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Prey Item too hot?

N

nickdolin

New member
Just a random thought that crossed my mind this evening... in using F/T should there be a cool off period after taking it out of hot water? I mean, if the water is say 105F and it takes just a minute to take it out of the bag and offer it, then the snake commences feeding right away, could it ever be too warm? I realize that a pinky would cool off pretty quickly but I doubt it drops much more than 5-10F as quick as Selene goes to feeding... Any thoughts?

Also, have you all ever ran into a refusal of one particular feeder item?

Selene is on double pinks and on her last feed day I presented 2 pinks as I did the time before, which she had ate with no problem.

She refused to eat one of them, which I related to her being in blue.

However, since I've thawed and re-offered with success in the past I stuck it in the freezer....

Fast forward to today... I offered the same pinky again with the same result... She began to eat it but that lasted only 5-10 seconds before she spit it back out..... Thawed another pinky, and she ate it off the tongs within 2-3 seconds.... Just a case of a bad pinky or what??
 
I don't really know; if she won't take that pinkie but will take any other, just throw the rejected one out.

Also, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to thaw frozen mice in warm/room-temp-water, not hot water like 105F.
 
nickdolin said:
Just a random thought that crossed my mind this evening... in using F/T should there be a cool off period after taking it out of hot water? I mean, if the water is say 105F and it takes just a minute to take it out of the bag and offer it, then the snake commences feeding right away, could it ever be too warm? I realize that a pinky would cool off pretty quickly but I doubt it drops much more than 5-10F as quick as Selene goes to feeding... Any thoughts?

Also, have you all ever ran into a refusal of one particular feeder item?

Selene is on double pinks and on her last feed day I presented 2 pinks as I did the time before, which she had ate with no problem.

She refused to eat one of them, which I related to her being in blue.

However, since I've thawed and re-offered with success in the past I stuck it in the freezer....

Fast forward to today... I offered the same pinky again with the same result... She began to eat it but that lasted only 5-10 seconds before she spit it back out..... Thawed another pinky, and she ate it off the tongs within 2-3 seconds.... Just a case of a bad pinky or what??
Click to expand...
105* water doesn't sound too hot. The water shouldn't be so hot you can't stick your fingers in it, but not cool enough that you are comfortable leaving them in there. If the pink were too hot, it would explode.

One thing though; never refreeze a rejected pink. Offer it to another snake or hell even a cat or bird or SOMETHING if you don't feel comfortable throwing it out, but never refreeze and rethaw them. Once they are thawed, decomposition begins. It would be akin to unfreezing a whole turkey, letting it sit out for a while and get good and mushy, then refreezing it for later.
 
105F, that`s about 40°C. That`s ok.
But generally: Of course the mouse can be too hot and the snake can "burn her mouth", like we drinking too hot coffee. Everything above normal mouse body-temperature (38,0° - 39,5°C) is unnecessary and probably can hurt the snakes mucosa.

Apart from that: Too hot water destroys vitamins and at 42°C (108F) protein denatures. And since extra vitamin supplementation is tricky, because vitamin overdose can be letal, it is essential that the snake gets all the good stuff from its prey.
 
I find usuing the 30 second button on my microwave makes the water just the right temp for thawing pinkies within a few minutes. I do pat them dry first though, Alex just seems to like them better that way. Out of curiosity though i will take the temp of the water next time!
 
For pinkies, I nuked a coffee cup of water for 1:20 and put the pinkie in the cup for 10min. Never had an issue.
 
You do find, though, that offering a mouse as hot as possible can tempt non-feeders into eating. That would suggest that it's not too dangerous, as long as the mouse isn't absolutely boiling, of course.

Shenzi is lucky to have snakes that take warm-temp mice, mine is quite fussy.

Also as Pepper has said, never ever refreeze and reoffer a mouse after it's been refused once. It'd be my bet that's why she spat it out the second time.
 
Apologies, I meant to say "luke-warm" or "room-temp" above and managed to mix the two up! Doing well today, brain...
 
what i have been doing is letting the pinkie (now fuzzie for the 1st time on Monday) thaw in a plastic zip-lock baggie for about an hour, then i fill a 2 plastic cups halfway with hot water (about 49C), put the pinkie (stays in the baggie) in the first cup, then the 2nd cup goes on top to help submerge the pinkie in the water for about 20 minutes, i believe this gives the pinkie time to warm fully to the center, by 20 minutes later the standing water is warm, not hot, and ready to present dinner to Sonja.

she hasnt had any problems taking it, she snatches it up like theres no tomorrow!

the fuzzie took her awhile longer to get down though...prolly about 2 minutes, the 2 pinkies were down in about 40 seconds each.
 
Tracee said:
Shenzi is lucky to have snakes that take warm-temp mice, mine is quite fussy.
Click to expand...

I have just one. :rolleyes: I just put 1-2 prey items (depending on their size) in a bag, then a coffee cup filled with hot water for about half an hour, then I take the bag out and let it sit for another half hour in just the room-temp air so I know the prey is thoroughly thawed. And the prey isn't wet except for the moist-feeling that comes with thawing frozen stuff.
 
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