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Thawing Pinkies Fast or Slow?

Penman6668

Dr. Jan Itor
I was wondering if it is better to thaw pinkies fast (in warm water) or slow (leaving the pinkie out for a couple of hours)? I only had one feeding since I got my new snake (amel) last sunday. I thawed the pinkie in warm water, putting the pinkie directly in the water and not in a plastic bag first. I now realized I should of put it in the bag first. She took awhile to even notice the pinkie.
I was just wondering which way is better.
Thank you for any help and I am sorry if this question was asked before. Tried to find it but could not.
 
It might have taken her a while because the water 'diluted' the smell a bit. Or maybe she just wasn't that hungry. Some people thaw them out this way (in water, no bag) with no problems, so don't worry about it.

As with many things, there's no obvious 'better' method, just do whatever works best for you. I'd think with pinks they thaw so quickly anyway that it doesn't really matter..

Someone will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong :)
 
Umm.. Sorry it was a bit rubbish :laugh: I just don't think there is a right or wrong answer to this one!
 
It was not rubbish. It is good to know I did not do anything wrong. YET!!!!!
I am new to snakes so any advice helps.
 
I think the important thing is for the pinky to be at least warm when given to the snake. I personally would not use the bag, and it would take about 2 or 3 minutes for me to thaw a pinky directly in a cup of hot water (probably changing the water once during the process.) Make sure you dry it well before giving it to the snake.
 
Penman6668 said:
I thawed the pinkie in warm water, putting the pinkie directly in the water and not in a plastic bag first. I now realized I should of put it in the bag first. She took awhile to even notice the pinkie.
I was just wondering which way is better.
Thank you for any help and I am sorry if this question was asked before. Tried to find it but could not.
I thaw mine directly in hot water from the tap. Sometimes she goes for it straight away and sometimes she doesn't. Try wriggling it a bit so that he/she (?) notices it, that works with mine. If she is due for a feed and acts hungry and the above do not work, I leave the pinkie in the tank in the plastic container I thawed the pinkie in and leave it and she usually eats no problem.
If you cannot find the answer to your question, always ask, you will find that people here are great help and really friendly ;)

larryg said:
Make sure you dry it well before giving it to the snake.
Why should you make sure the pinkie is dry? Mine prefers when it is still wet :eek:
 
when i thaw my pinkies out I just put a small cup of hot water and put the pinkie in there for about 5-10 min. you can poke it to see if it's still hard or not.
 
I don't have any snakes that are on pinkies right now, but when I did, I'd leave the mouse in hot water for about 5 minutes, then check to see if it was thawed by squeezing the head. If it still felt cool, I put the pinkie back into the hot water for another couple of minutes. I don't dry it either, and my snakes don't seem to mind soggy mice.
 
Thank you everyone for the advice. I think I will stick with putting the pinkines in warm water for a couple of minutes.
I can also try to wiggle or wave the pinkies in front of her to see if she is more interested.
She will feed again on Wednseday. I will let averybody know how it goes.
Any more advice will be more than welcomed.
 
Penman6668 said:
Thank you everyone for the advice. I think I will stick with putting the pinkines in warm water for a couple of minutes.
I can also try to wiggle or wave the pinkies in front of her to see if she is more interested.
She will feed again on Wednseday. I will let averybody know how it goes.
Any more advice will be more than welcomed.
I have found that on the 3rd feed with me, I put the pinkie in my hand and was using my thumb to make it move and she went for it. See below pic
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=showPhoto&albumID=539085780&photoID=2191875090013570069&security=xyThDM
Might be worth trying.... Good luck!
 
Penman6668 said:
That is incredible. I would never have thought about feeding her in my hands.
Yes, I am very proud of my girl :D
What I did was to warm my hands up, picked her up, handled her for about 15/20mnts so that she was really calm and then just went to the plastic container, gave a shake to remove the excess water on the pinkie and just placed it in my hand and use my thumb to move the bodie a bit and Bob's your Uncle, she went for it..... food for thougths ;)
 
I buy my frozen pinkies at the pet store. On the way home i put the bag on my dashboard and turn the heater on. by the time im home, they are perfectly thawed.
i dont know how well this will work in the summer time though.
 
A little over a year ago, someone asked a similar question - here's my reply from that thread. :grin01:

Since then, the collection has expanded, and I no longer employ this technique. Warm water and ziploc works for me.

regards,
jazz
 
Penman6668 said:
That is incredible. I would never have thought about feeding her in my hands.

This is great until your snake gets bigger. An adult snake mistaking your finger for a mouse can be quite a shock.
 
I place mine in a ziplock & float in warm water.

Whatever you do don't microwave.... Zzzzzzz... sizzle.. POP !!! :blowup:

I have to admit that I tried that once many years ago, holy cow was that a mistake.
 
I place directly in warm water, until when I press on the abdomin it feels warmed through, then I dangle it by the tail, keeping the mouse between my hand and the snake, gets Spur's interest and help prevent a mistaken bite.
 
BeckyG said:
This is great until your snake gets bigger. An adult snake mistaking your finger for a mouse can be quite a shock.
LOL..... very true.
She only a tiny little thing at the moment so I enjoy it whilst I can ;)
 
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