first live feed

today i fead my bp a live rat.she ate very quickly.(went down like a noodle lol).was a little nervious at first.i thought that the rat was goin to bite my snake so i picked it up by the tail and that was the end of it.

I wouldn't worry about the snake. Worry about the rat. None of my snakes have been bitten by a rat to date and I have housed balls for the last six years.

I also have been feeding live for some time but keep in mind that the bigger the rats get the more vicious they can be and if your ball decides not to eat on that day and just strikes at the rat, the rat will get annoyed enough and decide to attack your snake and thats that, so if feeding live make sure youre there to step in just in case this happens. I breed my own rats and i have seen them get particularly angry to the point where no matter what i do they just want to kill me...good job on the 1st live feed and good luck.

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Originally Posted by deathadder1069

I also have been feeding live for some time but keep in mind that the bigger the rats get the more vicious they can be and if your ball decides not to eat on that day and just strikes at the rat, the rat will get annoyed enough and decide to attack your snake and thats that, so if feeding live make sure youre there to step in just in case this happens. I breed my own rats and i have seen them get particularly angry to the point where no matter what i do they just want to kill me...good job on the 1st live feed and good luck.

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thanks alot.i feed her like small rats(maybe the length of your finger).

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Originally Posted by shaqthaballkeeper

thanks alot.i feed her like small rats(maybe the length of your finger).

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A rat the length of your finger is a pup, possibly a weanling if you have really long fingers. That's 2 to 3 weeks old - 25 to 35 grams. IMHO, there's no way a baby rat that size will do any damage to your snake.

Now an adult that's 300 grams or bigger may cause a problem but I'm not sure BP's ever eat that size. Maybe a huge breeder female.

I hate live feeding but I have to do it with a couple of my girls ( it's either live feed or the snakes die and I know what I choose ) It is strange the first time heck you might even have a bit of guilt but as long as you keep an eye on them and make sure theres no problems then you will be fine. I have another female which eats on pre killed ( real fussy little so and so ) so I have to break the rats neck and lets just say when you don't have hold of them they don't halve try and bite to get away.