Risks of live feeding

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Originally Posted by Reinz

... I never even offered frozen until I had skipped a feeding, even if that was a month. ...

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Did you mean to say you never offered live until after an offering of frozen was skipped? I'm confused :(

So that Elvira is 14yrs old. A female Normal is she? What was her peak weight?

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@Deborah - How long do you leave a rat in with a snake before removing?

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5 to 10 min but there is a lot more to live feeding than just the time a prey is left in the enclosure there re a few important things as well that are just common sense.

First I scent the room, I do so by leaving the prey items in the snake room 30 min to an hour before feeding, that entice the snake to eat.

That time should be used to re-hydrate and feed your feeders if you purchased them, I do not do this since I raise my own and I know they are in optimal conditions (well fed and well hydrated)

I select the right size feeder for each animal, and drop it in the enclosure (I hold the feeder by the base of it's tail no tong involved), usually the feeder is caught in mid air or soon at it touches the enclosure's floor, those that are not tagged right away will go and groom themselves in a corner mainly because they are well fed, hydrated and not stressed.

Basically my routine is open the first tub drop rat/mice, repeat, move down to the last tub, once done I go back and check that everyone ate and remove uneaten feeders (if any) that either go back in the rat room or are offered to snakes that are done and cruising for second serving.

A snake that has been gnawed on tells a much different story than just what can happen when feeding live, it tells the story of someone with ZERO common sense, that does not feed live responsibly, those are exactly the type of people that should NEVER feed live.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

... re-hydrate and feed your feeders if you purchased them, I do not do this since I raise my own and I know they are in optimal conditions (well fed and well hydrated)...

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I had been wondering about gutloading but couldn't find anything on google. So if we purchase feeders what should be their last meal?

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Originally Posted by Macropodus

Did you mean to say you never offered live until after an offering of frozen was skipped? I'm confused :(

So that Elvira is 14yrs old. A female Normal is she? What was her peak weight?

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Sorry I was not clear. I would not offer frozen for the first time unless I had starved them out FIRST, by skipping a feeding cycle. This way there was a better chance of success.

Elvira is a 14 year old Normal. I have no idea on weight, :confusd: I don't weigh any of my snakes.

I am far from an experienced snake keeper. I've only had my first snake for about 2 months. I feed live and have fed live since we got him. We have had zero problems. I supervise until the rat is completely gone. We also have inplemented a feeding schedule and a no touching on feeding day rule. He knows when it's time to eat. We feed him Friday evenings and I've seen him nosing at the top and doors of his enclosure when we bring the rat into the room.

Like I said, I'm definitely not experienced but that was not a "bite". That was gnawing and it was done over a period time. If you ask me, it's pure stupidity. I've been bitten by rodents and I sure wouldn't leave one in with my beloved snake unsupervised for any period of time.