thawing rats??

[nocturnal_pulse]

hiya ...
just want to know of some different ways to thaw rats...and heat them a little...
any ideas??

 

[reptilegirl_jordan]

i started off boling water in the jug to defrost, but i found that they got way to hot and there guts would go everywere..so i found the best way is too put the rat/mouse in a bowl and use warm tap water.
cheers

 

[MatE]

Depending on how many rats i want to thaw i use either a 2 liter icecream bucket or 4 liter.Stick them in a sealable bag and pour in hot water out of the tap.

 

[xScarlettex]

Defrost at room temp and put in a sandwich bag and run warm water over it? or if your tank has a mesh lid then defrost is on top of the tank and let the warm air venting from inside the tank warm it up?

 

[big_head]

hot water from the tap as well..doesn't take long

 

[Dave]

I use the jug till the water is hot (not boiling) then I just chuck the rat into the water (I used to use a bag but I tried without the bag and the snakes went berzerk.. never seen them with such a feeding response... don't know why though)

 

[blackthorn]

Warm-hot tap water in an icecream container or sink. If you go too hot with pinkies especially then they tend to swell.

 

[nocturnal_pulse]

i used to thaw them overnight like you would tomorrows dinner...and then heat up a sink full of hot water and float them in a chinese container....problem was it took too long...especially when the rats ended up being large rats...
cheers..

 

[kingie]

hot water is the go:shock:

 

[nocturnal_pulse]

maybe i'll try the sealable bag thing...that sounds good....

 

[nell68crab]

OMG i just thawed a mouse for my diamond's dinner and it went terribly wrong. i put it in the microwave for 1 minute on "defrost". thank goodness it was in a pres-seal bag and the mess was contained.

so i got one out to thaw for tomorrow, sat down at the puter and read this post....how ironic!

so the trick is - DON'T MICROWAVE THEM!!! lol

 

[The Devil]

maybe i'll try the sealable bag thing...that sounds good....

Can someone explain the reasons behind defrosting rats in a plastic bag.
I've always just used hot water from the tap.

Out of interest I recently weighed a rat before putting it in the water and again after it was thawed.

The rat if I remember correctly was about 130 grams and the water retained in the hair ect was 30 grams or 30 mls.

Now 30mls is a decent drink for any size snake and can only be good for it.
Also a wet rat would go down easier than a dry one.

 

[disasterpiece7.0]

I agree with Nev on this. I don't usually use plastic bags. I just give it a quick shake then feed. Usually still dripping slightly.

 

[nocturnal_pulse]

OMG i just thawed a mouse for my diamond's dinner and it went terribly wrong. i put it in the microwave for 1 minute on "defrost". thank goodness it was in a pres-seal bag and the mess was contained.

so i got one out to thaw for tomorrow, sat down at the puter and read this post....how ironic!

so the trick is - DON'T MICROWAVE THEM!!! lol

haha lucky you had a bag..... i did that too the first time many years ago...except i had no bag .... and of course needed a new microwave lol

ooohh well live and learn

 

[reptilegirl_jordan]

OMG i just thawed a mouse for my diamond's dinner and it went terribly wrong. i put it in the microwave for 1 minute on "defrost". thank goodness it was in a pres-seal bag and the mess was contained.

so i got one out to thaw for tomorrow, sat down at the puter and read this post....how ironic!

so the trick is - DON'T MICROWAVE THEM!!! lol

dont think mum would let me do that one anyways

 

[moosenoose]

Depending on how many rats i want to thaw i use either a 2 liter icecream bucket or 4 liter.Stick them in a sealable bag and pour in hot water out of the tap.

That's what I do also. The plastic bag is a must IMO (Stops you having a sloppy wet rodent to deal with after it's thawed - plus it eliminates that de-frosted rodent smell whilst it's in there )

Sometimes I have to use more reheated water as I don't like to poach my rodents in excessively hot water :lol: Works well! ...ummm...avoid the microwave at all costs (unless you want to pop a couple of holes in whatever you are thawing like snags on a BBQ hehe)

 

[xScarlettex]

Can someone explain the reasons behind defrosting rats in a plastic bag.
I've always just used hot water from the tap.

Out of interest I recently weighed a rat before putting it in the water and again after it was thawed.

The rat if I remember correctly was about 130 grams and the water retained in the hair ect was 30 grams or 30 mls.

Now 30mls is a decent drink for any size snake and can only be good for it.
Also a wet rat would go down easier than a dry one.

i never really thought of it like that but i see my snake drinking regularly, i defrost my mice in a bag now coz once i defrosted a mouse just under the water and fed it to my stimmi and when she squeezed it she 'wrung it out' so to speak and all the excess water n juiciness kinda squirted on the glass of her vivarium and on her branch n stuff, i guess i just dont like the idea of there being any extra messiness in her tank coz the tank provides an excellent environment for bacteria to grow (temperature and humidity wise). This wouldnt be a prob so long as the tank was cleaned regularly etc but yeh, just as a precaution thats why i do it =)

 

[Dave]

That's what I do also. The plastic bag is a must IMO (Stops you having a sloppy wet rodent to deal with after it's thawed - plus it eliminates that de-frosted rodent smell whilst it's in there )

Sometimes I have to use more reheated water as I don't like to poach my rodents in excessively hot water :lol: Works well! ...ummm...avoid the microwave at all costs (unless you want to pop a couple of holes in whatever you are thawing like snags on a BBQ hehe)

I've seen people saying the wet rat will lubricate the rat making it go down easier.. And my snakes go mental.. If I dry the rat out they just sniff it.. Not sure why they like it wet :?

 

[xScarlettex]

A few months ago when i was doing some research i found out that a reptiles recommended fluid intake is 10ml per kilo of body weight per day, so yeh, depending on the size of your reptile warming up the food by direct contact with water could be a good thing =)

 

[Ramsayi]

Can someone explain the reasons behind defrosting rats in a plastic bag.
I've always just used hot water from the tap.

Out of interest I recently weighed a rat before putting it in the water and again after it was thawed.

The rat if I remember correctly was about 130 grams and the water retained in the hair ect was 30 grams or 30 mls.

Now 30mls is a decent drink for any size snake and can only be good for it.
Also a wet rat would go down easier than a dry one.

I thaw them in buckets of hot water straight from the tap and feed them off wet for that exact same reason.One thing that got me thinking though is the copper content of water from the heater.Anyone know if water from hot water tanks contains excessive amounts of copper?