Live VS F/T

Hey guys,

Well I am very curious to see how many people feed live. and how many feed F/T

Please dont talk about safety, why f/t is better, ect. I just wanna know which you do :)

I know both sides of the arguement very well. Some say why feed f/t, they are captive so why not let them be a little wild and feed live

then theres the side that says its very unsafe to feed live, more risk of parasites, ect

Thats not what this thread is about though. this is only one question that needs no explaination:

Do you feed live or f/t.

(no arguements please, This is just a poll/thread based off a little bit of curiosity)

Both :rolleyes:

Live mainly simply because F/T is too time consuming for me with the number of animals I have.

If/when I feed F/T I do with animals that will pretty much eat anything, and do so because I freeze the surplus of feeders I breed.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Both :rolleyes:

Live mainly simply because F/T is too time consuming for me with the number of animals I have.

If/when I feed F/T I do with animals that will pretty much eat anything, and do so because I freeze the surplus of feeders I breed.

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Lol I probably should have put an other option in there :) Or multiple choice lol

O well :D

I like frozen. I find it alot cheaper and less of a headache

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I added the "both" option for ya. :P

Currently, I feed f/t because that is by far the most convenient method for me. When the day comes that I can expand my collection and start breeding my own feeders, I'm sure I'll feed live.

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Originally Posted by BoaFreak

I like frozen. I find it alot cheaper and less of a headache

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It is indeed cheaper in most cases :)

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Originally Posted by JLC

I added the "both" option for ya. :P

Currently, I feed f/t because that is by far the most convenient method for me. When the day comes that I can expand my collection and start breeding my own feeders, I'm sure I'll feed live.

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Thanks! Lol I appreciate it :D

I find it interesting that some people choose to feed live when they get a larger collection. I guess it has something to do with skping the proccess of killing the mice/rats then freezing them

seems it would be faster to just throw a live mouse in and save yourself the time.

I voted, but I will also leave a post. I feed only live as it is easier for me, and less time consuming than frozen thawed even with supervising the feedings. Also, another reason for me is that it does not waste any rats, as where if I were to feed frozen thawed I would have to throw away any uneaten rats as with live I just put them back in their bins and they live another day, ha ha.

Our male only takes live and our female only takes f/t. Well, our female shows interest and "stalks" our male's live and watches him kill and eat them, but she readily takes f/t without complaint.

F/T...even when I had 50+ snakes. I buy in bulk, thaw out what I need....I can do other things while they thaw, then I just make the happy rounds. I usually don't have anything uneaten, but if I do, RodentPro is cheap enough it doesn't bother me.....I'm sure the feral cats love it:)

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Originally Posted by bsash

I voted, but I will also leave a post. I feed only live as it is easier for me, and less time consuming than frozen thawed even with supervising the feedings. Also, another reason for me is that it does not waste any rats, as where if I were to feed frozen thawed I would have to throw away any uneaten rats as with live I just put them back in their bins and they live another day, ha ha.

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Lol, this is so true. Cant refreeze the rodent after its been thawed. thats a major downer. And being broke like me, you cant have none of that LOL

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Originally Posted by maverickgtr

Our male only takes live and our female only takes f/t. Well, our female shows interest and "stalks" our male's live and watches him kill and eat them, but she readily takes f/t without complaint.

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This is another thing that is very true, some snakes simply refuse F/T. Live is so easy because like said before if they dont get eaten, you just pop em into a cage with some food and water and try again in a few days lol

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Originally Posted by Sammy412

F/T...even when I had 50+ snakes. I buy in bulk, thaw out what I need....I can do other things while they thaw, then I just make the happy rounds. I usually don't have anything uneaten, but if I do, RodentPro is cheap enough it doesn't bother me.....I'm sure the feral cats love it:)

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Yeah, buying F/T in bulk is really cheap I hear.

Whatever works best though, right :D

bottom line.....snakes gotta eat:snake: SO whatever they'll take:please:

I picked the "both" option, but there really needs to be an "all three" option. My corn snakes and boas all readily eat frozen / thawed, which I order from Rodentpro.com. From my experience, breeding mice is not really worth it, but breeding my own rats has been extremely beneficial. A few months ago I started breeding the rats in order to help my ball python collection trasition to frozen / thawed, because it is difficult and inconvenient to find smaller live rats to purchase. I have succeeded with trasitioning most of them by offering smaller prekilled rats on tongs, and now they do fine with frozen / thawed or prekilled. But for those couple of resistant live-only feeders, I always conveniently have the right size in for them in my garage. I originally thought my rat-breeding venture would just be temporary until I had them all trasitioned to frozen / thawed, but now I am thinking it's going to be a long-term thing, as I am finding it very convenient and cost-effective as well.

Both!;)

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Originally Posted by Sammy412

bottom line.....snakes gotta eat:snake: SO whatever they'll take:please:

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Amen to that lol :D

I have a 2010 male that started off on live prey but I have been able to convert him over to f/t. He is a baby so he eats like a little pig. I find f/t to be much more convenient and economical for me.

I voted F/T even though I have one stubborn pastel who only takes live mice but im trying and Gosh Darnett ill get him to take the F/T if its the last thing I do lol

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Originally Posted by PolishPython

I voted F/T even though I have one stubborn pastel who only takes live mice but im trying and Gosh Darnett ill get him to take the F/T if its the last thing I do lol

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Lol, lets hope he decides to take it :) If not oh well, live isn't so bad. if you suprevise ofcourse lol

I feed both. I much prefer F/T at the moment but I do not push it on the ones that prefer Live.

Once I need to start breeding my own feeders, I will mos tlikely just convert to live then.

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Originally Posted by Sarin

I feed both. I much prefer F/T at the moment but I do not push it on the ones that prefer Live.

Once I need to start breeding my own feeders, I will mos tlikely just convert to live then.

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I see, I find it interesting that you will be going to live like JLC.

Im curious, is it because its easier to feed live when you have a large collection? Im very curious as to why many people feed f/t when they have a msaller collection then switch to live when the collection grows

MikeV, I also wondered that. I have always done f/t, even with a big collection. It was cheaper and easier than breeding my own, which I did for a long time as well. When I bred my own, I whacked and froze, then I just said screw it and ordered f/t online:).

The only exceptions were a few rattlers that would only take live.

maybe for me it was the hassle of keeping up the breeders, cleaning their tubs, which was way worse than cleaning snake tubs...lol. And had to be done every few days.

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Originally Posted by Sammy412

MikeV, I also wondered that. I have always done f/t, even with a big collection. It was cheaper and easier than breeding my own, which I did for a long time as well. When I bred my own, I whacked and froze, then I just said screw it and ordered f/t online:).

The only exceptions were a few rattlers that would only take live.

maybe for me it was the hassle of keeping up the breeders, cleaning their tubs, which was way worse than cleaning snake tubs...lol. And had to be done every few days.

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Yeah id imagine cleaning rodent cages a lot is terrible lol. the smell, oh gawd

Anyway yeah im really interested in seeing why peoiple switch to live with big collections (or mid-sized collections)

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Originally Posted by MikeV

I see, I find it interesting that you will be going to live like JLC.

Im curious, is it because its easier to feed live when you have a large collection? Im very curious as to why many people feed f/t when they have a msaller collection then switch to live when the collection grows

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Well with large collections, imagine having to thaw out 100+ feeders. Then warming each one up and dangling it in front of each snake. It'll take ages! With live you just throw the rat in, and check on them 5 or 10 minutes later.

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Originally Posted by Sarin

Well with large collections, imagine having to thaw out 100+ feeders. Then warming each one up and dangling it in front of each snake. It'll take ages! With live you just throw the rat in, and check on them 5 or 10 minutes later.

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Yeah thats what I thought lol

It makes sense to skip all that and just toss in a live animal. Much easier that way

f/t here. it takes me less time to prepare the f/t than it does to go pick up live. I'd have to have my own colonies to make live worth it and even then, I'd still gas them and freeze them.

I prefer to feed mine live.

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I feed mine live and/or fresh killed. Between those two I prefer fresh killed because I don't have to babysit the feeding and can get all the animals fed more quickly but I start hatchlings out on live and I like to offer my corn snakes live nowadays because mine are a sedentary lot and could use the exercise. I really don't like dealing with frozen feeders unless I absolutely have to.

Quick question for all you live feeders - have any of you ever had a problem with a rat bringing in mites from the pet store. I've only fed live twice and already have had an issue with mites and I never had a problem with mites before buying a rat from a pet store.

I'm sort of afraid to buy rats now.

Your thoughts.

rat mites <> snake mites

I've always fed live and on rare occassions feed F/T I think that the natural way of the animal feeding should stay that way I've not had an issue with a rat/mouse attacking my snakes nor have I had a mite problem from them eating live.

I am fasicinated by the constricting and the entire predator stalking the prey.



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Originally Posted by L.West

Quick question for all you live feeders - have any of you ever had a problem with a rat bringing in mites from the pet store. I've only fed live twice and already have had an issue with mites and I never had a problem with mites before buying a rat from a pet store.

I'm sort of afraid to buy rats now.

Your thoughts.

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With over 15K live rats fed off, I've never gotten mites from my feeders.

I feed both. But I find F/T much easier.

Live.

I like my rat colony. They're cute. So, yeah, a lot of them have to go to the snake feeding bin, but c'est la vie. I enjoy caring for them while they're with me. To tell you the truth, they're more interesting to me than the snakes. :rolleye2: And when they survive the snake bin, we celebrate! lol.

Great replys guys!!

I appreciate all the opinions and votes on the poll, keep the comments and votes comin :)

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I prefer to feed mine live.

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Yeah it seems some just love the ease of feeding live, or others love the safeness of feeding FT/PK.

It seems like one of those love it or hate it things :)

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Originally Posted by JLC

Currently, I feed f/t because that is by far the most convenient method for me. When the day comes that I can expand my collection and start breeding my own feeders, I'm sure I'll feed live.

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Ditto to that ;) I'm on f/t simply because it's easiest with only a handful of snakes. If I were to ever have one that absolutely refused all f/t attempts however, I wouldn't hesitate to get a live feeder for it to keep it eating.

I feed live as that's the method that has been used his whole life. I monitor the activity and never leave the rodent in there for more than 30 minutes if he doesn't eat it

frozen pretty much 100% of the time with my adults. i try to start hatchlings out with f/t. if that doesn't work then i go to live until they get a couple meals in them.

I feed FT to all of my animals that will accept it, and live to the rest. I hate having to deal with the live rodents, but when you are producing hatchlings, there's no other choice. Scant few hatchlings will start feeding on FT. I have some adults that I simply haven't been able to convert, as well.
The cost of FT versus live that you raise yourself is actually about equal, with one exception--the live rodents require considerable labor. Purchasing live rodents is much more expensive.

i find it the other way around with hatchlings... the majority of my hatchlings start on f/t for me. guess im just lucky! but if they don't... then off to go find live.

I feed f/t for convenience and cost. The nearest pet store is about 30 min from me. They carry live, but they're more expensive than f/t. Right now I buy 3 packs of frozen rats/mice from said pet store, but as soon as I have the money, I'm ordering frozen online. It'll save me over 60% cost wise.

I feed whatever I have since I breed my own rats, if I have live the right size that's what they get if not I just grab some f/t from the freezer. :gj:

I feed f/t for a few reasons. I have nothing against live at all, I just find it much easier to feed f/t. I can buy them in bulk and just store them as needed. I don't need to breed stinky mice or rats. I don't have to have a "pet" mouse/rat if one of my snakes don't eat. I don't have to explain to my 4 y/o son about the magic disappearing cute fuzzy little mice (I know I know...circle of life...but I'd rather not right now lol). I don't have to supervise feedings in fear of an injury. And...it's kinda cute watching them "kill" the f/t rats....:rolleyes:

I have had enough rodent-maintenance in my life, I simply don't have time to feed and care for feeders. F/t is cheaper and less maintenance, and makes my life a whole lot simpler.

i feed live cuz that's what my girl is established on so i'm just goin' with it.

i feed live because the wife doesn't want frozen rodents in her freezer and i seel rats to my local pet stores it pays for all my food and supplies ie:bedding food and materials for new rat racks so can't beat the free route