converting back to nature

I have a corn snake for over 11 years. Since I got him, I've always fed live with no problems. About a year ago, I bought a boa and found this site as well as redtailboa.com. When I learned about the dangers of feeding live, I switched to f/t. The corn never showed a problem. Recently he started refusing the F/T. At first I thought because I thawed the F/T out in the same water as my boa's rat pups (he refuses to eat rats). But after trying twice more defrosting the mice separately, I decided to try live. With no hesitation, he constricted and ate his first live mouse in over a year. Seemed a little unusual, but what ever it takes to make his highness happy. :)

Glad to hear your corn is eating well for you again.

Not to start any debate over live vs f/t vs p/k but a lot of the "live feeding is the debil" stuff is really internet hype. Yes live feeding done incorrectly but a snake owner that is either inept, inattentive or simply didn't bother to learn to feed live correctly or never understood the predator/prey dynamic can be very dangerous for your snake. Done correctly and for the right reasons, it's a perfectly acceptable feeding method. I've been live feeding snakes for a few years now - boas, milksnake, ball pythons - everything from hatchlings to big adults. If it was that dangerous somehow I doubt I'd have all these healthing snakes hanging around waiting for dinner LOL. This is not a "you must feed live" thing. It's just my own experience.

Feed what works for you and most importantly for your snake. Know the methods of that feeding style, know the prey, know your snake - all the rest of what people say is just noise sometimes.

ditto on what Jo said. I have an 8 year old ghost corn.. who I've tried converting to f/t several times and he simply refuses to switch.. so basically he's been fed live since I got him. All my other snakes also eat live.. each feeding is supervised so that there is no danger to my snake. It also comes down to personal preference as well, some people do not like feeding live which is okay. do what works best for you and your snakes. good luck.

Doris and Joanna hit it right on the nail. If you're responsible, careful, and observant, feeding live can be just as safe as feeding f/t. I personally use hemostats when feeding live so that when holding the prey item by the nape of the neck, the snakes get a face-on strike.

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Originally Posted by kjhowland

I have a corn snake for over 11 years. Since I got him, I've always fed live with no problems. About a year ago, I bought a boa and found this site as well as redtailboa.com. When I learned about the dangers of feeding live, I switched to f/t. The corn never showed a problem. Recently he started refusing the F/T. At first I thought because I thawed the F/T out in the same water as my boa's rat pups (he refuses to eat rats). But after trying twice more defrosting the mice separately, I decided to try live. With no hesitation, he constricted and ate his first live mouse in over a year. Seemed a little unusual, but what ever it takes to make his highness happy. :)

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When i had corn snakes they would eat anything and everything i offered them.I always wondered if they would eat it frozen also lol.The only time i had anyone refuse a meal was because the rodent was freezer burned a little.The bag they were in had a tiny hole from someones toenail.This could be why yours refused to eat for you.