How does everybody "Thaw" their frozen r - experts Forum at VenomousReptiles.org

How does everybody "Thaw" their frozen r	Reply
by Phobos on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
As sort of an offshoot to the "Snake Sausage" thread I was wondering who people thaw their frozen prey items? I use Warm water.... Al

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by BGF on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
I put them inside of ziplock bags, immerse them in water up the the edge to get the air out and then seal them. I find some of my herps seem to prefer dry rather than soaking wet prey. Don't ever use the microwave. I did this once when I was in Uni and still living at home. My mum glanced at the microwave (the strange smell lured her in) just in time to see the mouse explode all over the inside of the microwave. Just like an egg but with fur and intestines. It didn't help matters that I was cracking up at the absolutely horrified look on her face. I tried (not very hard) not to laugh but simply couldn't help myself ;-) Cheers B

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by Phobos on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
Great story Bryan... I guess I should not make hurried posts early in the AM. My diction is not up to speed... Should have been "what" not "who" in my lead post. Cheers! Al

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by KingCobraFan on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
B, LOL'ing as I read that! Bill Huseth

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by Cro on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
I leave frozen food items out at room temperature for a couple of hours to thaw. Sometimes, I will warm them for 2 or 3 seconds in the microwave, which can help with some picky feeders. Any longer than that, and they do explode. I never liked dunking them in warm water, as they had to be dried off after. Bryan's idea of using a ziplock immersed in warm water sounds good, I think I will try that soon. JohnZ

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by LarryDFishel on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
I keep a small cooler for the sole purpose of filling it with warm water to thaw snake food. Like Brian, I find that some snakes prefer dry, but it's a small enough number that I thaw all of them in the water (faster) and hand dry for the few picky eaters. Some get so used to the wet mice after a while that they seem very suspicious if you give thema dry one (unless it's alive which changes everything). I seem to be about the only keeper I know of hasn't tried a mouse in the microwave "just once"... Of course, that's probably more because I heard someone else's story before I happened to get around to trying it.

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by SerpenXotics on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
wow Brian good Idea with the bags I never tried that I always go through about 40 paper towels every time I feed drying the mice out LOL glad I never tried the microwave LOL funny story bro definatly going to be trying your bag technique tonite thanks for the new trick Joe Lesh

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by John316 on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
I use a 100 watt light bulb placed approximately 1 1/2ft from the prey item. It speeds up the thawing time tremendously but requires constant attention. Left too long and you end up with a cooked rodent.

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by Richie on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
Hi all. I leave mine to thaw out at room temp, wrapped up in a towel (specifically for the rodent eaters!). When fully "limp", I put them in a pan of hot water to warm them up (again a pan specifically for the rodent eaters!). I dry the prey off with the towel to absorb the excess water and use a hair dryer to dry the fur properly. This may sound a bit odd... but I believe it's more natural to feed them "dry" prey... it somehow seems more natural to me. Regards Viperman (UK)

RE: How does everybody "Thaw" their froz	Reply
by guttersnacks on April 1, 2005	Mail this to a friend!
I have a heater that keeps my whole reptile room warm, so I set the food in front of it on a plate and let it thaw out over about a 2 hour time frame. I used to seal the mice in a ZipLock bag, and use hot water, but the bags kept leaking and I cant stand working with aspen and wet mice. It's bad news for the snakes.

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