[Frozen/Thawed] How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

[matthewqfail]

How long after rat is thawed is it still safe to feed boa?

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[Pandorasdad]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

If it's not eaten within an hour, I toss them.
At no point do I refreeze or reheat a feeder rodent.

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[bcr_229]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

It's pretty disgusting, but I left a f/t small rat overnight with one of my picky ball pythons. I put it in his enclosure at 8 pm, I checked him at 7 am the following morning to find him swallowing it. Yuck! But he suffered no ill effects.

[jOHNNY t]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

I pull mine out around 8 am, let them thaw until around 4pm. Then put them in a bag and submers them for a few minutes in warm water. Then feed the boas. Hope this helps.

[Jrock23]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

This use to happen to me a lot when i dealing with my BRB. I would leave food overnight and sometimes my BRB will eat it and won`t eat it. But the days that he wouldn't eat it, i wake up to a cage that has that awful rodent smell. So i started give him 1 hour to eat his meals. I myself also use to trash rodents but i then realize that is money being threw away. But now i realize the i have a garage disposal who will eat anything at anytime. So no more wasting money.

[tsblair]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

At no point do I refreeze or reheat a feeder rodent.

That's a bad idea. But if I have a problem eater, I'll leave it in the enclosure overnight then pitch it in the morning if it's still there. (ususally, they're not though)

[Noelle7206]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

If it's not eaten within an hour, I toss them.
At no point do I refreeze or reheat a feeder rodent....

First let me say I totally agree with this... BUT: I've also known my share of finicky snakes and one such snake was a winter-rescued (found in a wood-pile) baby speckled rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchelli) that would not eat.

I left a thawed fuzzy in his cage when I went to work, hoping again that he'd eat in my absense, but it was stinking when I got home. I was about to remove it when my phone rang...and when I got off the phone, I was just

in time to see him swallowing it! (EW!!!) From that day on, he ate fresher & then FRESH prey just fine...and all I can figure is that when venom is injected in their prey (normally), it causes rapid breakdown of tissues (begins

the digestive process) & the scent of that spoiled fuzzy was close enough to trigger his feeding response. I was both grossed out & thrilled at the same time, LOL! But for boas & other non-venomous snakes, this should NOT

be a factor and I'd avoid feeding "ripe" prey items in any case, except as a very last resort. That speckled rattlesnake certainly suffered no ill effects...he grew rapidly into a big healthy long-lived adult, for what it's worth.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

But if I have a problem eater, I'll leave it in the enclosure overnight then pitch it in the morning if it's still there.

I have a picky BP and have done just that. It was always there. Once I thought is wasn't, but it turned out that the snake had knocked the rat behind the hide and then ended up covering it with aspen. You can guess how I found that one! {YARK!}
Since then, if it's still there after an hour or so (I've never actually put a timer to it.) I just get rid of it. Feeders aren't that expensive. I won't take a risk. Plus I really, really head the smell of dead things.

At no point do I refreeze or reheat a feeder rodent.

That's a bad idea.

@tsblair ??? It's a bad idea to NOT refreeze or reheat?

[tsblair]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

It's a bad idea to NOT refreeze

^^^ This ^^^

[tsblair]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

[MENTION=8640]tsblair[/MENTION] ??? It's a bad idea to NOT refreeze or reheat?

It's a bad idea TO refreeze.

[Jrock23]

Re: How long after rats are thawed are they still safe to feed?

So your not worried about the awful smell that will cloud your enclosure by leaving a rodent inside a snake enclosure overnight. Just think about it for a minute, let say that your leave a feeder rat in the enclosure at 9pm but you check to see if it has been eaten 2 hours later. But its still there, so you leave it overnight. But you wake up to see it still their and it is. Do you realize the smell that is in the enclosure by leaving it overnight. I did this once and never done it again because my snake enclosure smelled awful not to mention i had to re-clean the enclosure all over again, and then air it out for at least a day.