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.