first feed a complete success, or, why do people seem to prefer F/T?

I have noticed the same with my 5 corns. Not one of them is truly good at dispatching prey, so I give them PK or FT. The PK is often still twitching, which still engages their hunting desires... you might try that with yours if you haven't already. :) I just do NOT trust these guys with live prey.

And yes, I used to offer them live when I first got my oldest boys. :)

I feed my pythons live and my colubrids FT. My colubrids just really suck at killing rodents.

But I get a better feed response feeding live to my BPs.

I have no illusions that one is more natural than the other, and I do not romanticize it. I just feed what works, and what keeps my snakes feeding with consistency.

I breed my own feeders, and my breeding rats are pets as much as my non-breeding rats are.

I can be amazed at my rodents, and adore them, but ultimately my snakes are my priority and I do not hesitate to feed off even the sweetest and cutest pups.

Well, since most of my collection consist of hognose, f/t is mandatory. Out of 70 animals (hoggies, bp's, kings, corns, grey rats, and one milk) all but 6 are on f/t. One corn and 5 BP.s, two of which are babies. I do have three breeding colonies going for those stubborn feeders and the neonate western hoggies that are particulary stubborn.

i dont understand how they are cheaper. True, you can get them for less than the pet store, but once you figure in the ridiculous shipping price, it all equals out to purchasing at the feed stores.

It's important to remember that feeding live is a learning process for the snake too. I have swiched over all my snakes to live and some "got it" sooner than others. Of course, they are all great hunters now.

But they are all different. One female BP (Lucy) is so good at striking and killing I never worry about her. She will kill anything in her tub before it hits the floor. And, I can't even watch my large corn snake eat, kind of like a WWF Cage match!!! If I have a particularly nervous mouse or rat I just make sure it goes in with one of my best hunters.

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Originally Posted by Blightedchemist

Monday night Monty started to explore his tank, Tuesday morning I found a processed mouse.
Figured Id try and see if he would take a mouse so soon after coming home. Big guy went to town on that mouse. everything went as swimmingly as possible.
Which brings me to a question: why do people seem to prefer frozen thawed? is it because they can be bought in bulk and kept frozen until they are needed? do some 'i dont want to see a cute little mouse die' morals come into play?

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No cute lil mouse for mine. Mine takes LARGE rats w/ no prob. lol. I tried one f/t and it took intirely to long for him to get it. HE much prefers something HOT and on the MOVE. lol. But if u don't like seeing a rodent stranggled and eattin fresh then yes...... Money def. go f/t cause you can buy in bulk which saves you money and they are always there. Just tell your friends that they are in there so when they go to get ice they don't freak! lol Hope this helped.-Ray