discussion: feeding live vs. f/t (long read)

[A.D.I.D.A.S]

ive been thinking about this more and more lately,
i remember when i was younger i kept a couple of adult bps over a summer for my schools animal class, the teacher just told me to "throw in a rat once a week" ok, and i was never reluctant or "tactfull" when reaching into the cage to get the snakes.
fastforward to recent years keeping boas and bps,and i only feed f/t, and it seems to me that snakes feed f/t are more likely to bite you! i have to be "tactfull" when picking them from thier cages.

and i have a theory:
snakes have an instinct to eat rats,mice,bunnies,etc.. but they learn through years of feeding how thier "food" behaves.

when fed live they see they prey at thier level moving around and such,
but when they are fed f/t you are introducing it from above,they therefore relate YOU to food.

im not saying im an advocate of live feedin,im not i have a snake that wears the reason we feed f/t on his nose.

im just wondering if theres a better way.

[frankykeno]

Actually when we fed f/t we made sure to grasp the prey between the loose skin of the shoulder blades and "dance" it in an imitation of life prey movement. We never did the dangle from the tail from above thing. Personally I would not move a hungry or just fed snake to a seperate feeding tank. Ours are far too antsy and ready to go on feeding day for me to even want to try LOL. All of them eat live and eat in their own home enclosures other than the milksnake who has a busy display type tank. Even with her I'm getting uncomfortable with moving her in and out of the feeding tub, as she's becoming a far more aggressive hunter as she matures and has recently gone from f/t mice to live rat pinks.

[XIII]

Actually when we fed f/t we made sure to grasp the prey between the loose skin of the shoulder blades and "dance" it in an imitation of life prey movement. We never did the dangle from the tail from above thing. Personally I would not move a hungry or just fed snake to a seperate feeding tank. Ours are far too antsy and ready to go on feeding day for me to even want to try LOL. All of them eat live and eat in their own home enclosures other than the milksnake who has a busy display type tank. Even with her I'm getting uncomfortable with moving her in and out of the feeding tub, as she's becoming a far more aggressive hunter as she matures and has recently gone from f/t mice to live rat pinks.

What do you use for substrate?
Just curious.

[Sputnik]

I use small tongs to feed ft.... some of mine will only eat live and I'm fine with both ways. There is no one better way, hopefully this doesn't degenerate into a one way is better then the other... it's an endless pointless debate.

[Kagez28]

i too do the zombie mouse dance and it works great... my F/T eaters haven't missed a meal yet. i also make sure to feed in the dark with nothing but a little back lighting or a blacklight that i use. this way they don't really see me to well, and the tongs i use are so long my hand is nearly out of the tub.

i personally don't think feeding F/T makes snakes bite more.

[frankykeno]

What do you use for substrate?
Just curious.

We used to use a nice fine shred aspen, then went to newspaper and have just recently gone back to aspen. I really like the look and feel of the aspen and now that the snakes are in a room with a hardwood floor it's no big deal to sweep up any spilled bedding (they used to be in a carpeted room...that was not fun dragging out a vac every day!)

[shhhli]

i swear i think crowley is a freak. only twice have i ever had to use 'tongs' to shake the animal around simply because he did not see it.

i have put warm nice mice in his tank, watched them get cold from disinterest and as soon as im looking for something to fish them out with to go re-warm BAM he see's it and goes kamakazie on the f/t.

i think i should really look into breeding his ugly butt simply because he has an insane feeding response. anything, dead or alive, still or moving- unless it is wet. he wont eat a wet anything.

and who says the snake has to see me to feed him? crowley HATES to be watched (he will take longer if we are moving about when he's getting ready to eat) but he has never struck out or acted 'rude' towards me- now once he bit tony but we'd had him for like, a week, he was going pink in the belly and it was right before feeding and tony grabbed him in front of his face right where he could see him instead of from behind. so. yeah.

you'd have to do a large scale test over several years to prove or disprove the change in a snake's nature due to the method of feeding by a human..

[Stewart_Reptiles]

they are fed f/t you are introducing it from above,they therefore relate YOU to food.

I have some feeding live some F/T and never had problem with either one, never had to work hard at it either with F/T, all my BP are aggressive feeders no matter what the prey is.

Now remember when feeding F/T you need to use tongs, and make sure the prey is warm enough so your BP get the heat signal from the prey and not your hand.

Bottom line it is all about knowing your options, be responsible and feed what work for your animal and is convenient for you.