Feeding Your Reptile Frozen/Thawed (F/T) Mice and Rats

Why Frozen/Thawed (F/T) Mice and Rats are Better

There are always two schools of thought when feeding your snake, lizard, or turtle rodents. Some will always say that live food is the only way to go, others will say that frozen/thawed rodents are the best course of action. We at ReptileBuzz generally prefer to feed frozen/thawed mice and rats. There is no real compelling reason to feed live prey unless you have a particularly stubborn snake. Most captive bred hatchling snakes will take to frozen/thawed mice or rats easily.

Convenience

Frozen rodents can be kept in the freezer. This is a lot more convenient than having to go to the pet shop to purchase live rodents every week. You can also purchase a month's worth of food at one time. Try not to stock too much more than that because you you don't want to risk freezer burn with your stock of rodents.

Most pet shops that sell reptiles and amphibians will also generally sell frozen mice and rats as well. You should be able to pick up just a couple at a time, which is perfect if you are only feeding one snake or lizard. If you are an avid hobbyist, then you will likely have several animals that you have to feed. This is when ordering frozen prey directly from breeders over the internet may make the most sense for you.

Your Pets Health

The most compelling reason to feed frozen/thawed prey is that it is better for your pet's health. Live rodents will bite, especially when they don't want to be dinner that night. If your snake or lizard doesn't grab the prey perfectly on the first strike, your pet can become injured from the mouse or rat. This can lead to infection and scarring of your pet. Problems can also arise if your snake is not hungry that week and you leave the live mouse or rat unattended in the enclosure. In the wild, if a snake came across a mouse and was not hungry, the snake and the mouse would part ways with no incident. Because have put the snake and mouse together in a captive environment, the mouse will defend itself from the predator and will bite. By feeding frozen/thawed mice and rats you can avoid the pain that your snake or lizard would go through as well as veterinary bills that might go with this.

Freezing rodents will also kill some parasites. Some parasite eggs can also survive the freezing process. The best way to be sure that you are feeding a clean mouse or rat is to only purchase your rodents from a quality supplier that is providing proper care an nutrition to the rodents before they euthanized and frozen for food.

Thawing Mice and Rats

Place your frozen rodent in a bowl of hot tap water to thaw and warm it. Do not use boiling water as this will begin to cook the prey, which is not ideal for your snake. Also, do not microwave the rodents to try and save time. Not only do you run the risk of the mouse or rat exploding in the microwave (and the required cleaning of said microwave afterwards), but microwaves notoriously heat unevenly. This means there could be portions on the rodent that are much hotter than other parts and could cause burns, just like what happens when you microwave a jelly donut.

Feeding the Frozen/Thawed Rodent to Your Reptile

Many snakes and lizards will eat a frozen/thawed mouse or rat with no problems at all. This is especially true of captive bred reptiles that have been feed frozen/thawed rodents from the very start. If your reptile is reluctant, there are a few things to try. First, make sure that the frozen/thawed rodent is warm. If it is cold, place it back in the bowl with some hot tap water for a few minutes to bring it up to above room temperature. Then try moving the frozen/thawed mouse in front of your snake's mouth with forcepts to see if you can convince your snake that this is a live mouse. Often times the snake will grab the frozen/thawed mouse and begin to constrict it, followed by eating. You can also try placing the rodent inside one of the hide boxes. This may give your reptile a more secure feeling when eating. You can also try covering your pet's enclosure with towels to achieve the same sense of security. Other hobbyists have had success by placing the snake and frozen/thawed mouse in another container such as a paper bag or plastic container (with air holes) overnight in their enclosure.

If after this your snake will still not accept the frozen/thawed rodent then try waiting a couple of weeks until your next feeding so that your snake is good and hungry. Often times that alone is enough to entice the snake to take frozen/thawed prey. If that doesn't work, force feeding the snake is always an option, but one that we usually try not to suggest.

Alternatives to Frozen/Thawed Rodents

If your reptile will not take frozen/thawed rodents, the next best thing would be freshly killed rodents. There are a couple of ways to kill the live feeder. If possible, try using something like carbon dioxide to euthanize the rat. This can be done with a tall container and some dry ice. Carbon dioxide will sink to the bottom of the container and will deprive the feeder of air. If this is not an option, then breaking the feeder's neck is the next quickest. One way to do this is to grab the mouse or rat by the base of the tail (be sure it is the base so the skin does not come off) and quickly hit the head against a hard surface (like a sink). For obvious reasons many hobbyists prefer to not have to do this.