Poll- source of your mice/rats/rabbits/birds/etc.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Soemone told me to come here because people are understanding and are willing to listen to your opinions.

... I resemble that remark.

Oh, and FWIW, I buy live and feed live ... 250+ live rodents every single week ... Never had a scratch, cut, bite, nip, or scrape .... I do it because that's what works for me and my snakes ... each keeper should make a decision as to what their snakes will eat and what is most convenient for them, be responsible, and go for it! ... Screw what everyone else has to say.

-adam

[Wild Bill]

I breed my own rats for a food source to help with the cost. I usually prekill before feeding and have not had any problems getting any of my ball pythons to eat. When I first got into snakes and had burmese pythons I would feed live, but I think that was because I was young and thought it was cool. It is a personal decision to feed live, prekilled, or frozen. You can get plus and minus for any of them from anyone you talk to. The only thing I can offer is this, if you are new to keeping snakes please supervise any live feedings until you are confident and get to know your snake.

[daniel1983]

Live, p/k, and f/t.....rats or mice....ha ha...I have done it all and I feed it all.

Like Adam said, as a keeper each of us must make the decision what is best for both the snakes and us. When I was breeding mice and had fewer snakes, I fed live....because that is what I had and my snakes showed a stronger feeding responce (i like to watch ). Now I have more snakes and want to switch over to rats (rats are not easy to come by in these parts), so I am going to start buying bulk frozen rodents....I am getting too many snakes to keep breeding my own feeders and bulk frozen is so much cheaper.

[Razaiel]

Here in the UK, according to what I've been told (and I could be wrong - am still new-ish) we can't feed live. All food has to be frozen. I guess someone could buy live mice, rats etc and give it to their snakes but I don't know of anyone who does. Personally I wouldn't really have a problem with it if I could (after all, it's what they do in the wild - no freezers full of rodents out in the jungle ) but then again out in the wild they wouldn't be in a (relatively) small enclosure with something that could bite them. It would be interesting though to watch her pursue, kill and consume a live rodent ...

[ziggy7]

... I resemble that remark.

Oh, and FWIW, I buy live and feed live ... 250+ live rodents every single week ... Never had a scratch, cut, bite, nip, or scrape .... I do it because that's what works for me and my snakes ... each keeper should make a decision as to what their snakes will eat and what is most convenient for them, be responsible, and go for it! ... Screw what everyone else has to say.

-adam

Any tips on making that work for you? Can you pass on some of your wisdom to a newbie like me????

[Adam_Wysocki]

Any tips on making that work for you? Can you pass on some of your wisdom to a newbie like me????

Shoot me an email.

-adam

[neithersparky]

I wanted to feed f/t for the convenience but Duchess leaves more than half of them, costing me money. (The mousie dance doesn't work either, because if I'm leaning over the tank she just hides.) Feeding live ensures that she will eat, and as she doesn't have the strongest constitution I *need* to make sure she eats. I don't care what anyone says about OMGthat'sinhumane. Tough. Duchess is my baby and I want her to eat and be well. End of story.

[justcage]

I breed all of mine as it is just to expensive to keep buying frozen.. I breed them, gas them then vacuum seal them.. It is alot easier to just order them though..lol

[recycling goddess]

Better safe then sorry for me, mostly because I have a vivid imagination and can be rather paranoid and overprotective when it comes to my babies.

funny, she's talking about feeding f/t and i feel the same way, which is why i feed live.

seeing them alive lets me know how healthy they are. i don't know what condition those mice were in when they were 'put down'.

and, i just don't like how complicated it seems, to me anyways, of thawing and making sure it isn't wet and it's completely thawed etc.

i like the ease of sitting the box beside dexter's viv until he comes out sniffing.... then i place dinner at the other end gently and wait for the mouse to come over to the snakes side of the viv and wham, it's over quickly, the mouse doesn't seem to suffer as it's such a quick death.

ah yes, i love how supportive this site is - regardless of what you are doing... as long as it's harmful to your snake! (like 65 degree cool sides etc)

[_BoidFinatic_]

I wanted to feed f/t for the convenience but Duchess leaves more than half of them, costing me money. (The mousie dance doesn't work either, because if I'm leaning over the tank she just hides.) Feeding live ensures that she will eat, and as she doesn't have the strongest constitution I *need* to make sure she eats. I don't care what anyone says about OMGthat'sinhumane. Tough. Duchess is my baby and I want her to eat and be well. End of story.

This is true, especially for Ball Pythons. If any snake is raised being fed on a live diet, than the chances that they will make a mistake is very low. They seem to be more content with their environment and have many other pyscological benefits. I tell people that if a snake was raised with pre-killed or f/t and then given live,even once, then the risk is higher of making a mistake in the process of killing it. I am always there to watch it happen, because the most careless thing someone can do is leave a live prey item in with the snake for any amount of time and not watch, unless you have a problem feeder. you can tell right away by the snake's first reponse,if it is interested in the prey or not, and if not, you remove it quickly. that is all there it to it. under these circumstances, none of my snakes have ever gotten a bite/scratch/cut, etc. For me, live feeding has never been a problem or concern.