Feeding ball pythons frozen thawed or live?

I heard if you feed your ball python live it could become more aggressive, but then agian I dont know any ways to pre kill mice "Humainly." If you guys could post how you pre-kill your mice it would be greatly apprecited.

-Payson

We feed all 3 of ours live, and none of them are aggressive in the least. They're puppy dog tame. But, it's up to you, whatever your most comfortable with, and of course, how your snakes like to eat. Some only eat live, some only eat FT, some eat anything and everything you give to them :rolleyes:

Where did you read that? I've learned to only trust what people say on this site. You'll also read that feeding them inside enclosures makes them "cage aggressive", which is also a myth.

I've read on here that people separate the spine of the rat from the brain (or something like that) by holding the head and giving the tail a good yank. It's supposed to be quick for you and painless for the rat (or mouse). I've never done it, so I could have just explained that wrong. If I did, someone will correct me and give you the right way to do it.

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Originally Posted by Charlie And Lucy

We feed all 3 of ours live, and none of them are aggressive in the least. They're puppy dog tame. But, it's up to you, whatever your most comfortable with, and of course, how your snakes like to eat. Some only eat live, some only eat FT, some eat anything and everything you give to them :rolleyes:

Where did you read that? I've learned to only trust what people say on this site. You'll also read that feeding them inside enclosures makes them "cage aggressive", which is also a myth.

I've read on here that people separate the spine of the rat from the brain (or something like that) by holding the head and giving the tail a good yank. It's supposed to be quick for you and painless for the rat (or mouse). I've never done it, so I could have just explained that wrong. If I did, someone will correct me and give you the right way to do it.

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I really don't see how people say that is painless. Thats equall to us having our heads strapped down and our lower body pulled the other way until our necks or spines snap. Painless? Yeah right.

But yeah, the way some people do it is hit the mouse right on the neck with a hard pole-like object, then holding the pole there and yanking the tail.

I really dont recommend this, because obviously it causes the poor thing pain. It's probably more painless just for the snake to strike it and quickly constrict it.

When I got my little mojave guy he was on live, but it was cheaper for me to just get f/t, so I weaned him. During the transition, he was getting pre-killed rat pups for a while. I never liked the tail yank method, and rat pups don't have a tail long enough to really grip onto very well so I made a CO2 chamber. Put the rats in an appropriate sized container, Put the dry Ice in a bowl of warm water, with a strainer over the top and put that whole unit in the container. Make sure nothing leaks when you put the top on the container. It dissolves into CO2 gas, and they just go to sleep. It's a bit more complicated then just yanking a tail, but it's a lot less painless for the rat and you don't have to listen to it scream while you hold it down by the neck.

The dry ice was a tad bit expensive but not overly so, and it was only for about a month before he started taking f/t.

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Originally Posted by PurplePython

I really don't see how people say that is painless. Thats equall to us having our heads strapped down and our lower body pulled the other way until our necks or spines snap. Painless? Yeah right.

But yeah, the way some people do it is hit the mouse right on the neck with a hard pole-like object, then holding the pole there and yanking the tail.

I really dont recommend this, because obviously it causes the poor thing pain. It's probably more painless just for the snake to strike it and quickly constrict it.

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I agree, I was just going off of what I've read on here. Honestly, I think it'd be best to purchase frozen or just go with live.

My understanding that certain types of morphs are better suited for frozen/thawed. Like for example albinos and the all white varieties (Ivory,BEL,BlkEL) because of the scaring at live rat may cause by scratching or biting. But I feed live and because I bred my ASFr's I typically freeze the "mean" ones and sell those. I try to bred to temperament as much as possible, but I realize not all people do or have that ability.:colbert2:

Feed what works for you. They will take F/t with tough love which can take months upon months to switch but they will eventually give in.

I feed all mice eaters including hatchlings live and rat eaters pre kill or f/t

Baking soda and vinegar will also make CO2.
I feed f/t and prefer it. I can keep a stash of them in the freezer for 6 months and not have to drive somewhere to pick up live every week, or keep a breeding colony.
I also appreciate the fact that a dead mouse poses no threat to my snake. I hear of problems that arise from feeding live, and would prefer to avoid it.
Where I live, snakes feeding on live prey items are much cheaper because people don't want them. Every breeder that I have associated with sells their snakes on f/t. I think that depending on where you live, people will either be more for one method or another.