No I take the rats out of the freezer the night before I feed and put them in the refrigerator to get a head start on the unthaw process because it takes forever for a thick large rat to unthaw
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@caron he was being facetious with his remark.
Unthaw means to freeze. Thawing is what you do with your rats.
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Too many disgusting explosions over the years, so no more hot water. (Ziplock baggy or not.) I keep it simple. Frozen rats go directly from freezer to ziplock bag to fridge where they wait overnight. The next day (after the rats have unthawed in the fridge), I set a large heat mat on the counter to full power. I remove the ziplock baggy from the fridge and lay it on the heat mat. Then I wait 30 minutes. Done. No stinky rat water. No dirty dishes. No explosions. Just lightly warmed rats.
I may be trying the room temp method this weekend. Thanks for the tip, OP. 
Chris
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So…last night, I got out a frozen mouse for my sand boa, put it in a cup of hot water…and then wandered away, got distracted, and forgot about it for about 30 minutes. When I came back to it, it was thawed and sort of lukewarm, just slightly warmer than room temp. I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to see if she’d take a not-warm mouse…and she did indeed eat it! She didn’t seem to care that it was cooler than her usual offerings.
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Ahhhhhhhh! I’m a little slow sometimes but thank you! (Actually I’m a LOT slower sometimes but we will keep this our little secret!) Again, I am truly sorry for my mistake. I try go by “judge not lest ye judged” but as you can see, it’s a work in progress for me……. 
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I think some people tend to overstate things like this. The snakes we keep/breed haven’t lived in the wild in many many generations.
Snakes in the wild also often have parasites in them. We don’t want our snakes to have parasites.
I’m going to again, restate my comment that just because it happens or is done one way, doesn’t make it ideal or the right way. The whole entire goal of us as keepers should be to keep pushing for the absolute best for the animals we are keeping. We wouldn’t feed any of our animals a rotting carcass because we think they can handle it, or just because one of their ancestors used to eat things like that.
We do things a LOT different than how our ancestors did things. We learned, we adapted.
Okay, I’ll hop off my soap box now. Just felt this needed to be restated. Just my opinion
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Bacterial growth still occurs at cooler temperatures even in fridge temperatures, thats why meat should be heated to over 70C before serving. But yes warmer than a fridge = faster growth. hence over 70c cooking temps to kill the bacteria. I am very fussy about my food being stored right and cooked right.
However,:-
I agree with this, they are not delicate like us neither is their stomach acid. I have had dogs that eat other animals poo if I cant stop them quick enough. And they were fine, they evolved differently to us.
BUT this was not my point, very interesting discussion as it is.
I was not talking about defrosting styles, but instead, once defrosted (by whatever means) Do we need to warm the food item so the snake will see the heat and take it.
As in the OP, I found I do not need to with all my hatchlings that had already started feeding.
I used to warm the food once defrosted to initiate a strike, but do not need to anymore.
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Not exactly. It’s still present but isn’t really growing or able to grow at the same rate that it is when it’s above 40 degrees. I’m not saying keeping something in the fridge is going to negate bacteria, just that leaving it for the hours it would take to thaw exposes it to higher temps leading to more bacteria.
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I am scrolling old threadsand I have to share a story about defrosting dinner on the counter…
We had a black lab growing up. We let her out every morning and she suddenly started showing up with meat. Steaks, chicken, whole roasts…
She was going under the neighbors fence and into their house through the doggy door. They had a Jack Russell…she was stealing their dinner off the kitchen countertop and bringing it home…so when people say “be careful, it could attract pests” …it is 100% true! 
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Ok so that story is priceless! This put a smile on my face! Thank you so much for sharing! 
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You didn’t finish the story! What did you do with the meat? It’s not like you would be able to return it…
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I think my parents threw it away and gave the neighbors $50. The neighbors started locking the doggie door and fixed the hole in the fence!
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Oh my goodness! This is hilarious! 
I wonder, before your folks talked to the neighbors about your pesty black Lab, did they blame their innocent Jack Russell for the disappearing meat? 
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And @jennamcg That lab was one smart dog I have to say! I can just imagine the perplexing thoughts going through the minds of the next door neighbors who kept finding their kitchen counters “meatless”! 
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I think the neighbors were at a total loss…there was really no way the little JR could get on the counter. He was old and fat! And he never left his yard so they had no clue there was a hole under the fence! It was definitely dug by our lab. Behind a bush, and out of sight. I think they were concerned someone was breaking in!
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They weren’t totally wrong!
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To expand on this salient point:
Smaller animals decompose more rapidly due to their higher surface area-to-volume ratio and lower body mass.
Decomposition (putrefaction) accelerates in tissues that have been previously frozen, as freezing causes the formation of ice crystals which rupture cell membranes. Upon thawing, this damage facilitates microbial infiltration and enzymatic breakdown.
In a dead rat kept at room temperature, putrefactive changes often begin within 30-60 minutes. One of the earliest visible signs is greenish discoloration of the abdominal region, caused by bacterial gas production and enzymatic breakdown in the liver and gastrointestinal tract. Freezing delays this, obviously, but thawing occurs unevenly, allowing some tissues to warm and support bacterial growth while other parts remain frozen. This extended and inconsistent thawing period increases the risk of bacterial proliferation and spoilage before the rat is fully thawed and ready for feeding.
Feeding your snake a spoiled rat can result in the snake experiencing gastrointestinal upset or regurgitation, but it has also cause fatal enterocolitis in some cases. This is why it is not recommended to re-freeze thawed feeders or thaw at room temps.
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HA! Bloods are the BEST disposals to have around. Our blood is the larger rat disposal and our juvenile super dwarf takes care of the small rat/mouse leftovers. 100% our blood will eat them cold/room temp. Typically, she stays buried, and I will leave the rat near where her head is. She’ll eventually pop up her head, sniff it and just eat it, butt first. No strike, no wrap, just butt first down the hatch. She’s a funny creature.
Our balls, man they’re picky. I have 2 who completely refuse frozen/thawed or pre-killed. I have several, if they’re not hot enough, they’ll refuse, and 2 others currently on strike. None of them will take drop feedings. So, it’s always doing the rat dance with tongs. Ahh, the joys of ball python life, but we love them.
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I have a blood and a BI who both LOVE to eat. They’ll both eat anything, any time, at any temperature. (Since writing that reply, I have confirmed that they will both gladly accept room temp rodents, they truly do not seem to care.)
My blood is funny, sometimes she does a really dramatic strike and wrap, sometimes she takes it super gently and daintily off the tongs and just swallows it without the theatrics. I can also drop feed her, and once again, sometimes she strikes it, wraps it, and drags it all over the cage, other times she just grabs it and swallows it.
I don’t have ball pythons, but I do have a sand boa who very occasionally refuses, in which case the blood or BI get an extra snack.
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