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How do YOU thaw?

How do YOU thaw your frozen rodents?

  • Throw them directly into a bowl of hot water... my snakes dont mind em' soggy

    Votes: 40 35.4%

  • I put them in a baggie first then in hot water... I don't want soggy rodents

    Votes: 55 48.7%

  • Other... allow me to explain...

    Votes: 19 16.8%
  • Total voters
    113
Take fuzzy (in bag) out of freezer, and leave him on the bench (you call it counter) for a couple of Minutes.

Fill bathroom sink up with water so hot that my finger can hardly bare it.

Dump in fuzzy, who is still in bag.

Use tweezers to weigh down bag.

While fuzzy is in sink, put Monty in his feeding tub.

Take fuzzy out of sink and bag and feel it, to see if it is soft.

____________________________

I know it's not what you asked for, but here's how I feed him:

Hold fuzzy by his tail (with tweezers, increased distance from Monty encase he misses fuzzy) and move him around in Monty's feeding tub (moving fuzzy so Monty thinks he's alive, my desperate attempt to get Monty to coil mouse)

Leave Monty in feeding tub covered with towel (YOU don't like other people watching YOU eat do you?)
 
I answered that I put them directly into hot water, since that's how I thaw my mice for my corns.

However, I feel I should note that since I feed my ball pythons in their vivs, I put their rats in to plastic baggies. Dry fur is less likely to have substrate stick to it.

Normally, I don't advocate feeding in vivs, but bps can be particular and mine won't eat anywhere else.
 
We thaw in cold water - takes about 30 minutes for 50 adult sized mice directly in a big bucket of water - stir a few times during thawing. Pinkies and fuzzies take only 5-10 minutes to thaw. Once they are completely thawed we warm them in hot water, towel dry and feed damp.

Thawing in cold water gives a slower but consistent thaw without 'cooking' the skin - leading to ruptures - while the inside is still chilled. It also minimizes the risk of excess bacterial growth during the thaw process. Long periods in warm water (near body temp - 98 degrees) are ideal incubation for bacterial growth - we want to minimize that by warming immediately before feeding.


mary v.
 
Well, I count out how many of each size I need, and place in separate Chinese Food soup containers. I let the water run over them for a couple minutes, then put the lid on. I stack them on the bathroom counter and then run errends, do chores, play on the computer... whatever, for an hour or so.. I go back, dump out the water and then fill them halfway with hot water. I take them to the feeding area where I take a bunch out laying them on paper towels. I put on a surgical glove :wavey:roll them around to dry off :rofl: and then get to cutting... If I notice the ones in the containers cooling off :poke:, I just go back and add more hot water..
Oh yeah, Wanton soup doesn't look the same now... :shrugs:
 
I stick the mouse into a Ziploc bag, turn on the hot water until it starts steaming, pour the water in, put the timer on for fifteen minutes, check to make sure it's thawed out completely, then serve. :p
 
Nanci said:
(I'm not using his ex-method!)
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What can I say, Nanci? I'm an "exothermic" kind of guy. :grin01:

(I just don't give off enough heat to handle 20 snakes!)

regards,
jazz
 
I put my pinks or hoppers, whatever I'm defrosting, into a cup and run some hot water over them for a second. Then i fill the cup and let them sit in it until they're thawed. Cut a few holes in their backs, place them in feeding tanks. Gone in less than 60 seconds. (usually)

I used to put my rodents in a plastic zip lock bag before tossing them into the water. Then I moved and couldn't find the zip lock bags before next feeding time.. My snakes don't seem to mind. I suppose they might feel worse to the touch, but I move around my mice on forks and spoons.



connord94 said:
I know it's not what you asked for, but here's how I feed him:
Click to expand...
Actually, that's exactly what was asked for.. :rolleyes:
 
A hot water bath for 10 minutes, then I empty the cup and refill it a few times with hot water, just in case the hot water that was initially hot cooled to warm. I then pat them dry with a paper towel. Load them on their feeding plates and serve!


The mousetaurant (mouse restaurant, in case no one gets my bad joke) business isn't doing bad. Though I think I need a raise...the boss say no.....
 
How about the fridge??

Has anyone defrosted a rodent in the fridge overnight before the feeding? The next day, it would make for a super quick warmup and feeding. I've never tried it, but am curious. Would the rodent get soggy and disgusting from this method?
 
I used to microwave them. But I had to do it for only a few seconds at a time, or else the stomach's would explode. Not the most plesent of smells, as well.

I didn't know that was a nono until about a month ago. :shrugs:(However, my snakes seemed to be doing fine on it, although I had to lysol the inside of the microwave after every feeding).

Now I just put the frozen mice in a plastic baggy and dip them in very hot water. 20 minutes is usually all it takes with a few water changes to keep the temperature hot, and best of all... no explosion! :dunce:
 
I thaw pinks in a bowl of hot tap water. I thaw fuzzies , hoppers, and Adult mice under a 60 watt lamp that is about 7" above the mice. Speeds up the thawing process a little.
 
This is an old thread, but since it's been bumped ...

I read an article recently that advised not thawing in water - I've included a relevant quote below.

Prey should also not be thawed in water, this greatly increases the loss of nutrients, as the frozen water in the prey un-freezes, it then leaks into the water the prey is being stood in. Nutients that are unstable when thawed in water are vitamin ascorbic acid, thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and pyridoxine.
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How would it leak out, though? We don't "leak" (in that way anyway) when we take a bath!

Wonder how Lore's doing...I miss her.
 
Nanci said:
How would it leak out, though? We don't "leak" (in that way anyway) when we take a bath!
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No idea - they're all water soluble, but the actual chemistry of the thing is over my head. But it makes sense, isn't nutrient leaking one of the reasons you're advised to steam or parcook food rather than boil it in water? Apart from wanting to eat food that isn't mush :)

Nanci said:
Wonder how Lore's doing...I miss her.
Click to expand...

Same here. That's one thing about old threads being bumped, you see alsorts of names you haven't heard in ages ...
 
I thaw at room temperature and then put it in hot water for a minute or so, that way, the rodent is defrosted, warmed and nutrients aren't lost in excessive quantities.
 
My snakes eating small mice... I just tkae a cup of water (bath temp) and drop the mouse in for about 15 minutes. The waters not too hot to affect the mouses skin, and it's cool enough where the mouse can be left in for 15-20 minutes and be completely thaw.
 
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