What If....

[condor53]

You forgot to thaw out a f/t mouse or rat and fed it still frozen to your snake? Would it thaw out inside, kill the snake, or do something else? (Disclamer- I have not done this and do not plan on trying it out on any of my snakes.)

Connor

 

[Durante]

I doubt many with experience would argue live is better then frozen/thawed for the well being of the snake & yourself so I applaud you on going with that method. Some snakes are tough to get to get, some will only eat live, & some are pigs (like mine) that would eat non-stop given the chance but I doubt even they would even attempt to eat a fully frozen prey item so I'm assuming your talking about feeding a snake a meal that was not completely thawed throughout. If that happens I don't doubt it could cause digestive/intestinal distress and other serious problems if not worst depending on the extent the meals state. It's your responsibility as a responsible owner to make sure you do everything in your power not to let that happen. From my experience thawing a rodent out to fast leads to a nice mess so it better 7 safer in my opinion to go off schedule a day & do it right. I'm not saying to leave your pray item out to long where it can go bad or to cook it, both actions could also make your just snake sick.

 

[Snake-Queen]

I seriously doubt a snake would eat it if the rat/mouse was still frozen. Most snakes go by the temperature of their prey. If it did eat it, it wouldn't be able to digest it & would either regurg or die.

 

[condor53]

Thanks for the replies. It makes sense that most snakes would not eat a frozen prey item because they do go by body heat.

Connor

 

[Helenthereef]

I think the main danger is that the low temperature may mean that the snake could not digest it before rot set in, and therefore poisoning or intestinal infection.