My Rat Defrosting Invention

[gruntbox69]

keep posted beacause after reading slim6y post i have come up with a better idea (insulating) i've seen small eskys in a store and they would be perfect for keeping in the heat. if any one has more ideas please do be shy just reply because i wont take the micky out of you.
and good onya slim6y its good to see someone adding to great ideas.
so lets all work on the new and inproved defosinator2001.

[slim6y]

haha... glad i could have been some help...

The esky is a fine idea, a poly esky, easy to cut, relatively cheap, has a removable lid so can be filled that way and then the lid replaced creating a 'leak free' insulator. Well done

[gruntbox69]

and may be another internal lid would keep the rat under the water

[SATH3N]

what about using a heating wires as means to keeps the water warm inside the tub. i have not done this myself but its an idea hook up a thermostat to control the temp just another idea for the list

[thepythonpit]

beter still , take the rat out the night before and defrost in the fridge , just like you would and should do with your own food , and then you just need to dip in to hot water for a few secs , cutting out any chance of nasties forming.....

[slim6y]

Originally Posted by thepythonpit

beter still , take the rat out the night before and defrost in the fridge , just like you would and should do with your own food , and then you just need to dip in to hot water for a few secs , cutting out any chance of nasties forming.....

Are you sure slow defrosting then heating to a temperature where nasties can form (30 - 38'C) is the most sanitised way of doing things?

I am no food expert, but when I defrost stuff in the fridge it's then heated to 65 - 70'C for a fair few minutes before I eat it... Most bacteria that can harm us are killed at +60'C (somewhere around there - exact figures escape me).

I think slow defrosting and then warming is more a recipe for trouble (just my opinion only) - I'd sooner go quick defrost and quick warming and quick feeding - less chance of nasties forming overall.

[waruikazi]

Why not avoid the defrosting problem and use live ?

[waruikazi]

hehe

[thepythonpit]

no not at all ,, eveyone fridge should be set to about 5 degrees , food borne nastys dont live at that temp ( not inculding parisites the rat mite already have) once you defrost something and you take it out of the nice 5 degree temp ,you want that food item to spend as less time at room temp or above as possiable unless your planing on cooking it of co**** ( ive never feed cooked rat to any of my snakes)because the second that rat gets above 5-6 degree nastys start to form . it takes at least half hour to defrost a full grow rat in hot water , so thats 30 min in the dandger zone temps , unless you have realy hot water coming out of your tap and its running for the full 30 mins ( not good if you need to have a shower)... and yes i did do food science many years ago.. you could proberly get away with it for many years doing it your way with no dramas , but it only takes that one time when your snakes not at his best and you dont know what temp the rat is ( unless you stick a temp gauge in it ) and you give him a rat that has sat at undesirable temps to kill him...its not a risk i personaly take ..

[slim6y]

Originally Posted by thepythonpit

no not at all ,, eveyone fridge should be set to about 5 degrees , food borne nastys dont live at that temp ( not inculding parisites the rat mite already have) once you defrost something and you take it out of the nice 5 degree temp ,you want that food item to spend as less time at room temp or above as possiable unless your planing on cooking it of co**** ( ive never feed cooked rat to any of my snakes)because the second that rat gets above 5-6 degree nastys start to form . it takes at least half hour to defrost a full grow rat in hot water , so thats 30 min in the dandger zone temps , unless you have realy hot water coming out of your tap and its running for the full 30 mins ( not good if you need to have a shower)... and yes i did do food science many years ago.. you could proberly get away with it for many years doing it your way with no dramas , but it only takes that one time when your snakes not at his best and you dont know what temp the rat is ( unless you stick a temp gauge in it ) and you give him a rat that has sat at undesirable temps to kill him...its not a risk i personaly take ..

Sorry, I hate to burst your bubble but ALL food borne nasties can live at 4'C or even 5'C.

They are just sped up at 15 - 25'C (room temps).

If food nasties didn't exist in a fridge then why does my cheese go off?

Nasties are there from the beginning, we speed them up by heating them. As snakes do not eat hot food, we run a small risk of infecting them. If we heat them quickly enough then there's less chance of bacterial colonies forming.

So your food science teacher really needs to brush up on their microbiology somehow...

A rat has a core temperature similar to that of humans, so we should heat them to that temperature. I've been defrosting my rats in hot water since the beginning of my herp career, and I bet many others have as well. I do not believe any harm has come of the snakes from feeding freshly thawed foods.

[thepythonpit]

haha ,, no bubble burting here , i know what im talking about ,
what i should have said was food nastys dont thrive at 5-6 degree ..
you just keep doign things your way mate , it works for you thats great .
dont however tell me im wrong because your lazy and dont do the right thing for your pets ..
i have learnt never to buy any snakes of YOU in the future just in case you are still preparing there food the way you do, and i will urge others to do the same.....waruikazi almost hit the nail on the head ,,

[SATH3N]

you both relies you are neither wrong or right....its just the way you both see things....so you have a different way to feed your snakes.....but then again so dose everyone else....no need to dig each other its not like the food is left in the fridge for months....and well hey there is nothing wrong with doing things the fast way...its just a preference.....and I'm sure the snakes wont care just as long as there getting fed

[slim6y]

Originally Posted by thepythonpit

haha ,, no bubble burting here , i know what im talking about ,
what i should have said was food nastys dont thrive at 5-6 degree ..
you just keep doign things your way mate , it works for you thats great .
dont however tell me im wrong because your lazy and dont do the right thing for your pets ..
i have learnt never to buy any snakes of YOU in the future just in case you are still preparing there food the way you do, and i will urge others to do the same.....waruikazi almost hit the nail on the head ,,

It's ok I don't sell - but that's still not the point.

You think you're right... that's good... but do a little research however, and come up with a plausible reason for your expertise.

I don't say you're wrong, I am just saying you've gone a little over the top here.

And if I was lazy - do you think I'd be sitting at home on the internet...

And if you for once accuse me of doing the wrong thing for my pets then you better come here and see them for yourselves... or better still search some of my pics of them... I think you'll find they're in perfect health and condition. But thanks for taking the time to look.

And waruikazi didn't hit the nail on the head, nor did he hit the rat on the head *stirrer*

Anyways, back to selling snakes.. I don't sell so I think the more you warn people the better off I'd be

Good luck with your defrosting methods - I think they're fine... I think the information you've been fed is wrong that's all.

[benji]

I just put mine in a sealable sandwich bag. Fill up a mug with hot tap water. Put the mouse/rat in there. Then put a spoon on the bag to keep it submerged.
Works a treat.

[slim6y]

Originally Posted by benji

I just put mine in a sealable sandwich bag. Fill up a mug with hot tap water. Put the mouse/rat in there. Then put a spoon on the bag to keep it submerged.
Works a treat.

Shhhhh... you won't be able to sell your snakes