No options, must feed live... Nervous.

So due to incredibly limited options as far as f/t goes (I really hate that its not economical to do bulk orders, because life would be SO much easier. Guess I just need more snakes :3) I'll have to feed Magnus live tonight. I'm not so much worried about the feeding as I am the process of getting him back onto F/T afterward. Has anyone had trouble with this? He's never minded f/t before, but seeing as how limited my options have been in the last few weeks, he's now giving me the hungry snake attitude and I'm going away for a few days, so I wanna make sure he's got something in him before I go. Gonna see if the store has rat pups, and if not, I'm gonna go for a mouse. I'm not ready personally to take on a scared rat if he decides not to take it or has any complications with the strike.

Suggestions, comments, feedback?

Have you considered buying the live rodent then putting it down yourself? Then if your snake didnt eat you could freeze it and use it for your f/t next time you try. I know some people have a hard time with that, but... it just might be the option you need this time. :)

Ava, I haven't had much of a problem with a f/t eater eating live once in awhile, then taking f/t its very next meal. You should be fine ;)

I'd be less worried about him getting hooked on live after one feeding than getting hooked on mice. Small rats aren't likely to get aggressive. As was said you could pre-kill it if you're worried, but I certainly understand if you can't do it. If you can get your rat from a store that features reptiles they are often willing to pre-kill it for you. A general local or chain pet shop won't do it.

Is buying frozen from a Petco or Petsmart an option? They usually sell frozen(at least near me they do).

Good suggestion! The ones near me have them too. They aren't cheap, but for a one time thing like this it would be a good alternative.

How is it not economical to do bulk orders?

If you have one or two snakes, shipping can be very expensive and if you don't "fill the box" your per rodent costs can be double or triple of just buying a few from your local Petco or Petsmart. Plus, you may be left with many F/T left over if they need to step up to the next size which can be a waste. I bulk order from Loxahatchee Rodents in FL, but I also have nearly a dozen snakes of varying size so I CAN fill the box and my waste is nearly zero. Plus, I only have to place an order maybe twice a year.

I would recommend prekilling. I HATE killing prey, but a snake has to eat! Then if you know any other snake owners in your area, maybe you can do a bulk order and split the costs and split the order. Just my humble opinion...

You could try Craigslist. I sell my frozen surplus on there. Although you can't guarantee the quality, it can't be much worse than petco, right?

Well, my mom lost her lid over having to bring a live rat home, so she drove me the extra 3 miles and covered the expense of Petco frozen feeders. Once I have a CO2 chamber built I will have zero qualms about prekilled, but until then I'm stuck paying 12 dollars for two freaking small rats. My poor mother. She was so traumatized by the idea of feeding live that she asked if we could just put the rat in the freezer first, and tried to argue about how that's less humane than feeding it to my snake.

Family can be difficult sometimes, but hopefully she'll start to pick up on what I try to teach her.

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