Honest opinions on feeding.

[SCWood]

I have a new adult male BP, The first time I fed him I gave him a medium rat, (the biggest one the breeder had). He took it like a champ and had no issues. He was still searching around like he was looking for more food so I figured I would try to feed him again. After several hours of research and forums I decided that, for health benefits and safety, I would switch him to frozen. I bought a pack of two frozen rats from pets mart. I unthawed one in hot water, it came in a small plastic bag. After it was unthawed and at a good temp I tried to offer it to him, he showed zero interest in it and would move away. I spent 2 hours trying different methods of giving it to him.

I absolutely hated the process, it smelled terrible, two of the legs came off of the rat, and it was leaking all over the place. I was told that the rat could have been bad. I also realize he may not have been hungry. Either way 13 bucks for two medium rats that may be bad is outrageous, and the whole process was horrid.

My question is, how terrible is it for me to feed him live? I understand the risks but the breeder is very reliable and has shown me her entire setup and how she breeds her rats. I can buy a large rat for 5 bucks from her, and she has them readily available at all times. I was scolded by several people for feeding live and they made valid arguments, but I stand right by him and watch the entire process so of anything ever did happen I could intervene.
I would like to keep feeding live but from what I have been told and read so far it seems like a bad idea, at the same time he has always had live and the frozen feed was terrible. What are your opinions on it?

Try scenting the area with a live rat in a cage for half and hour while the other ones thaw. Now, after that if he still rejects it, give a smaller live prey before and then a f/t regular sized

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[Mykuhl]

Wow....I am thinking that Zincubus just enjoys arguing.

In my limited experience with breeding rats and feeding live...the rats are not threatened in the slightest by the presence of the snake. As already mentioned most will either go right to the snake and sniff it or just walk around the enclosure, heck I even had a few that would crawl right on top of a snake! Most captive bred rats don't even know to feel threatened by a snake.

I personally don't feed live anymore because I hate the smell and how dirty they are. I also only have a few snakes.

[tbowman]

A look through my old posts on this forum years ago will show attempts to preach about the evils of live feeding. Even now, I consider myself to be against it.

BUT, I've realized now that it was all the result of those few pictures of what COULD HAPPEN. That convinced me that feeding live was evil and the people doing it were not into snakes for the right reasons.

In reality those situations are an extreme minority. And it's worth noting that the majority of those cases manifested due to a keeper leaving a large, live rodent in with a snake THAT IS NOT INTERESTED IN EATING.

Short answer, don't do that and you will be ok.

[ARBallMorphs]

the only 3 reasons why I want my BP's to eat F/T are

1* It saves a lot of time, not having to stand and keep an eye on every bp till he/she takes the prey.
2* By feeding F/T I can buy in bulk and I do not have to go to the shop every week.
3* Where I live F/T are cheaper then live prey items.

That being said, I do breed my own rats, if I would feed all my snakes live prey i would have to keep all the rats alive, meaning loss of a lot of space for cages, money on food and bedding and time for cleaning all the rat cages. now I just humanely kill them when they are at the right size and then freeze them.

I do breed my own rats so I know where they come from, that they are healthy, that they get good quality food and that the rats are taken good care of because even though I understand it may sound kinda weird and twisted I do like the rats that breed for me as my pets.

[SnakeBalls]

Man this troll again! Didn't we already have this thread a few weeks ago...?

[Zincubus]

Man this troll again! Didn't we already have this thread a few weeks ago...?

Seems rather bizarre to suggest that someone ( whoever you're referring to ) is a troll simply because they have the nerve to offer an honest opinion as per thread title .

[Zincubus]

Wow....I am thinking that Zincubus just enjoys arguing.

In my limited experience with breeding rats and feeding live...the rats are not threatened in the slightest by the presence of the snake. As already mentioned most will either go right to the snake and sniff it or just walk around the enclosure, heck I even had a few that would crawl right on top of a snake! Most captive bred rats don't even know to feel threatened by a snake.

I personally don't feed live anymore because I hate the smell and how dirty they are. I also only have a few snakes.

Actually , you couldn't be more wrong about me ... I detest threads like this , very intimidating if you find yourself in the minority .

We simply don't live feed over here in the UK apart from last resort to try and trigger a feeding response from a hatchling or a youngster ..

It's probably a cultural thing as I said previously . The thread asks for honest opinions but look at the reaction you get for being honest !

[Zincubus]

Man this troll again! Didn't we already have this thread a few weeks ago...?

Wow . A member for just four weeks and with 52 posts and you're coming out with all this nonsense .
I despair .

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Man this troll again! Didn't we already have this thread a few weeks ago...?

Wow . A member for just four weeks and with 52 posts and you're coming out with all this nonsense .
I despair .

[PitOnTheProwl]

We simply don't live feed over here in the UK apart from last resort to try and trigger a feeding response from a hatchling or a youngster ..

It's probably a cultural thing as I said previously . The thread asks for honest opinions but look at the reaction you get for being honest !

Not about you being honest, more about ignorant.
You need to remember this forum is WORLD wide.
If you are not willing to learn, expand your knowledge and understand there are more ways than just your own (or your google knowledge) then sometime it would be best to just sit back and watch.

***And Yes, there are many posts I don't comment on just because I know where it will lead. I'm smart like that.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Wow . A member for just four weeks and with 52 posts and you're coming out with all this nonsense .
I despair.

Length of time as a member doesn't change anything as far as their knowledge OR comprehension to other members previous posts/actions.