Live or Frozen?

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Originally Posted by gazCOBRA-CHOKEhop

If she is taking F/T then continue with that method. I personally prefer Freshly Killed...not for the faint of heart though!...a minute before i am about to feed my ball pythons Zig & Zag ill tempt them out of there hides by holding the rat by its tail and kind of walking it around the enclosure to get the snakes interested then i will take the rat back out and kill it (cervical dislocation method, this and Co2 gassing are the most humane) then i will throw it back into there enclosures and they will strike and coil the rats straight away without any hesitation!
Hope this helped.

Gaz

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This is definitely always a debatable topic on here. If she is eating f/t or p/k, I would keep it that way. We started out with f/t, but found p/k was a little more convenient for us. All of our balls that we have had since hatching eat p/k in a separate tub. Our ball that we got as an adult, will only take alive in his tank. So basically do what ever works best for you and your snake, as each is different.

Been in the hobby now for about 6 years and still learning quite a bit everyday. I started out with frozen thawed so I really can't provide any input on live. I would rather keep an extra freezer with bulk frozen rats then breeding them or constantly going to the store to pick them up every week. Right now my collection is up to 10 including a jcp and just like anything else, I have a routine down on feeding day. Of course it takes some time to thaw them out and to get them warm, but this is all part of the hobby and that is what a day off from work is all about. I still have more then enough time to enjoy time with my family, dogs and to run errands. Plus my other half wouldn't allow any type of live rodent near our house so that my friends, was the deal breaker on doing f/t.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

http://www.deviantconstrictors.com/i...feed-live1.jpg

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This is not a Brutal evidence of what happen when people feed live :rage:

This is picture in no way reflect live feeding this picture is the poster picture for people who are pro F/T feeding which you might be yourself.

Those horrible stories you hear or horrible pictures you see are not the result of responsible live feeding they are the result of NEGLECT and I wish people would stop using those images or so call horror stories when giving advises.

If you leave a snake with a rodent for days and the rodent has no food or water yes this will likely be what will happen however this is not what responsible owner do.

Responsible owners feed an appropriate size prey, do not stress the prey item prior to feeding it off, supervise feeding and remove the prey after 20 minutes if left uneaten etc.

Interestingly enough why is it no one ever talks about snake's death due to improperly thawing a rodent :confused:. That would be another debate.

The KEYS here when it comes to feeding is RESPONSIBILITY and KNOWLEDGE

Know your options feed what you feel comfortable with and do it RESPONSIBLY whether it is live or F/T

People need to feed what works for them an their animals base on KNOWLEDGE not based on fear of the boogieman that is propagated by people with no real solid live feeding experience.

I mainly feed live I feed over 250 live prey each months and have done so for a few years and there is no horror story here and I am not the only one.

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Originally Posted by benwallage9

Really! When I go to the expos it seems like all the breeders feed live. I've switched all of my snakes over to f/t without much trouble (knock on wood I just got a new snake that is use to live.)

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The breeders I have bought from try to start FT they say they have about a 75% success rate with the first meal the hold outs get live. The switch is made after a few meals even for the hold outs. 100% have been switched in the first few months (3 different breeders) It isn't for mea massive safety issue but connivence there is just no way I am breeding rats unless it was on a large scale supply situation. To race out on or near feeding day to collect a bunch of rats and try to guess how many I will need (not all mine eat 100% of the time) And run the chance of running short of having extras just isn't practical and until my situation changes (retire...) It just isn't an option.

So no I will not buy a live feeder and be forced to try to switch it and if that fails sell the animal.

It isn't so much about the snake but me. It is inconvenient to buy live in a serious kinda way.