hold them underwater with a bamboo skewer for 20 minutes. Haven't done it in a while though. Had to give back my corn snake. She was awesome.

[Rogue628]

I usually thaw overnight in a sterilite container and the heat in the same container using the hottest tap water I have in the tub. The bathroom is directly across from my reptile room. I pat dry then feed. Allie won't accept anything less than as hot as I can get hers and I have to make sure it's patted dry. If water drips on her, she won't eat. If I don't get it to her fast enough and it cools the slightest bit, I have to start the process again (heat and pat dry). For a burm she's picky as hell.