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How long to thaw

Tim66/corns

Tim66/corns

I have no Accent
I had to get some small frozen pinkies & was wondering how long you keep them in hot water? Don't want them still frozen inside but not to soft too. Can someone help or is there an old thread somewhere on how to defrost properly?
 
I put mine in a ziploc, submerge them fully in hot water for about 5 minutes. I toss some marbles in the ziploc so it stays submerged. Also, I make sure the pinkies are not hot when feeding my snakes.
Good luck
 
Ziploc bag + bowl + a fork.

Like comox i get some decently warm water, submerge the pinky, but rather than marbles, i just put lay a fork ontop to sink it. I usually give it a tiny squeeze inside the bag to make sure it's not frozen still. 5 feedings under this newbie belt and only 1 problem. Think i'm doing pretty decent so far.

Have Fun.
 
i get confused when defrosting pinkys, there always pink when frozen but as soon as i thaw then some of them turn a dark red and black colour, i usally throw them away because im unsure if i should give them to mine. Is that right??
 
Thanx all feeding time is at 11:00 am today. Just have to run to the pet store for some live pinkies for my stubborn 2. Yeah I am new at this still. Always second guessing cause I worry to much. Know they are all getting to big to feed in their deli cups so trying to come up with a time saver way know. They are on aspen and love to tunnel through it and don't want to take it away but feeding on paper towels or butcher paper would be easier. Not to mention you can keep and eye on them better to make sure everyone is fine.
 
I usually just dropped my frozen mice in hot tap water. I let them sit about 15-20 minutes. Then change the water to make them hot again. Then I dry them on a paper towel before feeding the, to my snakes.
 
I am totally new to any kind of snake and was wandering this also.
-The one time I did feed, I took the Pinkie and put it in the fridge for a few hours to thaw. Then while still in a plastic bag put it in a container (that has a lid), warmed it up by running warm tap water and letting the water run over it until it was hot water coming from the tap.Once the water started to steam I put the lid on & let it sit in the hot water for 5 mins. or so to heat throughout. It seemed to work fine, the snake ate it in less than 2 mins.
 
Aw, you guys are soo sweet. I remember the trouble I went to every time, making sure those pinkies were just right.

Now my boy's on jumbos and it's a case of "Thaw; Squeeze; It's good; Throw it in"

As long as the mouse is thawed in the middle - give it a gentle squeeze! - nor too hot, nor does it smell 'off', it will be just fine :)
 
Rich in KY said:
I usually just dropped my frozen mice in hot tap water. I let them sit about 15-20 minutes. Then change the water to make them hot again. Then I dry them on a paper towel before feeding the, to my snakes.
Click to expand...

But for a pink you only need a minute or two in hot water. I don't think it matters if they turn dark red. I feed mice like that.
 
Tim66/corns said:
Tracee, what kind of smell is it when they are "off" ? And is it O.K. if they are a little dark?
Click to expand...

I know I'm not Tracee but............

If they are "off" they stink like rotten meat, you will know it if you smell it ;)

When pinkies are thawed it's quite ok for them to go dark, this is because their skin is still quite transluscent when the mice are this young and you can see the blood through the skin easier.

I thaw all my mice the same, put them in a plastic container, run hot tap water over them and fill the container, pop a lid over the top and leave to sit. Pinkies take just a couple of minutes, large adult mice can take 15 - 20 minutes or so. I check they are defrosted properly by giving them a gentle squeeze all over, making sure you can't feel any ice crystals or cool spots, especially in the stomach, chest and head area, if there are cool areas or you can still feel ice crystals, repeat the process, when they are warm throughout, they are ready to feed.

Sometimes, young corns prefer their pinks to be heated a little more, so if I have one like that, I just run the water hot again and let it sit for another 30 seconds to a minute before offering straight away :)


Hope that's helpful,
 
I was too late! But I was going to say the same thing - I can't quite describe the smell of a bad mouse, but don't worry, you'll know.
 
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