Why feed live prey?

RobNJ's reason is the same one that I have.

I feed live because it is convenient. I do not want to waste money by throwing out a thawed rat (or like... ten thawed rats, depending on how my snakes feel at the time). It also sounds like a lot of effort to thaw rats as currently my collection is just too big for it. With live, if someone doesn't feel like eating, I can put the prey item back in its cage and feed and water it until next week - no spoilage, no loss. My snakes are more enthusiastic about live, too.

I have actually experimented with my snakes to see if they would eat pre-killed. The aggressive snakes will happily take a freshly killed rat with no complaints and little wriggling. My shyer snakes want nothing to do with a pre killed prey item. However if I take the item out and give them a live prey item (minutes after!), they strike and constrict.

There are risks and benefits to both live feeding and frozen thawed. So to say feeding f/t is safer isn't exactly accurate...
As long as you're feeding responsibly, there shouldn't be a problem with either methods.

Personally, I feed live mostly out of convenience and the fact that my snakes don't like f/t. Some, but not all, will take p/k.
I'd rather just put rats in the tubs and check back a few minutes later. Although, all of my snakes usually grab their rats the moment I drop them in. I breed my own feeders as well.

A safe method to feed live is to feed small and more frequent rather than larger and less often.
Rat crawlers and small rats are harmless. It's the adults that are potentially dangerous.

Also, I have a male who is off feed. I offer him food every week, but he refuses. Can you imagine how many frozen rats that would go to waste?
I would never refreeze a rat more than once...


And my roommates would be scandalized to find frozen rats in the freezer...

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

There's not much hunting to be done in a tank...captive snakes don't need the "thrill of the kill".

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While they may not get the 'thrill of the kill', it's the one if not only activity they have in their lives. Think of it as enrichment? LOL

I have never heard of feeding a snake a TV Dinner (F/T) lol

I fostered a Retic and a Burm for months and months out of the year for 4 years (Owner Had Legal Issues :confused:)

After only feeding my Lesser once and seeing the work that had to go into it, Holding the F/T rat with the tongs and wiggling it.... I would be easier to toss a pup in there and let him at it.

My Normal on the other hand is a very good eater (So far) basically I lay it on the floor of the feeding tub and he knows what to do.

I always use water from my Kuereg to thaw, so it is Hot 192F after a few minutes there is no chance that the rat isn't thawed

I have four snakes. Two of the four will only eat live. I have tried p/k and f/t. They want nothing to do with it. I am however very lucky that the other two willingly accept f/t.

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Originally Posted by Ohlacey

Well, I don't feed F/T because we once had two snakes in at the vet with what we eventually found was internal gangrene because the rats weren't thawed properly.

I feed live and not pre killed because, well, I've never had a problem with it. While I'd have long stints of fasting when I fed pre killed, I found my snakes became more aggressive feeders and all around better eaters for live.

I've only had one rat show a tooth to my big gal, Sienna, and I reached in and snatched him up before the situation could progress. I got a good bite out of it, but that's the only issue I've ever had. It seems underwhelming in lieu of the benefits I've noted. (:

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How were you thawing out your rodents that did that?

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Originally Posted by Hermosa

I'm just curious why some people feed their ball pythons live prey instead of pre killed.

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Why not feed live prey?

Mostly live--for the convenience, and lack of waste. I also feed FT at times, though. I TRY to get all of my snakes to at least accept FT, even if they aren't fed that way most of the time.
I have some that simply aren't interested.

I also have one big adult female who refused anything that wasn't still breathing for FOUR years...and then started slamming FT like she'd never had an issue with it. Weird snakes. lol

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Originally Posted by Rob

How were you thawing out your rodents that did that?

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Originally Posted by Ohlacey

(In reference to the sick f/t fed snaked, they were not mine, mind you. I worked as a vet tech. So my grasp on the situation may not be 100% accurate)

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I believe the patient's owners said they thawed for two hours in a lukewarm tub, though. It was a few years back.

I have no qualms with feeding live, and would do so if I had a snake that would only eat that way.

Currently I only feed F/T because it works best for my very small collection. I never have to waste very many rats, if any, due to refusals.

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Originally Posted by ExotixTowing

I always use water from my Kuereg to thaw, so it is Hot 192F after a few minutes there is no chance that the rat isn't thawed

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I would stop doing that. That hot of water is probably cooking the rats. Warm tap water is much safer, just drain and refill the water a couple of times and itll thaw out fine.