In the last couple of feeding days I've been testing out a new method of heating up the snake food. When it comes to frozen/thawed (f/t) vs live, I prefer f/t because it's easier for me personally. If I ever get a small rat breeding project going on to supplement I may do live out of convenience (especially for anything weaned or smaller) but for now it isn't an option unless I want to drive 20 miles out of town or more. The downside to the f/t method is having to heat the rodents to the point where the snakes can "see" them enough to strike. When they smell food they tend to get excited, and they don't have big brains to begin with, so if the rat isn't warm enough my hand can look like a delicious heated rodent!
Previously (the majority of the time that I've had Monty and Ember) I've used a warm water method where they thaw out, and I put them in warm water for 15-20 minutes. It's worked for me great! Only had my hands latched onto a couple of times, and they were all my fault because I'd forgotten and the water had cooled or something of that nature. However, in the state of my current living situation I'd have to spend a lot of time cleaning and sanitizing and moving other people's belongings just to make space to feed the snakes, let alone prepare the rats. Until the situation improves and/or I move out, I wanted to figure something out to work in the meantime. I have read many forum posts where people have let the rats thaw out at room temperature and then they blow them with a hair dryer to heat them up. Seemed easy enough, so I tried it out
Results?
Less than satisfying, but not a loss altogether. The little snakes have much less of an issue than the larger ones do. Ember hasn't eaten any that have been heated this way, and Monty has had spotty success at best. My guess is that the smaller prey items do heat up well with this method due to their smaller mass. When I start getting to the bigger ones then all I'm doing is temporarily heating up the outside and they cool a great deal before I'm even able to walk the 6 steps or so back to the snake tub. I tried focusing on the head/chest area just to make a hot spot for them to aim for, but Monty still ended up striking the middle and Ember didn't seem to know what to do with it. She was flicking her tongue and showed a little interest, but when I dangled it closer or held it there longer than 10 seconds she would pull back under her hide/coils and ignore me.
As soon as I'm able I'll just switch back. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
