To feed live or not to feed live?

Hey there,

I am sure this has been asked before but cannot find the threads on it.

I currently do not have an opinion on live or F/T feeding. With the amount of snakes I have, there are a couple who refuse F/T so some are fed on live but most are fed on F/T. (F/T takes less room, plus I do not have to worry about the feeders growing faster then my snakes can consume them).

So what do you feed your snakes? And have you personally had a snake so severely injured by a rodent that it died or needed expert medical attention? And what is your reason for feeding F/T and not live and vise versa?

I feed what works :gj: and I encourage people to feed what works for them and educate themselves on the available options

Here is something I posted less than a week ago. (at least some excerpts)

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Originally Posted by Deborah

As far as feeding it comes down to a few thing first being knowledgeable and second being responsible (that includes, supervising, feeding a prey that is not too big etc)

Live is fine, F/T is fine too the question is which one works best for you and your animal.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

My experience 250 live prey a month over the last 9 years (that's only 27000 preys which is nothing compare to large breeders) out of that never had a single issue. This of course only represent my BP collection it does not include any hatchlings or the other species I have or currently work with.

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I also feed F/T to some snakes , but mainly to my colubrids.

What are my reason for live, I breed my own feeders I have a fairly good amount of snakes which during breeding season get to be an even bigger amount of snakes so live is the most convenient for me especially when I have to start hatchlings.

Colubrids get F/T because I do not want to have a bunch of live adult mice around at all time so once they are full grown they are euthanize and froze.

As long as it's done safely and responsibly, whichever your snake will eat. They both come with pros and cons wrt time, money, ease of obtaining and also storing, etc. Personally I like F/T. It's cheaper to order in bulk and I don't need to house and feed the rats, or run around town looking for someone who has the right sized feeders.

I breed my own rodents (I say rodents because I breed more then just rats and mice) so I do not have to worry about finding someone with the right sized feeders, but most people look for snakes that will eat F/T thinking it is more humane so I try to make my snakes eat F/T in case I would like to or need to sell them, especially to beginners.

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Originally Posted by lunasjy

I breed my own rodents (I say rodents because I breed more then just rats and mice) so I do not have to worry about finding someone with the right sized feeders, but most people look for snakes that will eat F/T thinking it is more humane so I try to make my snakes eat F/T in case I would like to or need to sell them, especially to beginners.

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Weirdly, the majority of ppl I know who started out with mainly colubrids as opposed to constrictors for some reason REALLY don't like the idea of feeding live. Not sure why that is, but getting them on f/t is probably a good business move.
As far as safety, it's perfectly safe as long as you follow the guidelines that have already been mentioned.

F/t if the snake will take it. Live ONLY if they refuse pre-killed and f/t.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

Weirdly, the majority of ppl I know who started out with mainly colubrids as opposed to constrictors for some reason REALLY don't like the idea of feeding live. Not sure why that is, but getting them on f/t is probably a good business move.
As far as safety, it's perfectly safe as long as you follow the guidelines that have already been mentioned.

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Probably because some colubrids take live a little too literally :rolleyes:

I'm a newbie and I feed live, partly because I don't have issues dropping a live rodent in the snake cage and monitoring until it's done and the snake starts eating. I've grown up watching nature shows and seen it a thousand times, sure not in front of my eyes but that is nature. I also only have 1 snake (for now) and I feed monday or tuesday and due to work be highly inconsistent in the hours I don't have half a day to prep 1 meal that the snake may or may not take. My last feeding he was interested in what I was doing trying to open the box to feed but I must of moved to quick in a motion so he pulled his head back into the hide and stayed like that. I closed the terrarium door with the rat on the opposite side and waited. After a few minutes he realized something else was there and went on the hunt. If I was feeding anything else I wouldn't entice him back out again that day. I stand and watch until he lets his grip go to ensure the rat is in fact dead. I'm aware of the risk that one day he has the chance of being bitten once. I'm still researching alternatives. I always sit in front of the cage ready to open the door and put a tool between the rats mouth and the snake in case something happens. So far none have been that smart to bite back and generally the squealing lasts only a few seconds. It's interesting to see the hunting behaviour in terms of stalking across his new cage. This is a method that works for me. I buy my 1 meal on a per need basis as the reptile store isn't that far from home. I also don't feed large meals either and prefer to feed consistent medium size, he was eating wean rats at 266g when I bought him. He is now 370g and still eating the same. He eats every week eagerly so I'll continue to feed not super large prey for his size and slowly increase the size as he grows. I bought him Dec 14 and we're having a pretty cold winter but he isn't fasting.

Live is no problem until it is! I got a very large female that was raised on live and eating huge rats. I didn't and still don't have a problem with her killing the rat like you said. It's when you have to get in there after a strike to the rats butt and now this big honkin rat is mad and biting and clawing for its life and YOU have to choke it to death for your snake. I put my hands down in the box with a angry rat and 3000 gram ball python that was new to me and hoped for the best. Feeding frozen thawed is like defrosting a steak so easy but not all will do what we prefer.

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Originally Posted by Joe balls

Live is no problem until it is! I got a very large female that was raised on live and eating huge rats. I didn't and still don't have a problem with her killing the rat like you said. It's when you have to get in there after a strike to the rats butt and now this big honkin rat is mad and biting and clawing for its life and YOU have to choke it to death for your snake. I put my hands down in the box with a angry rat and 3000 gram ball python that was new to me and hoped for the best. Feeding frozen thawed is like defrosting a steak so easy but not all will do what we prefer.

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Do I really have to point out what's wrong with the above statement?