Dangers Of Feeding Live? Please Read

[bmezzo]

I posted here a while ago about having trouble transferring my new snake to F/T prey since he's eaten live his entire two years of life before I had him. I got a lot of good tips but ultimately he kept refusing to take it until we finally decided to get a live rat and try that, and he struck it almost immediately and had no problems eating it, which leads me to where I am now, about to go buy another live rat today.

What I'd like to know is, is feeding live really as awful and dangerous as everyone says it is? I'd like to eventually try to transfer him to pre-killed/frozen and thawed prey but he's hungry right now and he's lost some weight since I last weighed him and I'm just not willing to let him starve because he refuses to eat pre-killed. But also, I'm terrified of him getting hurt eating live, I know even under my careful supervision there's a chance the rat could do something to him and I'm just so scared to let that happen.

So I guess what I'm looking for is for someone to ease my anxiety and let me know that my snake isn't gonna die from eating live, and that me feeding him live doesn't make me a bad owner. Also if anyone has any tips for feeding snakes live, or even just feeding in general, that would be great.

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[redshepherd]

Under close supervision, as long as you're always 100% ready to intervene and grab the rat out as soon as something seems to be going wrong, then eating live isn't so awful and terrible.

And it's good that your snake is the kind that strikes and coils instantly and doesn't wait around.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Over the last few years I have roughly fed 25000 live preys to my adults and old backs (not counting any animal that I have hatched and sold) and I never experienced issues, this is not luck many other are doing the same with identical results.

Sure here and there for the past decade (since forums have gained popularity) you will see an horrible picture pop up however this type of picture does not reflect live feeding but IRRESPONSIBILITY. (Someone might even post one this very thread to try to make a point )

Remember the majority of what you hear regarding live feeding is based on hearsay and rarely actual experience.

Live feeding is about being knowledgeable and being responsible.

Here are a few important things

If you buy your feeders, feed them and give them water prior to feeding (allow 2 to 4 hours before feeding them off)

Leave the rodents nearby your snake enclosure, scenting will entice the snake to eat.

Do not feed an oversize prey even the biggest BP does not need anything bigger than a small/medium rat. Adult male will do well with a small rat.

Do not stress the prey, do not taser or knock out the the prey.

Feed your snake inside it's enclosure, monitor feeding and remove the prey if not eaten within 15 min


*Note: I am not pro live I feed F/T to my Colubrids and I keep a handful of BP on F/T as well for when I produce too many rats.

[200xth]

I posted here a while ago about having trouble transferring my new snake to F/T prey since he's eaten live his entire two years of life before I had him. I got a lot of good tips but ultimately he kept refusing to take it until we finally decided to get a live rat and try that, and he struck it almost immediately and had no problems eating it, which leads me to where I am now, about to go buy another live rat today.

What I'd like to know is, is feeding live really as awful and dangerous as everyone says it is? I'd like to eventually try to transfer him to pre-killed/frozen and thawed prey but he's hungry right now and he's lost some weight since I last weighed him and I'm just not willing to let him starve because he refuses to eat pre-killed. But also, I'm terrified of him getting hurt eating live, I know even under my careful supervision there's a chance the rat could do something to him and I'm just so scared to let that happen.

So I guess what I'm looking for is for someone to ease my anxiety and let me know that my snake isn't gonna die from eating live, and that me feeding him live doesn't make me a bad owner. Also if anyone has any tips for feeding snakes live, or even just feeding in general, that would be great.

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The dangers are blown out of proportion. People take a picture of a 1 in 5 million event and try to make it seem common. It's akin to me showing you a single pic of a car crash and telling you you should never drive anywhere for any reason.

Done right, living feed is safe. Deborah posted what you need to do.

I asked someone on this forum who has been keeping snakes for 30 years if he has ever had to intervene to save one of his snakes from it's food or had a snake injured by it's food.

The response:

"Never. Don't personally know anyone who has either."

If you take some basic precautions, your snake will be fine.

[Darkbird]

WellWell, not much I can add since Deb pretty much said it all. Just going to add another who feeds live for a long time without ever having an issue. I feed F/T on occasion when I run short of feeders, but some of mine just won't take them, so they get live. And it's not for lack of trying, I get a lot of deals on snakes because they have feeding issues, or they are asf feeders, and I turn most of them into rat eating powerhouses. Just not all.

[AllThatInThemGenes]

I agree with ^
Right now I keep 45 balls and they all get live.

[wolfy-hound]

I feed almost all live with a couple getting pre-killed. I've seen rats bite the BP after it struck, but I don't remember ever seeing even a small wound.

I always put food in the rat bin prior to feedtime, and I drop in a rat and watch to see the BP strike properly. I have a snake hook to stick into a rat's jaws IF anything were to happen(like a bad strike and the BP doesn't properly coil the rodent).

The only time I've seen injuries(especially the horrendous half-eaten injuries), it's not because of "live prey" but of unattended prey left in with a snake. If the BP doesn't want the rodent, I sometimes prekill and leave it for a while, but then it's removed to be fed to someone else. I do not EVER leave a rodent alive in the BP enclosure.

I will say that I don't know of any cases where a F/T rodent harmed the snake. So if you have a snake eating F/T, I'd leave it that way. Plus, a F/T rodent won't bite you either, and it can't escape and be a nuisance. And lastly, I've never heard of someone feeling guilty looking at a F/T and deciding they have to keep it as a pet.

[PitOnTheProwl]

I am/was still to be live feeder.
I got stuck with a bunch of frozens that someone backed out of so I have been feeding them off to a couple of my snakes.
On the lighter side of 50ish balls live is so much easier and there is no life wasted.
I will not refreeze and hate seeing a frozen hit the trash if not taken.
There have been a couple bad outcomes from those that feed live but dont monitor the situation.
Many that bash live only go by what they have read and regurge from that.

[rlditmars]

I am the 1 in 5 million event person who just happened to have a bad experience while responsibly feeding live rats to one of my breeders. I had a rat bite the snake upon the strike, in the gum line under the lip where I could not see it. It cut into the upper jaw, disconnecting a piece of the mandible with two teeth still attached. Absolutely nothing could have been done to prevent it as it occurred on the strike and was undetectable in the coiled up ball. Unfortunately it went unnoticed until the face started to swell from infection. It cost me over $700 in vet bills for surgery, bloodwork, radiology, and antibiotics.

Does that suck? Yep! Do I still feed live? Yes, to those individual snakes won't make the switch including her. Sometimes bad things happen even doing it right, but it is not common enough to worry about. That would be like never leaving your house for fear of being struck by lightning. Even though it's a possibility, you still leave your house when it's raining, don't you? That being said I wouldn't recommend running around in a thunderstorm with a large metal pole. So doing things properly is important.

As Deborah has spelled out what to do quite well, just follow her guidelines for feeding live responsibly and you shouldn't have any issues.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Much respect rlditmars
Love this site because most can be honest and open even when it was something bad that happened.