How do YOU thaw your frozen rodents?

I float mine in a ziplock bag in warm water. But their nails end up piercing the bag and the rodents get soaked and stink! And I never really have the time (or patience) to let them thaw naturally. So I'm looking for ideas.

Start them in the refrigerator up to 3 days before (for 2+ pound rabbits), thaw in fridge overnight for smaller feeders. Feeding day they get soaked in warm water until warmed through.

For rats i try to pull them out before work & leave in sink to thaw in a bag. That way all i have to do is soak in hot water to warm up. I dont let pinks or mice sit out cause they thaw so much quicker. If im in a pinch or need to thaw out quickly, i soak in hot tap water. In about 5-10 minutes i drain of the cool water & fill back up with hot tap water again. Let sit for about 10-20, drain off. I have beverage pitchers & towels that i specifically use for my snakes. I put rats in pitcher & fill with hot water again. I pull rats out of water with hemostats & pat dry then offer to snake. If they dont take i move on to the next one. After about 2 minutes & nobody took it i put back in pitcher & grab a fresh warm one. I seem to have good feeding responses with this method. Most problem feeders take readily as do once live eaters do not hesitate to take f/t. Be careful tho not to make them to hot cause if u have a real aggresive feeder they will pop the rat. Haha its not pretty.

Originally Posted by A.J.

I float mine in a ziplock bag in warm water. But their nails end up piercing the bag and the rodents get soaked and stink!

This is what I do as well, bagged and placed in a Rubbermaid tub that is in the bathtub, I change out the warm water every 10-15 min til thawed. If I think the nails will puncture, I double bag them. If I don't double bag and they do get wet, I don't care as that's extra moisture for the snakes (haven't had any issue with the snakes taking wet rodents. They have paper substrate so there's no worry about anything sticking to the rodent).

As far as the stink, I've had that when I was getting dirty feeders from a local supplier, when I switched suppliers to one that sends clean feeders, there's no stink.

For my large boas that eat jumbo rats, I do thaw them out in the fridge for 24 hours before doing the warm water* tub bath otherwise they take too long to thaw.

* not hot water because they might pop like Christopher said and eww it's nasty.

Ever since I have had snakes that eat frozen-thawed rodents, I do this one simple thing:
I thaw them out in a Coleman drink cooler. IT is the kind that is square, with a lid that moves sideways either way, and the lid itself is a handle. I have a sizable collection to some. I can thaw everything I need out, in 30 minutes, with very hot tap water. Then, I feed accordingly!

With the exception, of changing out the water, I do the exact same as April.
I also put lids on the thawing tubs, with baggie ends sticking out, so that rodents are pushed into the water (not floating).

No matter what, if you do not want wet rodents, you may not be able to, entirely, get away from using plastic bags/baggies.
Although, if you let the frozen rodents sit out long enough for legs to soften up a bit, before placing them in bags/baggies to completely thaw, you will have less problems with punctures from nails.

Some people have used lamps, or hair dryers, to warm their rodents (after thawing at room temp). However, if you lack time/patience, I don’t think this will come close to meeting your needs (or that of anyone with large collections ).
Somebody once mentioned a microwave but I wouldn't recommend that.

Yeah i wouldnt recommend the microwave unless your animals are snobs & expect hot meals, haha. I bet a rat exploding in your microwave would not be a fun time either

Originally Posted by Pasodama

With the exception, of changing out the water, I do the exact same as April.
I also put lids on the thawing tubs, with baggie ends sticking out, so that rodents are pushed into the water (not floating).

No matter what, if you do not want wet rodents, you may not be able to, entirely, get away from using plastic bags/baggies.
Although, if you let the frozen rodents sit out long enough for legs to soften up a bit, before placing them in bags/baggies to completely thaw, you will have less problems with punctures from nails.

Some people have used lamps, or hair dryers, to warm their rodents (after thawing at room temp). However, if you lack time/patience, I don’t think this will come close to meeting your needs (or that of anyone with large collections ).
Somebody once mentioned a microwave but I wouldn't recommend that.

I don't even blow dry my own hair I sure as heck am not going to start it on my rats.

The only downside I've found from feeding wet rodents - especially rabbits - is that the fur can hold enough water that the snake pees more often - all that water does eventually come out. With a small snake it's not a big deal, but doing a full cage clean-out on the large boas and retics for 2-3 days straight because they're peeing like racehorses on lasix does get old.

I have snakes that will not eat a wet rodent. Instead, I thaw my rats/mice out fully and place them under a 150 heat lamp. Closely monitor them though, because if you forget about them their guts will explode! I've had great success converting difficult feeders to f/t by offering warm AND dry rodents.