Afraid to feed live

Im afraid to feed live mice cause im afraid my snake will get bit. I got a couple prekilled in the freezer right now was told to offer her one now but if I unthaw it and she dont eat it and she dont eat it I dont wanna waste food like that.

you can refreeze rodents once, maybe eve twice if your BP doesn't take it.

Them refusing a rodent is a risk that you take no matter what form it is in.

If you end up needing to feed live, just make sure you supervise the feeding. The only real risk with live is when the snake is left alone with a rodent.

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All I can tell you is you have a snake. Be prepared to have to Feed live at some point. I wouldn't worry about feeding live. Just watch the prey and have tongs in your hand to put in the preys mouth if the prey while being constricted bites. A mouse or rat doesn't just walk up to a snake and start nawing on it. Normally bites happen when the snake is killing the mouse. Just be watchful. I feed all 60+ of my snakes live rats and I use some mice. I haven't had a snake with even a minor bite in a long time. It happens sure. But you need to realize these animals can do things for themselves. Don't be scared of it. It's the way of the world.


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Sounds like you need another snake to act as garbage disposal. I suggest a bull snake, mine never refuse a meal and have no problem scarfing down a 2nd, 3rd or 4th helping in one sitting. You won't be wasting when your BP doesn't eat but your food bill will grow exponentially if you add a pituophis to your collection.

I've fed over 15K live prey items and NEVER intervened in the kill. Pardon the pun, but IMHO that's just overkill.

If you have to feed live, make sure the mouse or rat is well fed and hydrated and remove about 20 or 30 later if not eaten.

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i live in a apt n dont have room for a bunch of snakes. i was thinking of buying a male n female mouse.

There are a few keys when it comes to live feeding and ensure the safety of your animal.

1# Feeding a rodent that is the appropriate size, never feed something too large, in case of a BP you will never need to feed an adult anything really larger than a medium rat which his about 125 grams.

2# Make sure the rodent is fed and well hydrated prior to being fed of.

3# Enticing the snake by pre-scenting the room.

4# Supervising feeding, remove any an eaten prey after 20 minutes.


I feed a few thousands of live rats each year and have done so for a few years now and none of my snake has ever sustain any injuries that would require my intervention.

And remember owning a snake mean being willing to feed live when needed. :gj:

Im thawing a mouse right now last she ate was a small pinky on Saturday. Hope she is hungry.

Mice are a better meal than pinkies. I'm sure she will be hungry If that all she had for a meal. Pinkies are just not an appropriate sized meal for even the smallest hatchlings.


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she took it!

took like 3 minutes dangleing the hopper mouse by its tail n she striked!

Enjoying the meal

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/s...mailkjkjkj.jpg

I'm primarily a F/T feeder, but I have one that will only eat live right now. What that snake has shown me is just how good snakes are at dispatching the proper sized rat. It's a thing of beauty, from a certain perspective.

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Originally Posted by renee2287

took like 3 minutes dangleing the hopper mouse by its tail n she striked!

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It was wort the effort, I am sure...My Female allways eats live .

sometimes she "hems and haws" and yesterday she came "shooting out of her hide" to eat. it kind of caught me off my guard.....

Harry

Well bites happen.......I just fed my spider who is a aggressive eating machine. Well she got over aggressive shot in wild and hit the rat in the gut and wrapped up, well that left the mouth able to bite and it did immediately then was dead pretty soon after. There was a little blood but she's fine and dandy with a meal in her tummy.

I fed one of my het ghost females last night (they've only been fed live and I haven't tried to switch yet) and she struck wrong and the rat bit her, not a huge or super deep bite but enough that she bled a little. The second I saw its mouth was able to bite her I opened the tub and shoved the back end of my forceps down its throat until she had killed it completely. After she had finished eating I rubbed a bit of Neosporin W/O pain relief on it just to be sure.

This is why I prefer F/T over live and why I watch when they'll let me. Sorry for the slightly graphic post.

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One of mine got one in the middle the other day too. Little buggers was a weanling, and was biting at whatever he could with all he was worth for a short moment. Good thing I was there and it was my tongs in his mouth, not my snake. You just have to watch and be careful. They are very good at what they do though!

I feed my pastel live, and so far he hasn't struck it wrong, however he's really good about letting me watch him so I can keep an eye out to make sure he doesn't get bit up too bad.


Switched to rats from mice today with no problem!

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

One of mine got one in the middle the other day too. Little buggers was a weanling, and was biting at whatever he could with all he was worth for a short moment. Good thing I was there and it was my tongs in his mouth, not my snake. You just have to watch and be careful. They are very good at what they do though!

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Live prey being constricted aren't going to have much bite to them. They are more concerned with trying to get a breath. In my experience, it may look like they are getting in good bites, but in reality, there's very little force behind it. I still don't intervene.

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Originally Posted by Coleslaw007

I rubbed a bit of Neosporin W/O pain relief on it just to be sure.

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a good idea.

Harry

As you should be! I am just stating what I do and I am not saying that feeding live is wrong it is just wrong for me. I do not feed live ever! I have thousands of $$$ invested in my BP collection and I will not risk any of them losing an eye or getting bit getting infected and possible death. I know other breeders have fed live hundreds of thousands of times without incident, I am not one of them!!!

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Originally Posted by luijibored

As you should be! I am just stating what I do and I am not saying that feeding live is wrong it is just wrong for me. I do not feed live ever! I have thousands of $$$ invested in my BP collection and I will not risk any of them losing an eye or getting bit getting infected and possible death. I know other breeders have fed live hundreds of thousands of times without incident, I am not one of them!!!

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I also have thousands of dollars invested in my collection, and if my personal experience showed that there was any risk for ME to feed live, I wouldn't.

I don't try to talk anyone into a feeding method that is uncomfortable for them, but I do have low tolerance for anti-live feeding discussions, when I know that there are many of us who do so safely and without incident, week after week, year after year (this comment is not at the person I quoted directly - but a general statement).

I participate in these discussions to share MY experience in feeding off over 15K live prey items (actually by this time, it's probably well over that number), and to not let newer members get told that they're wrong if they choose to feed live.

Each individual, such as yourself, has to decide the method of feeding that they are most comfortable with and that their animals will accept.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I participate in these discussions to share MY experience in feeding off over 15K live prey items (actually by this time, it's probably well over that number), and to not let newer members get told that they're wrong if they choose to feed live.

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Well said and well done rabernet, thanks for sticking up for the new members like myself who have chosen to safely feed our snakes live.

I feed my snakes live and have never once *knock on wood* had one of my snakes receive a bite. I stand there with tongs until the rodent stops moving just in case, but it's never been a problem. I personally am very proud of my scale kids when they eat. I've watched their skills develop from when the were very young and am highly impressed by their aim. Lol. My Dumeril's Boa hits the head of her live feeder every single time. Took her a couple tries her first time with prey that could walk, but by the second week she hit the head dead on. It's truly amazing how skilled they are at what they do. I wish I had aim like they do...haha!

I will eventually switch my boas to F/T just because their prey will be so much larger than my balls, and I personally have no interest in dumping a live bunny or a jumbo rat in with the snake. /I/ don't want to risk a bite personally. :P But my BPs will probably still get live. It's easier for me to get and easier to keep if it doesn't get eaten. I don't mind mice or rats hanging out for a couple weeks if need be. I keep a cage for just such an occasion. But that's me. It might not work for everyone.