Feeding question for breeders

[ApathyAngel]

So I'm hoping to be able to get another snake next year, as long as our financial situation allows for it (was planning on getting a new one for my 35th birthday, which is next year, but our current economic situation might make me have to postpone it), so I've been looking a lot into what I want and where I want to get it from.

But there's something that I'm seeing in like 99% of cases, and don't understand, and it kind of worries me, to be honest.

Because I'm reading that babies can be picky eaters. And this will only be my second baby. All my other snakes have either been rescues or purchased as adults (and my first baby was a retic, so not exactly a great comparison).

But pretty much every breeder I see feeds live. And that is not remotely an option for me, nonnegotiable, I simply will not do it (my current girl, a rescue, has scars along her back from being fed live, and my friend's retic died after being injured by a live rabbit).

I know that transitioning from live to F/T can often be a struggle, so I'm curious why all these breeders only feed live. What is the reasoning behind it?

If I were to pay for a snake before its first feeding, could I request that the breeder feed it F/T until it's old enough to ship to me? How do breeders handle situations where customers who bought their snakes can't get the snake to eat F/T?

If I buy a baby that has been fed live, is there a way for me to ensure that the snake I buy will be able to make the switch?

[Kerimac]

I searched morph market until I found a breeder feeding f/t. There are plenty that do. I personally wouldn't want to try to switch one over only because I haven't been a snake owner very long. My last one was on mice and I switched him to rats and he transitioned very well. As far as why some feed live, I'm really not sure. Dynasty Reptiles out of Fla and Chris Hardwick reptiles are 2 reputable breeders you could look for on Morph Market and see what they have. Any particular morph you are looking for? Also, are you set on a hat hling or would you consider a juvenile?

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[AzJohn]

You need to consider what it takes to deal with a large collection. If you have 100 snakes how long will it take to to feed every snake frozen? Then what do you do with the rejects? When you only have one or two snakes it’s really not that big a deal. You can spend a few minutes enticing a snake to eat. Try doing that with a few hundred.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

There are breeder selling animals already on F/T, as far as being a breeder and switching to F/T for a customer (or at least attempting) some will, I do animal on a 60 days payment plan however even than there is never any guarantee and to me unless the animal has ate 5 times consecutively on F/T it could just be a fluke.

So it is best for you to find an animal already switched because a breeder will not hold an animal without a payment and than if the animal does not switched you either end up with something you do not want or lose your deposit if you do not want the animal.

Breeders are not gonna hold on on a snake forever in hope it will switched and switching can take 1 week 6 months or even a 1 year.

A ball python can be fed live without issue injuries happen with larger snakes and larger prey, if you feed a ball python live and respect the basic rules it can be done safely (been feeding over 50000 preys without issues.)

Finally I will add this you are getting a snake that means you MUST be prepared to feed live if you need to, if you are absolutely against it I would suggest getting a lizard.

[Moose84]

[QUOTE=ApathyAngel;2739078]So I'm hoping to be able to get another snake next year, as long as our financial situation allows for it (was planning on getting a new one for my 35th birthday, which is next year, but our current economic situation might make me have to postpone it), so I've been looking a lot into what I want and where I want to get it from.

But there's something that I'm seeing in like 99% of cases, and don't understand, and it kind of worries me, to be hone

What worries you about the animals eating live?

Because I'm reading that babies can be picky eaters. And this will only be my second baby. All my other snakes have either been rescues or purchased as adults (and my first baby was a retic, so not exactly a great comparison).

But pretty much every breeder I see feeds live. And that is not remotely an option for me, nonnegotiable, I simply will not do it (my current girl, a rescue, has scars along her back from being fed live, and my friend's retic died after being injured by a live rabbit).

Why is this not an option for you? Just because one person was negligent while feeding live doesn’t mean that’s always the case. Rarely happens to be honest.

I know that transitioning from live to F/T can often be a struggle, so I'm curious why all these breeders only feed live. What is the reasoning behind it?

Because the goal is to get them on food quickly so the animal thrives.

If I were to pay for a snake before its first feeding, could I request that the breeder feed it F/T until it's old enough to ship to me? How do breeders handle situations where customers who bought their snakes can't get the snake to eat F/T

I won’t sell a snake to someone who adamantly refuses to feed the animal live prey. Some will only eat live and that would be setting both you and the animal up for failure.

If I buy a baby that has been fed live, is there a way for me to ensure that the snake I buy will be able to make the switch?[/QUOT

no. Like deb said, don’t buy anymore ball pythons if you are unwilling to meet the animals needs if it won’t take FT prey.

[christineho]

So I'm hoping to be able to get another snake next year, as long as our financial situation allows for it (was planning on getting a new one for my 35th birthday, which is next year, but our current economic situation might make me have to postpone it), so I've been looking a lot into what I want and where I want to get it from.

But there's something that I'm seeing in like 99% of cases, and don't understand, and it kind of worries me, to be honest.

Because I'm reading that babies can be picky eaters. And this will only be my second baby. All my other snakes have either been rescues or purchased as adults (and my first baby was a retic, so not exactly a great comparison).

But pretty much every breeder I see feeds live. And that is not remotely an option for me, nonnegotiable, I simply will not do it (my current girl, a rescue, has scars along her back from being fed live, and my friend's retic died after being injured by a live rabbit).

I know that transitioning from live to F/T can often be a struggle, so I'm curious why all these breeders only feed live. What is the reasoning behind it?

If I were to pay for a snake before its first feeding, could I request that the breeder feed it F/T until it's old enough to ship to me? How do breeders handle situations where customers who bought their snakes can't get the snake to eat F/T?

If I buy a baby that has been fed live, is there a way for me to ensure that the snake I buy will be able to make the switch?

I would be careful about the lines you draw in the sand when it comes to feeding bps. Even if you receive a baby that has been fed on f/t, it's possible it could refuse once in your home and at some point you will do anything to get it to eat, and the next step after the hairdryer/wiggling tricks is to feed live. As you mentioned, they're notoriously picky eaters and you don't want to let a hatchling hunger strike (especially if it's because of your feeding preference).

I wouldn't let someone who clearly didn't feed live correctly sway your perception of it. It can and is frequently done responsibly by taking steps like weighing both the snake and its prey to make sure it's the correct size, always watching, feeding in the enclosure, etc. Time and patience should give you success in transitioning to f/t but I would be prepared to have to feed live with any bp you take on. All of ours eat live we've had no hiccups (over 12 years)!

[ApathyAngel]

I would be careful about the lines you draw in the sand when it comes to feeding bps. Even if you receive a baby that has been fed on f/t, it's possible it could refuse once in your home and at some point you will do anything to get it to eat, and the next step after the hairdryer/wiggling tricks is to feed live. As you mentioned, they're notoriously picky eaters and you don't want to let a hatchling hunger strike (especially if it's because of your feeding preference).

I wouldn't let someone who clearly didn't feed live correctly sway your perception of it. It can and is frequently done responsibly by taking steps like weighing both the snake and its prey to make sure it's the correct size, always watching, feeding in the enclosure, etc. Time and patience should give you success in transitioning to f/t but I would be prepared to have to feed live with any bp you take on. All of ours eat live we've had no hiccups (over 12 years)!

That makes sense, and I understand where you're coming from.

But I wasn't really talking about the live vs f/t debate. I have no problems with those who feed live, and I'm aware that the scars along Eden's back were because of neglect (my friend's retic wasn't a case of neglect, just a freak accident that he couldn't stop in time. He was a great owner and helped me out a lot with my own retic). I know that it's extremely unlikely that a ball python would be injured by a rat.

Personally, I choose f/t because it's what works for me. I don't expect everyone else to agree with that choice, and I don't assume that it would work as well for everyone else.

I was more just asking about why breeders do it that way, when I would think that maintaining a large rat population would be time-consuming. And I was asking if it's realistic for a buyer to ask the breeder to help transition from live to f/t after the baby has been paid for, if it's still too young to ship.

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[christineho]

That makes sense, and I understand where you're coming from.

But I wasn't really talking about the live vs f/t debate. I have no problems with those who feed live, and I'm aware that the scars along Eden's back were because of neglect (my friend's retic wasn't a case of neglect, just a freak accident that he couldn't stop in time. He was a great owner and helped me out a lot with my own retic). I know that it's extremely unlikely that a ball python would be injured by a rat.

Personally, I choose f/t because it's what works for me. I don't expect everyone else to agree with that choice, and I don't assume that it would work as well for everyone else.

I was more just asking about why breeders do it that way, when I would think that maintaining a large rat population would be time-consuming. And I was asking if it's realistic for a buyer to ask the breeder to help transition from live to f/t after the baby has been paid for, if it's still too young to ship.

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Makes sense! Totally was not a judgement as I would feed f/t if I thought I could transition my hatchling without him protesting (the two others are just so used to live that I gave up), but he's been proven to be a very stubborn brat . Good luck in your search and will look forward to seeing which morph you choose!

[Kerimac]

I personally choose to feed f/t. If any of my snakes went on an extended feeding strike and I had to feed live, I would. I feel like this member would as well. I feel like he/she was just curious about why a lot of breeders feed live and with the sheer number they feed, it makes sense, however, a lot of breeders also still make time to feed f/t and I feel that it would be wise to look for a snake from a breeder that does so if this is your preference.

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[ApathyAngel]

I personally choose to feed f/t. If any of my snakes went on an extended feeding strike and I had to feed live, I would. I feel like this member would as well. I feel like he/she was just curious about why a lot of breeders feed live and with the sheer number they feed, it makes sense, however, a lot of breeders also still make time to feed f/t and I feel that it would be wise to look for a snake from a breeder that does so if this is your preference.

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Thank you. You're right, it was just curiosity and trying to understand more about the process (along with getting a feel for what is realistic to ask for from a breeder). Some people get so freaking defensive and emotional over the smallest things, apparently.

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