Live or F/T?

Well I really dont like feeding live but my Shyman loves live prey he dont even get them 5 second on move! What do you prefer to feed?

My 1.0 pastel seems to prefer live (the one time I offered f/the refused it) but I want to switch him to f/t because during the last feeding the pup rat started trying to bite him

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Ive never fed frozen/thawed but my BPs seem to do very well on live. 3 of my established BPs eat live very well. And my newest snake took her first meal without a problem. For me live is a good fit for my situation.

They're always going to act more excited around live prey, but if they take f/t then that's the best route IMO. I know for some snakes that's not an option, but you avoid the issue of potential injury and since they've been frozen for awhile any potential parasites should be killed as well.

All of my snakes eat f/t. I prefer that, in my opinion safer for the snake, kinder for the prey (if killed humanely, which I know they were since I have my own colony), and I don't have to sit and watch (some of my snakes don't like being watched and won't eat if I'm present).

We have 25 snakes, six eat live but I'm working on converting them, and the rest will take either F/T or a live feeder if one of the others decides it's not hungry that week. With that many snakes it's convenient to purchase frozen feeders in bulk every few months, and I don't have to worry about keeping live feeders in the house.

I prefer what works and what is convenient, since I breed my own feeder I feed live rats, except to one girl that will not eat anything but f/t :confusd:. Non ball pythons gets f/t or live, depending on what I have on hand.

My local mom & pop pet store sells frozen rodents so if I had only 1 snake f/t would still be a good option. But if that's not the case, live is probably more convenient. It's not economical to buy frozen online in small quantities and Petco and Petsmart charge $4 a piece for frozen mice. Live around here are $2. Really a snake killing an appropriately sized rodent is no more inhumane then them being gassed, IMO.

All of my snakes at the moment are not picky eaters at all, so I generally tend to prefer feeding FT - easy to keep, cheap to buy in bulk, and not dangerous at all. However, I do every now and then pick up a live mouse for them, just to spice things up.

To be honest, I don't think they can tell the difference since they don't even give it a chance to touch the enclosure floor.

I feed F/T. Right now I only have one snake so buying a few rats every month isn't all that expensive. Even if I add more snakes in the future I will still stick with F/T. I just don't have the heart to throw a live rat in with a snake. I know it's weird but I used to have pet rats and I just couldn't do it. If it's already dead when I get it,I'm ok feeding it lol.

live. frozen/thawed is wasteful (if someone doesnt eat), and thawing out 20 rats every feeding day doesnt sound like too much fun. plus i enjoy keeping and feeding the rats. the only one of mine that gets f/t is the retic, and that's simply because once he gets up to rabbits i want him to be used to taking f/t.

I prefer live. F/T is a waste of freezer space and time for me. If I fed f/t, it would take me hours to feed my snakes compared to the few minutes it takes me to feed live. Plus if a snake doesn't eat, I can just save the live feeder for next week. Refreezing and rethawing feeders is kind of nasty so saving the live rodent is definitely a plus.

Its also cheaper for me to breed my own food than buy f/t. Not to mention my rats get quality care and diet so I know what kind of food my snakes are eating.
And who knows how long rats are dead before they are frozen.




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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

, any potential parasites should be killed as well.

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Perhaps the adults. But parasite eggs can lay dormant and survive under frozen conditions. They then hatch when thawed out to body temp.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

i prefer live. F/t is a waste of freezer space and time for me. If i fed f/t, it would take me hours to feed my snakes compared to the few minutes it takes me to feed live. Plus if a snake doesn't eat, i can just save the live feeder for next week. Refreezing and rethawing feeders is kind of nasty so saving the live rodent is definitely a plus.




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x2

I buy f/t. this way I have food in storage for a month and don't have to worry about trying to get live feeders between my work and school schedule. Also, its great knowing that my bp will take frozen and I don't have to worry about any potential injuries with rats. Its deff more convenient.

The majority of my BP's will happily take both live and f/t, I mostly feed live since I breed my own feeder rats but I don't produce enough to feed all my snakes and have to outreach within the local herp community for those exta feeders every week. Since most of us feed live we all tend to experience feeder shortages at the same time, this is where my f/t stock comes in handy. Also I generally feed my big girls f/t anyways because its been easier for me to acquire med/large rats frozen, not many people have them big enough often enough for me and the pet stores that do have them waaaaaaay overcharge.

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Originally Posted by jenna d

Also I generally feed my big girls f/t anyways because its been easier for me to acquire med/large rats frozen, not many people have them big enough often enough for me and the pet stores that do have them waaaaaaay overcharge.

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That's a good point, the local pet store wants $5-6 for a medium and $8 for a large breeder rat female past her prime, where if I buy in bulk f/t I can get the price down to $3 each even with shipping.

All of mine are on F/T. I prefer it to live. I picked up an Emperor Pin back in '11 and she was on live. It took me almost 2 months to finally get her converted. I got lucky this time I suppose considering some just like the thrill... I do tug on the tail a few times, just don't let her know that. :)

I only have my one girl, and in the situation I'm in living-wise, I don't see myself getting many more, so f/t works for me right now- it's less then two dollars for the two small mice I get every week and they don't take a ton of freezer space.

I personally don't like feeding live because constriction is a terrible way to go and not very humane, and with a bigger prey animal, there is a risk (even slight) of something going wrong and MY animal getting hurt... which is a silly vet bill to get IMO. If that's the only way the snake eats, it's the way the snake eats and I'll do it, but if I have the choice I'd probably go for an animal that's already on f/t. It may not be 'natural' but... my snake lives in 10L with an Iron Man background, a dragon head hide and plastic plants with me controlling her heat and humidity. There's nothing about her situation that is 'natural'.

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Originally Posted by sunshinenorcas

I only have my one girl, and in the situation I'm in living-wise, I don't see myself getting many more, so f/t works for me right now- it's less then two dollars for the two small mice I get every week and they don't take a ton of freezer space.

I personally don't like feeding live because constriction is a terrible way to go and not very humane, and with a bigger prey animal, there is a risk (even slight) of something going wrong and MY animal getting hurt... which is a silly vet bill to get IMO. If that's the only way the snake eats, it's the way the snake eats and I'll do it, but if I have the choice I'd probably go for an animal that's already on f/t. It may not be 'natural' but... my snake lives in 10L with an Iron Man background, a dragon head hide and plastic plants with me controlling her heat and humidity. There's nothing about her situation that is 'natural'.

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Actually in a constriction, the rat releases endorphins which does dull its senses. So its not as bad as you think. Nature has ways to be as efficient as possible. And some f/t rats die horrible deaths from improper use of CO2(some awful people even put their live rats straight into the freezer without euthanizing them first. Pretty agonizing). If the gas was rapidly distributed, it does not put the animal to sleep first. The animal panics and suffocates immediately. Plus CO2 is not painless. Yes, it is the most humane out of all the euthanasia methods, but not painless. It stings the eyes, nose, and sinuses. Similar to having soda go up your nose, but the sensation not stopping.

And rule of thumb with live, feed the appropriate sized prey. Aka no large rats. Many people here won't feed larger than a small to an adult ball python. Medium at the very very most. Smaller rats are younger, thus more naive to danger and will not attack or fight. Its the adults that pack a punch, but is a prey that should not be fed to ball pythons.

If fed responsibly, live can be just as safe as f/t. And f/t isn't risk free either. There are plenty of snakes who have died from f/t feeders.

I think people should feed what works for them whether its live or f/t. But just be aware of what's going on and the risks with both methods and how to do both safely and responsibly.

Just some insight and my $.02.

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Deleted for double post

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Originally Posted by satomi325

I prefer live. F/T is a waste of freezer space and time for me. If I fed f/t, it would take me hours to feed my snakes compared to the few minutes it takes me to feed live. Plus if a snake doesn't eat, I can just save the live feeder for next week. Refreezing and rethawing feeders is kind of nasty so saving the live rodent is definitely a plus.

Its also cheaper for me to breed my own food than buy f/t. Not to mention my rats get quality care and diet so I know what kind of food my snakes are eating.
And who knows how long rats are dead before they are frozen.




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^^^^This X2 - I hate thawing out frozen.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Actually in a constriction, the rat releases endorphins which does dull its senses. So its not as bad as you think. Nature has ways to be as efficient as possible. And some f/t rats die horrible deaths from improper use of CO2(some awful people even put their live rats straight into the freezer without euthanizing them first. Pretty agonizing). If the gas was rapidly distributed, it does not put the animal to sleep first. The animal panics and suffocates immediately. Plus CO2 is not painless. Yes, it is the most humane out of all the euthanasia methods, but not painless. It stings the eyes, nose, and sinuses. Similar to having soda go up your nose, but the sensation not stopping.

And rule of thumb with live, feed the appropriate sized prey. Aka no large rats. Many people here won't feed larger than a small to an adult ball python. Medium at the very very most. Smaller rats are younger, thus more naive to danger and will not attack or fight. Its the adults that pack a punch, but is a prey that should not be fed to ball pythons.

If fed responsibly, live can be just as safe as f/t. And f/t isn't risk free either. There are plenty of snakes who have died from f/t feeders.

I think people should feed what works for them whether its live or f/t. But just be aware of what's going on and the risks with both methods and how to do both safely and responsibly.

Just some insight and my $.02.

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Oh no issue :) What are the dangers of f/t? Which sounds stupid, I just haven't heard any, other then heating the thawing the mouse improperly so it's way to warm and can burn the animal.

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Originally Posted by sunshinenorcas

Oh no issue :) What are the dangers of f/t? Which sounds stupid, I just haven't heard any, other then heating the thawing the mouse improperly so it's way to warm and can burn the animal.

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Too hot and you burn your snake, or the rat's skin gets weak and it bursts when the snake constricts it. This can also happen if it gets freezer burned. Also, if you don't completely warm up the feeder so it's still cold/frozen inside, it can make your snake sick or kill it.

Yup. If the core of the feeder is still cold or frozen, you can send your snake's system into shock. It can lead to death.

There are a few people on this forum(non active or irregular members) who have experienced this.

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