How do you feed live?

[sur3fir3]

I was wondering what everyone's method was for feeding live. Personally I flick the rat/mouse on the head to knock it out before I feed it off. I found that this keeps the rat/mouse from biting my snake. I realize that some people might consider this wrong, but I wanted to see what other people do.

[Danger noodles]

I just don’t. No reason to feed live unless u have a snake that really refuses

[Craiga 01453]

I make sure the prey item is fed and relaxed. When they're calm and not hungry it's over before they even realize what happened.

I definitely wouldn't flick them or swing them at a wall or any of the other things I've heard done.

[sur3fir3]

I just don’t. No reason to feed live unless u have a snake that really refuses

That is my situation at this point. My Blood wont eat F/T I am trying to change that though.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If this is what you do YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS feeding live.

Whether or not you like rodent, they deserve respect and not to be abused or tormented prior to death (what you describe is part of why snake keeper have a bad rep)

Additionally by doing this you are putting your animal at greater risk than if you were feeding live the way you should feed live. A mouse a a rat that would come out of it would become more aggressive than one that was not stunned.

The key to feed live is to have feeders that are well fed and well hydrated before being fed off, that is something YOU do while pre-scenting the room. Other important factor is feeding the right size.

After an hour of being in the same room simply drop the feeder in the enclosure leave it 10 mins and remove if un-eaten.

I have fed well over 50000 live preys and never stunned any of them and never had any incident and for animals that require anything larger than a medium rat I suggest feeding pre-killed or F/T

[sur3fir3]

I make sure the prey item is fed and relaxed. When they're calm and not hungry it's over before they even realize what happened.

I definitely wouldn't flick them or swing them at a wall or any of the other things I've heard done.

Why wouldn't you flick them or hit them against a wall? Is this a personal thing, or is there a concrete reason why?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Why wouldn't you flick them or hit them against a wall? Is this a personal thing, or is there a concrete reason why?

That's called ANIMAL CRUELTY

[Craiga 01453]

Why wouldn't you flick them or hit them against a wall? Is this a personal thing, or is there a concrete reason why?

Both. I find it to be cruel. I've also learned from Deb and other reliable sources that if they're stunned and "come to" they're going to be more scared and more likely to lash out. ie fighting back, biting and causing unnecessary injuries to the snake.

[sur3fir3]

If this is what you do YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS feeding live.

Whether or not you like rodent, they deserve respect and not to be abused or tormented prior to death (what you describe is part of why snake keeper have a bad rep)

Additionally by doing this you are putting your animal at greater risk than if you were feeding live the way you should feed live. A mouse a a rat that would come out of it would become more aggressive than one that was not stunned.

The key to feed live is to have feeders that are well fed and well hydrated before being fed off, that is something YOU do while pre-scenting the room. Other important factor is feeding the right size.

After an hour of being in the same room simply drop the feeder in the enclosure leave it 10 mins and remove if un-eaten.

I have fed well over 50000 live preys and never stunned any of them and never had any incident and for animals that require anything larger than a medium rat I suggest feeding pre-killed or F/T

First off, I have no issue with rodents. I have done it this way because I was taught that knocking out the rodent is better for both the reptile and the rodent. The way I feed live was the way I was taught 20+ years ago. I realize things change which is why I asked the question. Yelling at me, and telling me i have no business feeding live doesn't help me. I was trying to find out how people feed live to their pets. I could see if I was doing it out of malice or something, but I honestly believe that stunning the rodent makes it safer for all parties involved. but I will stop doing it if people really think its like a form of abuse.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

First off, I have no issue with rodents. I have done it this way because I was taught that knocking out the rodent is better for both the reptile and the rodent. The way I feed live was the way I was taught 20+ years ago. I realize things change which is why I asked the question. Yelling at me, and telling me i have no business feeding live doesn't help me. I was trying to find out how people feed live to their pets. I could see if I was doing it out of malice or something, but I honestly believe that stunning the rodent makes it safer for all parties involved. but I will stop doing it if people really think its like a form of abuse.

You were thought wrong 20 years ago but that would be common sense really it's not better it's actually worse, worse for the snake worse for the feeder and worse for the image you project as a reptile keeper that reflect on ALL OF US.