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Help! How To Properly Prepare Frozen Mice

B

berrinmichelle

New member
Hi guys, just needed some direction as to how I should properly prepare frozen mice for my two corn snakes. I left them out to thaw overnight, now what should I do? the kid at the pet store said to put them under a heat lamp after they've thawed, but he didn't seem to know what he was doing at all. Please let me know ASAP!
 
Erin, I am not sure that leaving them out overnight is a good idea due to the same things that make leaving people food out overnight a bad idea.
I thaw mine in hot water in an old margerine tub. It only takes a few minutes that way. Some people dry them off but my snakes don't mind wet food.
 
That's a really unsafe way to thaw!!

I thaw by putting the mice in a small bowl, under very slowly running tap water, as hot as it will go. Depending on the size, they are done in 1-10 minutes. Check by making sure the mouse is pliable and doesn't have any cold spots when you hold it between your palms. I dry mice with fur on a paper towel, by rubbing their fur gently. If you rub too hard, the skin will rip open.
 
I leave them in a cup with hot water (just as hot as the tap will go) for a few minutes. When thawed, I pour out the water and refill it with hot water again just as a final warming before taking it to my snake. And I do pat them dry with a paper towel before feeding because I worry about bedding sticking to wet mice.
 
I either put them on top of a spare UTH or the radiator for an hour. Too hot seems to be much safer than too cool (in cae they're not thawed right through) and the shorter the time taken to thaw, the better.
 
I do the same as above. I put it in hot water and let it soak, then I take it out of the bowl and lightly press on the midsection to feel for any remaining coldness. I leave it wet for my snake because he prefers it that way (and loves to play with his food first by rubbing the wet pinky across his body).

I'm vegetarian but I think of the pinkies/mice as meat, and as with let's say chicken, I wouldn't want to eat it if it was left out overnight.
 
Technically you shouldn't thaw meat in hot water, but I suspect mice are so small they thaw quickly enough to not allow for too much bacterial growth.

Safest method would be to put them in the fridge the night before feeding day, so they thaw in there. Then you put them is scalding or just super hot water until they're up to temperature (which shouldn't take long.) Drying is optional.
 
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