Do you feed Frozen thawed or live?

Well, unfortunately, I might not be able to get a red tail boa so I have BPs as a back up just in case I can't get a red tail boa. I have a small question though. Do you HAVE to feed pre killed/ frozen thawed mice? I know it's safer but is it a necessity?

No, it isn't absolutely necessary, but as you stated, a lot of keepers prefer F/T or pre-killed for any snake that will take it because it is safer.

Personally, I feed F/T because to me, it's a lot easier (I'm sure a lot of people will agree) because I can buy in bulk and I don't have to feed them lol. It's up to you what you do, as long as you do it in a safe way (i.e. make sure you supervise any live feedings).

You don't have to feed f/t. I've heard some snakes will refuse f/t. I feed f/t because it's easier on me. I don't have to go to the store every week to buy live or keep mice/rats alive for weeks.

It's really a personal choice, but I think overall f/t is safer for various reason include possible injury to the snake and parasites.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. :)

f/t is also amazingly cheaper. A live small rat where I live is like 8 dollars.

I feed f/t for a few reasons.

I don't have to explain to my son about the magic disappearing mice
I don't have to breed stinky mice/rats
I can buy in bulk for dirt cheap and store them in my freezer
I can feed f/t rat and move onto the next without supervising

My brain is kind of fried, but those are my main reasons. You don't HAVE to do anything. It's a personal choice and for me f/t is just easier. Live is easier for others. I'd just hope if you chose to feed live that you did it responsibly and got all the facts before you made the decision.

I mainly feed live but sometimes feed F/T when I have rats/mice surplus that need to be euthanized.

frozen thawed here

We feed f/t for all the reasons mentioned above whenever possible. There are, however, some animals in our collection that just won't, for whatever reason, feed f/t. Some are just picky.

I love rats in a pet sense, and I hate live mice. So FT is easier for me. It is a PAIN in my butt to breed/buy weekly from the pet store and i have freezer space for mice. Just easier! But if the snakes won't eat them, you may need to feed live. I'm just kind of lazy and like to buy in bulk without cleaning up mouse poop.

I feed f/t because it's just easier. My first BP I fed live but it sucked if the rat decided to fight back. It's funny to watch him feed on a f/t because he acts like he's sneaky and does his snake thing and grabs and wraps around a mouse that's already dead. I know it's instinct but it just makes me laugh. :D

No, it's not a necessity. Although it is recommended that you feed frozen thawed most of the time. I give my snakes frozen thawed, and the occasional live rodent. With frozens you do lose SOME nutrients. It's also good for the snake to excersise that natural instinct to constrict every once an a while.

Frozen thawed is VERY conveniant. You just grab a mouse/rat from the freezer, thaw it in warm water (NEVER in a microwave, unless you want a disgusting gutty mess) and feed it to the snake.

I feed frozen thawed for a couple of reasons.

A. It's easy

B. The snakes don't mind.

C. The only place that sells live feeders is Petco and I don't want my snakes getting parasites.

D. I don't want to breed my own.

I've never understood why people doubt a snake's ability to eat.
Thousands of years of evolution have taught my snakes to kill live prey, and that is what they do.

As long as you don't leave a rat or mouse unsupervised for a long period of time, you're fine.

If give them their food and check in half an hour to see if they have eaten. If not, it's removed. 90% of the time they nail it in the first 30 seconds. I make sure the grip is good and the rat's not biting, and I leave them alone.

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Originally Posted by Kingofspades

I've never understood why people doubt a snake's ability to eat.
Thousands of years of evolution have taught my snakes to kill live prey, and that is what they do.

As long as you don't leave a rat or mouse unsupervised for a long period of time, you're fine.

If give them their food and check in half an hour to see if they have eaten. If not, it's removed. 90% of the time they nail it in the first 30 seconds. I make sure the grip is good and the rat's not biting, and I leave them alone.

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just because one feeds f/t doesn't mean that one doubts a snakes ability to catch and kill a live prey item. It does however prevent the slim chance that a prey item can bite back and injure the snake in the process. That's something we can do as responsible keepers is help prevent any un-necessary harm to our animals. It comes down to personal preference of the keeper and the snake, cause ultimately they have the last word on what they're going to eat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kingofspades

I've never understood why people doubt a snake's ability to eat.
Thousands of years of evolution have taught my snakes to kill live prey, and that is what they do.

As long as you don't leave a rat or mouse unsupervised for a long period of time, you're fine.

If give them their food and check in half an hour to see if they have eaten. If not, it's removed. 90% of the time they nail it in the first 30 seconds. I make sure the grip is good and the rat's not biting, and I leave them alone.

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It's really a convenience thing for me. When I got my first BP I was told she only ate live mice and instead of trying to switch her I feed her live. She never had a problem killing the mouse but it was such a pain to go to the store every week and some days they only had smaller ones. I tried keeping 3 of them for a while, but I think mice stink. It is much easier to take rat out of my freezer, warm it up and offer it to her. My BPs get feed on a consitant 6 day schedule now instead of the variable 6-10 day schedule. So I know my BPs could eat live, but it's easier for me to feed f/t.

I understand convenience. I was just talking about the people who are insanely worried about the snake getting hurt.
I also understand not wanting the snake to get messed up by a rat or mouse.

I am just saying I am not like that. Sorry if it came off a little preachy.

I've had one rat bite a snake, and it didn't even break the skin. Snake didn't care.
(Also, I stopped it once I saw it was happening. It bit twice.)

I breed my own mice and rats.

I will probably switch to F/t as my collection grows though, for convenience, but even then I will probably gas and freeze my own rodents.