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[boa]

You are quite right, if you aren't comfortable doing then don't BUT I find this statement a little odd 'if it's hot enough to kill rats, it's too hot to feed snakes' how exactly does it affect the snake because the rat died of the heat ? As I said pythons will eat dead animals they come across in the wild and also how long do people leave rats and mice sitting around when they have been thawed out before they are fed ?
I do agree though, if it suits you not to do then best not to.

Originally Posted by foxysnake

I have had a few rats die from heat but just threw them away - they wern't stiff or anything but could've possibly been dead for an hour or two. I personally chose not to feed them to the reptiles cos, - if it's hot enough to kill rats, it's too hot to feed snakes; - because I didn't know exactly when the rats died (the heat can kepp them 'soft' for a couple of hours before they stiffen), it's quite possible that they coud've already started decomposing internally. Doing either (so I've been warned) can be nasty for the snakes, something about the gases in the rats belly expanding and turning toxic inside the snake while its trying to digest it, and the snake can die. As I said this is just what I do, each to their own I guess!