feeding live VS f/t

[ssscales]

Honestly, feed whatever works for you and your snakes.

Most of my BCI's all feed on F/T almost from the time they have their 1st meal as newborns. Some require a little teasing to get a strike, some are fine just leaving their meal in the tub and a few do require live to get them going. Since I recently found a stable rat/mouse supplier by my house that is comparable in price to F/T after S&H, I now simply now opt for live to get babies started. I simply order Frozen quantities from the same breeder and can switch them later on.

My Dumeril babies require some substrate to burrow under and 90% of the time required live feeders to get going. Once they had a few meals in them converting them to F/T is not a problem.

With my BP's, I've only offered live rats and have not had a single problem or meal missed. Hopefully I can switch these to F/T while they are on weaned rats. Just because I prefer F/T due to the convenience factor, but I really don't care if I ever get them on F/T as long as they keep eating!

You said this is for your Hog Island Boa, you should not have any problem at all getting it to feed on F/T from the start. Hogs usually have a pretty good feeding response and will take food before they hit the tub or if you leave it over night you'll find it's disappeared by morning!

If you prefer live because you don't feel like ordering bulk Feeders for 1-2 snakes, you can always Pre-kill it before feeding or stun it. Just feed your Hog what is was fed before, but I would have it on rats Vs mice considering at some point it'll take large/jumbo rat sized meals.

Good Luck!

[recycling goddess]

here's what i think... from all the posts i've read and all the responses in all of them...

f/t is best if that's what you believe.

live is best if that's what you believe.

you can find a LOT of posts and experiences for each side of this... so... if you want f/t to win... you can make that happen. if you want live to win... you can make that happen as well LOL

do you agree?

or am i missing the bus?

[ssscales]

here's what i think... from all the posts I've read and all the responses in all of them...

f/t is best if that's what you believe.

live is best if that's what you believe.

you can find a LOT of posts and experiences for each side of this... so... if you want f/t to win... you can make that happen. if you want live to win... you can make that happen as well LOL

do you agree?

or am i missing the bus?

It's not about a group to win or lose. It's finding and knowing what works for you, your situation and your snakes. No one can answer this for you, but you.

All anyone can give you is opinions and experiences. You have to decide what works best for you.

[hornsrule]

as long as it works for you and your snake is eating you are money!!!

[recycling goddess]

ya that's what i meant

[recycling goddess]

that's it? 9 people is all that are going to share their experiences.

i really wanted to get a good well rounded set of opinions to assist me to make my decision on f/t or live -


anyone?

[JLC]

Well, I don't have a boa, so I didn't answer the poll question. However, I can say that I fall into the camp of "whatever works best for you." I just don't think that in this case there is a "right" or "best" answer, except for what you can provide most conveniently and consistently.

[recycling goddess]

i am completely and totally overwhelmed. i feel like i'm doing it the 'wrong' way. i have so many people (on different forums) telling me that live feeding is bad... that i can harm my snake and i'm feeling horrible for wanting to stay with live.

live prey feels more right to me. i think perhaps if i had IRL people who had negative experiences with live... i would feel different. but the people i do know IRL seem to feed live... and haven't had any problems.

i understand what people who believe f/t is the healthier, wiser and more responsible choice see in that choice. i really do.

but... i guess i'm starting to feel like my choice is the wrong one.

this sucks

[JLC]

Well, for goodness' sakes! You just tell those poopy-heads to stop being so bossy! Why the heck would you go to any other forum but this one anyhow???


Seriously though...do you take good care of your snakes? I am sure you do!! I would go so far as to bet real money on the fact that you dote on them! Stay confident in that!

There are people out there who feel they must convert every soul to their way of thinking about any given subject. Anyone outside of their tiny little box is just wrong! Please don't let that kind of person cause you to lose trust with yourself.

If you really enjoy those other forums and don't want to just leave or ignore them, then maybe just ignore this particular issue. Just don't mention it or bring it up. Agree to disagree...live and let live....and all that good jazz.

[hornsrule]

if you feed responsibly it is not all that dangerous. granted things can happen, but by keeping a close eye the risk is greatly minimized. i hate to use myself as an example so lets use adam. if it was inherintly risky and majorly damaged the snake that was being fed, would he feed all of his incredibly expensive balls live? no, either method works. to say that one is the only way to go is ignorant. either works. ive fed both and live just works better for me and with my snakes.