feeding live VS f/t

[recycling goddess]

okay,

so i've been advised on some other forums (from posting pics of my new hog island boa) that i shouldn't be feeding live and definitely not if i end up feeding him ratties.

so, what does everyone here think... cause to be honest... you people are the ones with a lot of knowledge in this area.

so... with your boas... do you find they get more aggressive if you feed them live? do they get injured by their prey?

any problems you've experienced with live feeding?

i really do prefer live feeding... just seems more natural and easy for me to be honest. but, if i need to... (if he ends up needing to be fed rats) i can do the f/t if you all feed that's best in the end.

so... what's your thoughts?

[jglass38]

Oh boy...This is a hot button issue and generally turns nasty. I say do what you like. Whatever works for you...For me, FT works. I feed live when I need to (hatchlings).

I personally am going to switch all my snakes over to those snake sausages..Yummy! <sarcasm>

[recycling goddess]

on no... we don't have to get nasty here do we? just share what you like and leave it at that folks. i just like to be informed... so when someone says to me that i shouldn't do something... i have something behind my... "well, i've read..." kinda thing.

[Melicious]

I feed my kids live. Ody's on adult mice and Ophelia will be upgraded to small/juvenile rats starting this friday. (Paying the same amount for three mice...I'm hoping she'll prefer the rat. Doesn't hurt to try, right?)

[Smulkin]

So long as you are doing it responsibly (ie supervised) live is a perfectly viable option - though i got to concede dead rats can't bite.

We had to transition from f/t when the collection grew and we started with the homegrown rats. We have a few that will only take prekilled though.

(unrelated note: when cleaning out the freezer a couple of weeks ago I came across a couple of very grim and frostbiten rats that had been on ice well ove a year wedged in behind the venison and tater tots lol)

[jglass38]

(unrelated note: when cleaning out the freezer a couple of weeks ago I came across a couple of very grim and frostbiten rats that had been on ice well ove a year wedged in behind the venison and tater tots lol)

That'll teach you to freeze Bambi..

Can I have some of your tots?

[Adam_Wysocki]

though i got to concede dead rats can't bite.

So true! ... It's funny, but the timing of this thread and that statment couldn't be better! ... This morning I was feeding the kids and I have a friends snake on a payment plan that I am taking care of and my buddy asked if I could feed it F/T every now and then. So I thaw out his fuzzy and get it all nice and warm and offer it to the snake. The snake struck and missed the F/T fuzzy and in it's excitement, bit itself in the neck!! And then couldn't get unstuck.

I had to slowly work the teeth of a ball python in feeding mode out of it's own neck without getting bitten myself ... not fun by the way!! ... The puncture wounds were nice and deep ... I cleaned the wounds and fed the snake (it ate like a champ) and afterwards I cleaned him again and applied neosporin.

The funny part is that after that I feed out about 200+ live rats and not a single snake got bit.

-adam

[Smulkin]

HAH!


Well you can safely disqualify my answer as I only just now noticed this is a boa topic

Observant me on a Monday

[jglass38]

So true! ... It's funny, but the timing of this thread and that statment couldn't be better! ... This morning I was feeding the kids and I have a friends snake on a payment plan that I am taking care of and my buddy asked if I could feed it F/T every now and then. So I thaw out his fuzzy and get it all nice and warm and offer it to the snake. The snake struck and missed the F/T fuzzy and in it's excitement, bit itself in the neck!! And then couldn't get unstuck.

I had to slowly work the teeth of a ball python in feeding mode out of it's own neck without getting bitten myself ... not fun by the way!! ... The puncture wounds were nice and deep ... I cleaned the wounds and fed the snake (it ate like a champ) and afterwards I cleaned him again and applied neosporin.

The funny part is that after that I feed out about 200+ live rats and not a single snake got bit.

-adam

That is crazy! Are you now making the bold statement that live is safer!?!

[hornsrule]

i feed my ball python live also, but in regards to the hog i think it is easier on my hog to feed live. like we discussed in the other thread, they get pretty aggressive. just this week i threw her mouse in and walked away to the other side of the room and noticed that she was watching me instead of the mouse. i covered her cage and stayed by so i could check every minute or two to be sure everything was goin good. point being i think IF she would take a f/t from me that it might be kinda stressful, since she gets so worked up when she gets in feeding mode and im on the other side of the room. also, ive gotta say i am not worried about her, she is a BEAST once there is a mouse in there.