The Hot Debate: Live vs f/t [

[Mr. Misha]

This debate shouldn't be debated.

100% agreed. At the end of the day it's a matter of personal preference and what you feel comfortable with.

Personally, I fed live for years but having 5 snakes got difficult fast when some would skip meals and I'd have to take care live feeder mice or rats until I can feed them off again. For MY personal convenience, I switched all my BPs to F/T and I couldn't be happier.

[EL-Ziggy]

To each their own. No debating from me just adding my 2 cents. I used to feed live 25 years ago before f/t was really an option. When I started keeping snakes again about 8 years ago I began feeding f/t prey. I see absolutely NO benefits to live feeding anymore. It's considerably less expensive and far more convenient for me to feed f/t.

[wnateg]

in the event that a snake turns down a meal I can set the rat free.

All too often I see people push the agenda that people who feed live are irresponsible, don't love their animals, have no compassion for feeders

Uhhh

[Cheesenugget]

Don't set the rat loose. These are domesticated rats, not wild rats. Completely different behavior, they rely on humans for food and shelter. There is a vast difference between a wild rat and a domesticated rat, either it be someone's pet or not. That means you pretty much sent that poor rat to starve to death, if it was not killed in a matter of days because it has no idea how to hide and run from predators. At least, a snake killing it would be fast and mostly painless. Dogs, hawks... they rip them into shreds while it is still conscious and alive. Wild rats in the area will also attack it as it is an intruder in their turf.

Anyways, I fed live and f/t. Live because I had to. I also kept one of the feeders and now it is a pet (We adopted 3 more buddies to keep him company). Imo, I hate live feeding, I am never used to it even before I ended up with the rejected feeder. That's just me, and I think if the keeper tried to switch with no luck, that's fine too.

If one decide to feed live and the snake refused, the responsibility extends to that rat or mouse too. Keep it fed and cared for until the next feeding, keep it permanently, rehome it (There are Facebook pages dedicated to rehoming rats and mice, feeder or not. Lots of people are looking for them as pets), or euthanize it humanely. Don't put it in the freezer, don't release it, don't kill it by smashing it against the wall, don't be a jerk to animals.

[Kingdomall]

yeah this is what the "debate" was about. I respect all of your opinions 100% even if it's opposite to mine. though that releasing the rats thing is quite the
thank you all for commenting, I appreciate your thoughts.

[Spicey]

My little boy was on f/t the first year of his life, then he stopped eating for two months and since he was only a year old, I despaired of getting him to eat so I started him on live. That was great for two months but then the store where I get my feeders has been having supply issues, so I put Spotti back on f/t, with no problem surprisingly. I don't mind feeding either, but f/t is so much more convenient. I have a KSB, btw.

[Jane-Pythons]

Where I am it's illegal (or at least from what I can gather) to feed live, and I've personally not encountered any issues with f/t feeding with my 3 snakes yet.

But if one of my snakes refused to eat frozen and appeared concerningly underweight after a long period would I try it? Yeah, probably. That animal is my responsibility and if venturing into the blurry part of the law in my country was what it took to take care of them at least temporarily, then I would.

If I lived somewhere where it was entirely legal would I put it into common practice? Right now I'll say no. But it's not a debate, more so doing what's best for the snakes in your care in a way that is safe and responsible.