For ALL New Owners Who FEED LIVE!!!!

I see many NEWBIES that feed live that dont have the slighest clue about the rodent attacking.

Well i made a video of my male who is a picky eater. I feed him live at times and the video shows you to be there at all times ready for the unexpected. He wasnt harmed at all as i checked right after he got the mouse down.

YouTube - REX EATING MOUSE

i personally never had a problem with that, but now that i se it i will most definately go with f/t from now on. good vid

Im not here to Persuade you away from live. Just be Responsible about it and not leave the rodent in TOO long.

And this is why

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/d...ed%20live1.JPG

OMG that is disgusting.

I feed live and never leave for a second, even with my vacuum of a hondo-milk. I've tried f/t with a few and they won't have it. I am working on getting a CO2 chamber and trying to switch them, but in the meantime, I watch.

no Need for CO2 Chambers. just use dry ice with a lil warm water in a bowl.

Not trying to throw off threads topic so try to stay on the Topic.

Unforunately it does happen :(

My boa was always fed live and I did for two feedings after I rescued him as I was in the process of learning myself. Well the rat bit him. It wasn't bad at all and only left a like 1/4 inch little puncture that I cleaned daily until it healed, but still it could have been a lot worse. After that I switched him to F/T. He didn't eat for two weeks, but I didn't let up as he was an adult and wouldn't lose that much weight by not eating once or twice. He did end up switching after two times of refusing.

My baby ball python was on live when we got her. We switched her over to F/T after her second meal with us. Then we gave her two F/T mice feedings before switching her to rats.

I feed live most of the time because of super picky eating. But I am right there wight a pencil to jam in the rats mouth if it tries to bite my snake.

Actually last week, my mojo nailed the rat and he coiled it in a way that didn't allow me to see where the rats mouth was, but apparently the rat had bit my mojo while being constricted. There was a decent amount of blood but he's fine now... I'm not a huge fan of feeding live simply because of the safety issue to the snake, but with the picky eaters, sometimes it's just gotta be done.

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Originally Posted by JeffJ

And this is why

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/d...ed%20live1.JPG

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Just like to chime in that that isn't the result of feeding live, that is the result of feeding irresponsibly and being a terrible owner. Feeding live does have risks no doubt, but responsible live feeding minimizes those risk. That would never ever happen to a responsible owner who fed live.

That picture is the Result of a owner leaving the Rodent in OVER NIGHT.

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Originally Posted by JeffJ

And this is why

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/d...ed%20live1.JPG

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And this is the photo that anti-live feeders like to use to scare people from feeding live. This animal was not a result of live feeding, but as a result of an owner leaving a live prey item in with the snake for DAYS, not as a result of prey fighting back.

The prey had no food in the enclosure for DAYS, and so ate the only thing available to it.

There's warning people about feeding live safely and then there's sensationalism. Let's not blow live feeding out of proportion.

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Originally Posted by JeffJ

And this is why

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/d...ed%20live1.JPG

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How come the snake just let the rat/mouse do that?

Some say Pythons cant feel pain around the spine which is where the rodents attack most. Also will have to factor in the fact the snake is soo stressed out and scared that it'll ball up and allow for the attack without defending it self.


I live feed 2 snakes weekly with supervision at all times.

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Originally Posted by Chris Rossi

How come the snake just let the rat/mouse do that?

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ball pythons don't have any instinct really for defense except balling up. they will rarely strike. though they can.

Thanks Robin for once again being the voice of reason.

Hungry rodents do desparate things to survive even eat each other. Putting a dehyrated or starving rodent in with your snake unattended is not a good idea. Those who know how to feed live responsibly never have problems. People who let there snake get mutilated, like in that photo, are very irresponsible snake keepers.

Feeding live and feeding dumb are two different things.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

I see many NEWBIES that feed live that dont have the slighest clue about the rodent attacking.

Well i made a video of my male who is a picky eater. I feed him live at times and the video shows you to be there at all times ready for the unexpected. He wasnt harmed at all as i checked right after he got the mouse down.

YouTube - REX EATING MOUSE

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My only critique with this video, and it's only because I'm seriously anal retentive about giving new owners advice, is that I would have used tongs or hemostats instead of picking the prey up by the tail and then feeding. I really love Adam Wysocki's video of how to feed. That's exactly how I feed.

But, overall, it was a pretty decent show. -Shrugs.-

YouTube - 8 Ball Pythons - Feeding Lessons

The best advice I can give people who want to get their ball pythons or future ball pythons to eat F/T is simply ask the person who you plan on buying the snake from to do the switch for you or ask if any already eat frozen. I have 6 ball pythons and two of them were live only feeders and the breeder helped me out with the switch before they shipped the snake. I think it saves you time and frustration.

The above pic is what happens when rodents are left in with snake, poor snake.

I feed live and it's always supervised, to the point that if I can't see the rodents face/mouth when the snake is coiled I will turn the snake over to make sure the rodent didn't get ahold of the snake.

i feed live and always dangle the prey from tongs, my BP has gotten pretty good at grabbing the prey directly on the mouth essentialy pinning the mouth shut. i've never had a bite so far and hope i never will.
i have tried feeding f/t to no avail, and when i got snake it was extreemly under weight so i really couldn't wait it out to see if it would finally take f/t without jeprodising the health of the snake, i guess we all do what we have to.

I'm not getting into this thread as a supporter for either side as if you search my posts you will see my views on it. I feed live to everything I own its much easier and frankly I don't have the time to prekill everything I feed. If you don't get bored and stay with your animals while your feeding then accidents shouldn't happen as sever as the earlier posted picture that in a picture of a BP that was left with a hunger mouse/rat for a long period of time, you don't have to be a Harvard grad to know that.

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Originally Posted by JeffJ

And this is why

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/d...ed%20live1.JPG

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Jeff, not to start a debate here but seriously I can post 20, 50, 100 pictures of my healthy, live fed snakes. I took those pics of my snakes not being harmed by being fed live. I can attest to their true representation.

That picture is one that no one in all my years online can even give me the true and full history on. No one has ever said "that picture came first in this post from this member on this forum". It simply just exists and gets posted in every live vs f/t debate.

I'm not debating that feeding live can be done irresponsibly (as can f/t and p/k for that matter). Really though any decision we make for these snakes can be either responsible and well thought or dumb as a stump. Sometimes live feeding is done by an owner that didn't take the time to learn much of anything about his snake or the animals it preys upon and that's a very sad thing and most likely what created that picture (though I still want the providence on it).

That just wrecked my stomach.

Breaks my heart seeing things like that...

Yes, that is one disturbing image. Anyone who would leave prey in long enough to do that kind of damage should not be keeping anything. I would however hate for any new owner (per the title) think that this is what will happen if they feed live. When done responsibly that type of thing would never happen. I've had in the past and currently have an animal or two that would only eat live and I can show you current photos of them looking gorgeous and healthy. I prefer to feed f/t and pretty much everything I have will take that with no issue, however, I will feed live RESPONSIBLY when necessary. Again, for new owners I always recommend f/t but also will say that live can be done safely....as proven by many owners here who have successfully fed live for years.

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Originally Posted by JeffJ

And this is why

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/b/jbuncc/d...ed%20live1.JPG

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That is an extreme situation...

...pick almost anything in the world, and I will show you an extreme.

We shouldn't drive cars anymore, see what can happen:

http://www.b-p.org/challenger/Car_crash_1.jpg

BrandonsBalls

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Originally Posted by Chris Rossi

How come the snake just let the rat/mouse do that?

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Where do you expect a snake to go that is enclosed in a cage/tub/terrarium etc? When balls are scared, they ball up. Which is not a very good defense...

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Jeff, not to start a debate here but seriously I can post 20, 50, 100 pictures of my healthy, live fed snakes. I took those pics of my snakes not being harmed by being fed live. I can attest to their true representation.

That picture is one that no one in all my years online can even give me the true and full history on. No one has ever said "that picture came first in this post from this member on this forum". It simply just exists and gets posted in every live vs f/t debate.

I'm not debating that feeding live can be done irresponsibly (as can f/t and p/k for that matter). Really though any decision we make for these snakes can be either responsible and well thought or dumb as a stump. Sometimes live feeding is done by an owner that didn't take the time to learn much of anything about his snake or the animals it preys upon and that's a very sad thing and most likely what created that picture (though I still want the providence on it).

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i luckily dont have a picture of a personally owned chewed on snake. (thank god) but i feed responsibly.
no debate here :P i feed live. Im just showing the aftermath. which was the only good example of a bad ending (and very much posted everywhere) that picture wasnt meant to say dont feed live, but rather to show what can happen if you "forget" about the rat in there or what have you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BrandonsBalls

That is an extreme situation...

...pick almost anything in the world, and I will show you an extreme.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BrandonsBalls

We shouldn't drive cars anymore, see what can happen:

http://www.b-p.org/challenger/Car_crash_1.jpg

BrandonsBalls

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thats cool. we all can get pictures of extreme situation.

your talking to me like im some person who hates live feeding and thinks its evil. well your incorrect in your assumption i feed strictly live my self.

and that photo i posted. was of a Snake that go chewed by something. yes it was extreme. but its also an example and since i don't have any personal occurrences of this issue, i also dont have any photos. but im sorry you felt offended by the picture i posted and felt the need to take it to the next level under the ASSUMPTION i was trying to be the monkey on every ones back about feeding live.