never before seen!!!!

were you guys excited? it's just Apollo eating. got some shots this time... i was too busy crying last Sunday to pay attention to how he hunts. i didn't cry this time, and i was right up there with my camera, studying him. he's such a cutie...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...pollomouse.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...1/MVC-563F.jpg

look at my little chubster!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...1/MVC-564F.jpg

the poor mouse was going to die anyways. it had something wrong with its hips, looked like it had gotten smashed in the glass or something.

that was Apollo's last time (hopefully) eating live. next Sunday... Operation Kill-mouse

CUTE! I know how you feel about the crying, I cried once a week for 7 months about feeding.

Girls.... so sensitive.... too sensitive....J/K

Hey now.... I bought 10 mice from Petco(they were only $.99) and did away with all of them in about 10 minutes...I have no problems with death. I guess that's why I can study the major that I do :)

What do you study ?

Veterinary Technology. We have to deal with death pretty much every day. Doesn't bother me anymore.

Ohh thats really cool.

Anyways, back on topic, glad to see apollo is eating for you angela. :D he is such a cutie, his pattern is awesome, is he het for anything ??

i believe she has mentioned that he is het for albino.

allright, here's where I get curious... I've been told differently by everyone else, and don't know what to believe anymore. The Vet Store place told me to feed live, and all my friends and relatives eat live. Am I supposed to feed ****z dead mice? She's grown up on live mice, to enhance the predatoristic (yeah that's the word I was lookin for) tendancies..that's what the pet store lady told me to do. She won't eat dead mice though..I tried a few months ago when I was first told to feed dead. I watch the hunt, so the rats don't bite my baby, but...what's the deal?!?!??!?

its best to feed them dead, for the health of ur snake

could that be why she's so underweight? and, if she's been brought up on alive, will she eat the dead ones? how would I do that?

This had been brought up so many times its not even funny, LOL

I really wouldent listen to any pet store person really, the main reason the feed live is becuase they dont have enough time to Thaw out all that frozen food and feed it, it is easier to drop in a live mouse and walk away (which you shouldent) which they do.

A bite can happen in a second, before you even have time to react, even if you watch the feeding, its still not 100 % safe.You just cant go wrong with a nice F/T mouse.

Its probobly not why she is under weight, both live and dead mice have the same nurtriants.

BTW: sorry for going so off topic on your thread angela ! :roll:

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Originally Posted by Brandon.O

sorry for going so off topic on your thread angela ! :roll:

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haha... i don't care. :)

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Originally Posted by Fuzzy^Poo

could that be why she's so underweight? and, if she's been brought up on alive, will she eat the dead ones? how would I do that?

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I don't know about the underweight thing... but Apollo has also been brought up on live. so far, i've only been able to feed him 3 times. the first time i couldn't get him to eat a frozen thawed for about 3 weeks, then he miraculously ate it. then, 2 weeks later, he wouldn't take it again, so i just went out and got a live mouse. yesterday when i fed him a live one, i watched how he hunted. next Sunday i'm going to get a live mouse but kill it myself by putting it in a pillow case and hitting it against a wall.... i don't know if he'll take it, but i'm going to try to hit it only hard enough to knock it out. that way, it's heart will still be beating, it can't hurt Apollo, and it won't know what happens.

So... if you wanted to switch to pre-killed, maybe you can try what i'm trying! i'm not gona let my little man stay on live, so i'll find SOME way to get him to eat if this doesn't work. :) i'll keep you updated if he eats the p/k one!!!

EDIT: haha i've edited this post like 6 times now, i always catch weird typos and other dumb mistakes i make AFTER i post. But, to answer your question, Brandon, he's 66% het for albino. i want him to get bigger now, so i can breed him and Pandora. i planned on getting a bigger male, so i wouldn't have to wait as long, but he was just so darn cute.. :)

i'm going to be studying vet technology too. :)

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Hey now.... I bought 10 mice from Petco(they were only $.99) and did away with all of them in about 10 minutes.

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I do the same thing, when my rats have a littler of babies. Whack it, bag it, and freeze it. After the 20th rat or so, you really don't care anymore. I don't do it to be cruel; I get the job done fast and it is no sweat.

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Originally Posted by Fuzzy^Poo

allright, here's where I get curious... I've been told differently by everyone else, and don't know what to believe anymore. The Vet Store place told me to feed live, and all my friends and relatives eat live.

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Unusual friends and family you have there. How about videotaping dinnertime and uploading it?

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Originally Posted by Fuzzy^Poo

Am I supposed to feed poo dead mice? She's grown up on live mice, to enhance the predatoristic (yeah that's the word I was lookin for) tendancies..that's what the pet store lady told me to do.

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Pet store lady obviously doesn't know what she's talking about. Pythons are naturally predatory and don't need their instincts or tendencies "enhanced" -- it's not as if you could choose to raise vegan pythons.

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Originally Posted by Fuzzy^Poo

She won't eat dead mice though..I tried a few months ago when I was first told to feed dead. I watch the hunt, so the rats don't bite my baby, but...what's the deal?!?!??!?

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You have to be persistent with it. You can't just drop in some thawed mouse, see if he feels like eating it, then give up. It takes time and effort with most snakes to get them converted, but it is worth the effort because it is safer in terms of attacks by prey, safer in terms of passing on parasites, more convenient in terms of buying prey, more convenient in terms of stocking prey, and more convenient in terms of what to do with one that doesn't get eaten.

Your snake can get badly bitten within seconds of coiling.
So even though you're watching him eat live ... You don't have time to do anything about the rat/mouse injuring your snake.

Not to mention that rats get very aggressive when they are about to get eaten. :shock:

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Originally Posted by Blink

Your snake can get badly bitten within seconds of coiling.
So even though you're watching him eat live ... You don't have time to do anything about the rat/mouse injuring your snake.

Not to mention that rats get very aggressive when they are about to get eaten. :shock:

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agreed. thats why i'm switching to p/k ASAP. theres no way im keeping my baby on live

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Originally Posted by Super_Smash

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Originally Posted by Blink

Your snake can get badly bitten within seconds of coiling.
So even though you're watching him eat live ... You don't have time to do anything about the rat/mouse injuring your snake.

Not to mention that rats get very aggressive when they are about to get eaten. :shock:

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agreed. thats why i'm switching to p/k ASAP. there's no way im keeping my baby on live

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New Borns actually stay on live for a while, till they get switched over ...
When I got my hets, they were eating live ... :cry:
You can try switching over straight to F/T, but your best bet would be P/K.

There are both pros and cons to live.

Pros:
-more vitamin C (than f/t, not prekill)
-better stimulate feeding response. a ball python that will take dead will always take live. the converse is not true.
-no need to thaw, and can be reused if not eaten

Cons:
-chance of injury to your snake

My conclusion? Do whatever's right for you.

If you have ready access to live mice but your ball python will accept dead, feed it prekilled.

Some ball pythons will not feed when you are near. Others will not feed unless their prey is moving. There really is no way to feed dead to ball pythons who are both of these, so you have no choice but to feed live.

Now, I'm sure some people might disagree with this, but I have lately moved more towards feeding live. This is because I have a dozen snakes to feed, and it's very time consuming to feed them frozen/thawed. Firstly, I have to do multiple thawings; in case some refuse f/t, I can only thaw out a few at first, and offer them to my snakes from order of worst feeder to best. Once all the poor f/t feeders have eaten, I then thaw out enough for those who are good f/t feeders. In addition, doing mousey dances for each and everyone is a hassle to be doing on a weekly basis. Since I also don't have a lot of freezer space, I can't order enough rats at a time to make it economical. Then I have snakes that will only take live no matter what, so no matter what I will have to use live anyway. If I still just had the one bp though, I would definitely be feeding him f/t. Ippo (my first) is by far the best f/t feeder, coming out of his hide right away as soon as he smells it, and coming right up to it and striking immediately.

With that said, there's a right way and there's a wrong way to feed live, so always use care and common sense.

Hhw, they sell vitamin C spray.
So that really isn't a pro for live.
And it's not true a ball that takes dead will not always take live.
For example, one of my female balls NEVER strikes ... She won't even get near the food if you tangle it ... you have to drop it ... and let her find the head.

Thawed out food can also we refrozen, better yet ... freeze pre-killed prey that was not taken.

Just knowing the fact that your snake can be injured is enough to make you switch to pre-killed or thawed/frozen.

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Originally Posted by Blink

New Borns actually stay on live for a while, till they get switched over ...
When I got my hets, they were eating live ... :cry:
You can try switching over straight to F/T, but your best bet would be P/K.

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he won't take f/t, which is why i'm hoping he'll eat p/k

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Originally Posted by Blink

Hhw, they sell vitamin C spray.
So that really isn't a pro for live.

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I believe it has to be injected to be effective.

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And it's not true a ball that takes dead will not always take live.
For example, one of my female balls NEVER strikes ... She won't even get near the food if you tangle it ... you have to drop it ... and let her find the head.

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Just because she won't take it dangled doesn't mean she won't take it live.

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Thawed out food can also we refrozen, better yet ... freeze pre-killed prey that was not taken.

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Refrozen rodents are usually the cause of split stomachs.

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Just knowing the fact that your snake can be injured is enough to make you switch to pre-killed or thawed/frozen.

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Snakes get injured when you feed them live the wrong way. Not that they can't be injured when feeding the right way, but the already small odds are greatly diminished.

Like I said though, if I were still keeping one ball python, or even 3 or 4 I would feed frozen/thawed in a heartbeat. However, with 10 or more feeding frozen/thawed becomes much less attractive.

What's the right way of feeding live?
Educate us all.

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Originally Posted by Blink

What's the right way of feeding live?
Educate us all.

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I highly doubt hhw feeds live. I'm sure he probably feeds his stock p/k, which is what we do at our house as well. He also hit a very valid point i was about to bring up, When you have a large amount of snakes to feed on a regular basis.....f/t isn't the easiest way to do it. Personally if I cant get a snake in our stock to take a freshly killed rodent, we'll normally just offer it a "stunned" rodent, which generally is still alive, but usually in a condition where it wont be a source of potential danger, they may not necessarily be a humane way of feeding, but when dealing with finicky and sometimes expensive snakes, it gets the job done. I know when it comes to our breeding stock, i care alot more about their well being, than the feeder rodents that we breed :\

No, he mentioned he feeds live lately. :)