Feed my snake from frozen to live

I want to start feeding my snake live food because, I feel it is more like what they do in the wild. How should I change my snake from pree killed to live?

Place a live rat in the cage.

Frozen is better in my opinion because the freezing process will kill any unwanted creatures living in or on the mice/rats. Plus you can buy in bulk so you always have them on hand. I have snakes that only eat live and i have snakes that eat F/T. And i wish they all ate frozen.

If feeding frozen/thawed is working out for you, there's really no reason to switch. If its eating, then the snake is content with the food source. Trust me, it's not sitting around in its enclosure wishing a live rodent would wander in. ;)

If you really feel like you need to switch to live....then please do so carefully. Be sure the rodent is the right size for your snake and not too big. (The bigger the rodent, the more risk it presents) Treat the rodent carefully...you don't want it too freaked out and already on the defensive when it goes into the snake's enclosure. If you can provide it some food and water before you feed it off, all the better. You don't want a hungry rat doing taste-tests on your snake.

Finally...when you place the rodent in there, you have to stay and watch and make sure the snake actually eats the rodent. If more than a few minutes (20-30 at the very most) go by and the snake doesn't eat it, then you MUST get the live rodent out of the cage.

If you leave a live rodent in there (with the exception of pinks that are helpless) it WILL pose a very serious risk to your snake's well being.

One of the downsides of feeding live is what to do with the rodent if the snake doesn't eat it. Be sure you have a plan for that before you try it. Your snake(s) may very well freak out at their first encounter with a live rodent in their face.

Good luck with it.

Stick with frozen

Reason 1: Cheaper
Reason 2: Healthier (frozen rats don't have disease, frozen rats don't fight back)
Reason 3: Much easier to grab a rat out of the freezer than having to go to the store
Reason 4: Easier to get a hold of (some pet stores constantly run out of the size needed)

The reason I do not like feeding it frozen is because, I don't like when he stirkes because I feel like he is going to bite me.... It freaks me out. I find it easier just to put it a mouse in there...

first of all, when owning snakes you can't be scared of them biting you. It should happen sooner or later at least once.

Second, get a pair of hemostats, long tweezers, feeding tongs, chop sticks, something to hold the food with other than your hand. Boom, problem fixed.

Don't make a decision that could affect the health of your snake because you're afraid of something that is easily avoidable :D

Bites are no fun, and if your scared of the snake, that cannot be much fun either... Please don't take this post the wrong way (I am having a beer with you right now), but feed properly live or frozen, protect your snake. This means if he eats live, then as suggested treat the food item fairly, make sure your snake is protected and safe. A scared rat or mouse can do damage, freak your snake out, and cause other feeding and husbandry issues.

We feed frozen for many reasons... we feel it is healthier, and safer for the snake. It is easier to store food items and cheaper. It allows my six year old to maintain his interest in nature (not scare him, but help him understand - which I do not believe may kids get to do enough these days) and his pets.

We feed with a pair of $5 long tweezers, snake thankfully eats very readily with no delay, and my boy feed him/her for the first time last evening.

Sorry for the long post but this Stone IPA is tasty.

I have tweezer, but I do like the when they strike..So I like move it around on the groundt.takes me over an hour just to feed him. Is it like hard strike when they try to get the dangly mouse? I have never done it...

I'm with some of the people who would love all of their kids to do frozen thawed. All of my kids eat live, and it's a very stressful thing...for both the snakes and I. Yes, they eat live in the wild, but they've also been in captivity for quite a long time. I'm assuming your snake was captive born? I flip out every time I feed my snakes. I watch them like a hawk, make sure they don't get bit, etc. It's scary for me. If my kids would eat frozen/thawed(I've tried on NUMEROUS occasions by the way), I would do it that way.

I cried the day that Ophi was bitten once. It was a tiny nick that bled for a millisecond, but it was heart-breaking to me. I doctored it up and made sure she was comfortable.

Believe me, if your snakes are eating frozen/thawed, count your blessings. Please.

I have one snake who eats live mice and all the others eat frozen thawed rats.

The snake who eats live mice has not been bitten and it is not stressful. I just simply put the mouse in the tub and close the tub. She eats the mouse. When she realigns her jaw, she gets another mouse. If she ever refuses the second mouse, I plop the mouse back into the mouse cage for the following week.

The snakes who eat f/t eat them off of hemostats and it's no big deal and each snake has a great feeding response.

I feed my boas f/t and have longer hemostats for them since- well- they're boas!!

Any advice on how to overcome the scareness of the strike?

This is how I feed my snake? I thaw the mouse then dropthe mouse in front of the snake, and then like move it, I do NOT dangle it because I am scared of the strike. Even with tweezers.

How do I overcome this, should I just try dangling it. Is it just like a little pull when they grab the mouse, please somone explain the feeling and if its kind of scary?

I think I know what you're talking about, every time my boa strikes at its prey I jump a little. I kind of feel like I might get struck sometimes too. I use hemostats and hold the rat by the tail, luring the snake to get a head strike. I try to keep the rat moving more than my hand as well. It's not too difficult to get used to, a few feedings will give you some confidence, just make sure you have respect for the snake. :cool:

It might help if it is warmed up more too, they can see thermal differences and would be less likely to be looking at your hand as prey. You can also use hemostats or longer feeding tongs.

Yes, I have 8 inch tongs, so when they strike is it like a tough pull or what? Can you tell me the feeling

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Originally Posted by Rarist

Any advice on how to overcome the scareness of the strike? Is it just like a little pull when they grab the mouse, please somone explain the feeling and if its kind of scary?

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Hey, I was in the same boat when I got my BP. I feed F/T as well, and the first few times I fed him he WOULDN'T strike. I'd leave the mouse on the side of his hide, and he'd just take it and eat it...no striking, no constricting. Well, the last few times I fed him I took some advice I read here on the Forum and pre-sented before I put the mouse in. First time I did it, I had the mouse on the end of the tongs and was about to just lay it on the hide like usual, when he struck the dog snot out of it...knocked it right out of the tongs and constricted it. Yeah, I jumped about 3 feet in the air, but realized that with the 10 inch tongs I use, plus the length of the mouse, that he can't miss a strike that bad.

My advice is two fold:

1) By a pair of Zoo Med 10 inch twezzers. That way when your BP hits the mouse it will most likely knock it out of the twezzers, and he's off to the races. Once the snake gets older and you have to feed heavier prey, you can move to hemostats, and just unlock the jaws after your snake hits the mouse. By that time you'll prolly wonder what made you nervous about it in the first place. Plus they make hemostats in a 24 inch model that would allow you to feed your snake from another room, almost. :D

2) Watch a LOT of snake feeding videos...Adam from 8BallPythons has a great one on his website, and Snakebytes TV has some good ones as well. Also, there are about 200 of them on YouTube. The reason I say watch a lot of these videos is that after time and exposure you'll get used to the strike. It's called emersion therapy. Take it from a guy who had a rough time in Afghanistan...emersion therapy works.

I have 8 inch tweezers they ok?

How big is your BP?

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Originally Posted by Rarist

Yes, I have 8 inch tongs, so when they strike is it like a tough pull or what? Can you tell me the feeling

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I'll try my best here... I can tell when "Micky" is about to strike, as noted he thus far is an avid eater, and strikes within a minute of me, or my son, putting the mouse in the tank. I have done pre-scenting in the past, but this one does not require it.

We have a bit of a ritual for feeding... remove water bowel, place brown paper bag paper on the floor in the "feed" zone. After a easy thaw (freezer to fridge in the AM, 10 minutes or so in a plastic baggie in a ware "mouse hot tub", then check - not hot, thawed) we lower into the enclosure by the base of the tail. We do this on the opposite side of his "hot" zone and he often "hunts" for the mouse, does not take long...

The strike is quick, not very hard (take two fingers and smack your other hands palm) and accurate, though his one miss yesterday was funny :)

I would say it is more of a tap, than a hit though I have had larger boas that struck hard, and some monitors that were tough birds. It is not a gentle act as it is made to capture, control and kill prey.

Very quick to coil and we give a slight tug as Micky then "makes sure" he has a good hold.

Take a look at some of the Eight Ball or BHB videos on YouTube

YouTube - 8 Ball Pythons - Feeding Lessons

YouTube - SnakeBytesTV-Snakes Striking, Snakes Feeding- Don't Watch!

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Originally Posted by Slim

How big is your BP?

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Not even a year old, very small...low weight.

A few things to consider is the HUGE inconvenience of feeding one snake live... finding the right sized prey, ensuring they places near you are stocked, ensuring you have a place near you, etc. etc. etc.

If he's eating FT consider yourself lucky. I have 15 FT eaters, and 25 live feeders, and I would love to have them all on FT.

Your snake is tracking 3 things...

1. Heat
2. Movement
3. Scent

Keep yourself out of the way, do not handle the rodent, and stay still.

If you have a good sized pair of tongs, then you'll be fine. But be cautious if you're worried about getting hit... you have arms right?

Keep the prey's strike in the opposite direction of you... stand to left... dangle the prey on the right.

If the snake does not have a line in which to strike you, then he simply cannot strike you.

Ensure that you are at least1.5 times the snake's lenght away... even if he unfurls and leaps (which he isn't going to do) then you cannot be hit.

As far as strikes... I have been bit a enough times to know that it is the shock of it more than the force of it. I would take a BP bite over a cat scratch or a rat bite any day.

You know those things they poke you with for a drop of blood... take 3 of those, jab yourself with them fast... that is a BP bite.

Feeding bites are different... the snake may coil and constrict... but feed properly and it will not happen. Educate yourself on what not to do, and do not do it, or do it... depends on how you're reading that.

Again, consider yourself lucky to have an FT eater.

I seriously hope you do not consider live feedings... coming up to the cage with a live prey and getting ready to drop it in... your chances of getting tagged are MUCH higher. I have had BPs meet me at the door and snatch rodents out of my hands when feeding live.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by Rarist

How should I change my snake from pree killed to live?

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Don't.


I switch live feeders to p/k.

Here's a great site for all sizes of hemostats: http://tongs.com/hemostat.aspx. I have the 24" ones for my boas :oops: Nothing says you can't use that length for your snake too :)