When we moved back to KY from FL, we ran into a dilemma. One of our snakes will only eat pre-killed rats. When we went to the store to get his food, we were informed that it is illegal to pre-kill anything in Jefferson County. So we had to try frozen, and fortunately he took it.
So what could be the difference between the frozen that we bought that he ate, and the frozen that he had refused before?

__________________
<3 Tessa

0.0.2 painted turtles (Mo and Squirt)
1.0.0 yellow bellied slider (Jebidiah)
0.1.0 Amelanistic corn snake (Rose)
1.0.0 Hog Island/Colombian Boa (Kah)
0.2.0 Colombian Boa (Jasmine) and her baby(no name yet)
1.0.0 Suriname Boa (Kayne)
0.2.0 Cats (Lilly and Reese)

Probably no difference at all. Sooner or later most snakes will accept frozen thawed. It's something that you just need to work on. This time he was ready. He might not have even noticed the difference. Keep him on frozen thawed if you can.

__________________
Ken
" The United States Marine Corps......sure we are a department of the Navy,,,,,,we're the MENS department "

I think the biggest thing with frozen is proper and patient thawing. I struggled in the beginning, trying the warm water bowl and even defrosted outside.
The latter was probably too long and I may have somewhat cooked the interior in the Florida heat. Now I just take it out in the morning, put it in the laundry room and thaw it until it is room temp and tender to the touch all the way through.

I keep it wrapped in plastic grocery bags while I have to play with the cadaver for inspection.

If I could spell "eeewie-gooey" that's how it should feel. I hope that helps. I am all for frozen and thawed, especially as the snake gets bigger and the rats do too!

Yeah he would take f/t mice no problem, but he had issues with the rats. He took another f/t rat last night, so I guess he's changed, which is good b/c we can't get pre-killed anything around us as it's illegal.
We usually just set it out and let it get to room temperature, although with the jumbos that we feed Jasmine, we've had mixed results. Most of the time, if we just set them out to thaw, they take too long and go bad. What is a good way to thaw big prey items, without them going bad? Or is there a way? We are tired of wasted money.

__________________
<3 Tessa

0.0.2 painted turtles (Mo and Squirt)
1.0.0 yellow bellied slider (Jebidiah)
0.1.0 Amelanistic corn snake (Rose)
1.0.0 Hog Island/Colombian Boa (Kah)
0.2.0 Colombian Boa (Jasmine) and her baby(no name yet)
1.0.0 Suriname Boa (Kayne)
0.2.0 Cats (Lilly and Reese)

I would say let it thaw out in the fridge. I don't have any use for rats, but I would treat it as a piece of meat for me to eat. If I have a fat steak that I want to defrost over night for the next day, I let it thaw out in the fridge over night. Then if you need it to get to room temp, leave it out of the fridge for a little bit before you feed it to your snake.

We have tried that as well, and the rat still went bad.
This last feeding, we put it in the bowl of water, but started with tepid water, and progressively got warmer. It took a while, but it worked.

__________________
<3 Tessa

0.0.2 painted turtles (Mo and Squirt)
1.0.0 yellow bellied slider (Jebidiah)
0.1.0 Amelanistic corn snake (Rose)
1.0.0 Hog Island/Colombian Boa (Kah)
0.2.0 Colombian Boa (Jasmine) and her baby(no name yet)
1.0.0 Suriname Boa (Kayne)
0.2.0 Cats (Lilly and Reese)

We put our f/t rats in a sandwich baggy then put it in a cup of the hottest water from the sink. We let it sit there until it cools down (~1hr) then add new hot water. We do this three times, then just put it under running hot water to heat the skin and put it in the tank.

This way you aren't boiling it, but you get the right temp you need. Plus, you can feel the rat through the bag for temp, and you never get the rat smell on you.