How to Thaw a Pinkie Mice Properly????

[RepifilmzTV]

Hi everyone, just wondering if i am thawing my pinkie mice correctly. Ive been putting the frozen pinkie in a small plastic lunch bag and sitting it submerged in about 70-80% hot water for about 5-8 mins and then letting it properly cool down by sitting it out in room temp on the bench until cool enough to feed. Is this correct?????? Thanks

 

[Boidae]

Mate, that's fairly elaborate for defrosting pinky mice.
Just put them straight into a small container full of hot water.

 

[leamos]

yeah as boidae just chuck them straight in to hot water from the tap or if your organised you can put them in the fridge in the morning and later that night they'll be thawed then just need to be warmed up, doesn't make much difference either way with pinkies they'll be ready to feed in 5 mins. Why are you letting it cool down to room temp, the whole point is to get the prey up to 35+ deg,if they're getting hotter then this the water you are thawing/heating them in is too hot. Larger prey on the other hand really benefits from the overnight fridge thawing method ie large rats, rabbits, chickens

 

[Red_LaCN]

My snakes each have their own 'container' in which i put hot water and their mouse/rat in. Checked after several minutes to make sure the thickest part is 'squishy' ie thawed n warmed properly,then offered to snake. If not eaten within 2hrs i toss it out the window n try again in several days. Cats take care of tossed out mice/rats which are rejected due shedding or any other reason.

 

[Mo Deville]

my rats take like an hour to hour and a half to defrost completely in hot water, but there big rats and i change the hot water every 15 mins to defrost as quick as possible!

 

[Pythoninfinite]

If you thaw them quickly using hot water, it's perfectly OK to refreeze in an hour or two and try again in a few days. Thawing in hot water ensures no bacterial development during the thawing time, and they can be used again with total safety. Snakes don't need food to be "fresh" in the way humans do - the food animals in their gut begin to decay for the couple of days it takes for the digestive juices to get through the food animal's gut wall. LIke dogs, they capably cope with food which isn't fresh in human terms.

Jamie

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

This is all over elaborating a simple process. With pinkies I thaw them in my hand in about 5mins. Have never re-frozen any snake food in my life and never will. Minimal risk but there is risk nonetheless. IMO

 

[AUSGECKO]

I don't defrost my steaks in hot water so I don't do it to my frozen reptile food either. I just put them in a plastic bag and let them defrost naturally, i dont believe poaching the food is ideal for my animals. I've been doing this for over 10 years with no issues.

 

[RepifilmzTV]

yeah as boidae just chuck them straight in to hot water from the tap or if your organised you can put them in the fridge in the morning and later that night they'll be thawed then just need to be warmed up, doesn't make much difference either way with pinkies they'll be ready to feed in 5 mins. Why are you letting it cool down to room temp, the whole point is to get the prey up to 35+ deg,if they're getting hotter then this the water you are thawing/heating them in is too hot. Larger prey on the other hand really benefits from the overnight fridge thawing method ie large rats, rabbits, chickens

Thanks The only reason i was cooling it down to room temp is because before one of my snakes last shed he had a few bumps down his body that looked like absesses. And i was thinking that they could of been internal burns from having the mice to hot.

 

[TheCheshireCat]

The "best" method and the most simple are two different things.
When freezing or thawing any food there is a simple rule "Quick freeze, slow defrost" which means get the item frozen in the shortest time possible and defrost slowly, such as in a tray in the fridge.

In saying that I only ever use hot water to defrost my rodents, hot tap water won't broil or poach them and it's a lot quicker for me to do it that way. When you have a few snakes to feed using other methods can be very time consuming.
When I defrost pinkies and other small rodents I just use a disposable chinese food container and for bigger rodents I use a 20 litre bucket, check the water temp and if it is cool just empty the water and refill from the tap.

 

[JAS101]

i thaw any frozen rodents or chicken in hot tap water in a bucket [ if theres a lot to feed ] . what ever the snakes dont eat the croc gets .. and he can tell its itssnake feedin time

 

[Aetain]

I just put hot tap water in a cup and put the mouse in that then gently roll it between my fingers every few mins to make sure there's no ice in the stomach/chest area. I found pinkies only take 2 mins in hot water to thaw, if that, and fuzzies take maybe 5 mins. Anything larger, I'm not sure yet since my snakey boy is only eating fuzzies at this point =P