feeding live VS f/t

[Adam_Wysocki]

at the pet store i get all my stuff at. they have wild cought adult ball pythons, and most of them have small scars on them. i can only guess that is from feeding on live in the wild.

The scars on adult wild caught ball pythons are generally from the tools that the trappers use to dig them out of thier burrows.

-adam

[recycling goddess]

that makes sense adam.

[gncz73]

i feed live but i have a female here that i got from a kid that also feed live and she has a few spots on her that are all better know but they were nasty bits i'll snap a pic

[gncz73]

heres the pics of her back.

[jglass38]

Wow, those are some brutal scars. Glad you were around to take care of her!

[Adam_Wysocki]

i feed live but i have a female here that i got from a kid that also feed live and she has a few spots on her that are all better know but they were nasty bits i'll snap a pic

LOL ... that kid didn't "feed live", he offered up his ball python as a sacrifice.

There's a right way and a wrong way to do everything.

-adam

[frankykeno]

Sorry to have missed this thread earlier Aleesha. We feed live to all our snakes...ball pythons, boa (the big male BCI) and even the little milksnake though she will take either live or f/t and f/t pinkie mice are easier for me so that's what she normally gets.

Specifically as this is about boas, with Rauri the BCI (also when we pick up Severus the baby BCI) we feed live. A number of reasons went into our decision to do so and I think no matter what method you use you should know why you are choosing it and why it works best for you and for the particular snake, make sure you learn what you should about that feeding method...and then tell the rest of the world to quite simply bugger off. If it works and it's a generally accepted form of feeding...and again..it's working for you and for the snake...don't doubt yourself.

We feed live because we raise rats. I know exactly what goes into my rats, I know the quality and obviously, they are darned fresh LOL. They are extremely well fed and well hydrated and live a decent unstressed life, which ends quickly and humanely in a predator/prey dynamic that's gone on longer than we humans have been around to mess with it. We watch every snake to make sure they are aggressive eaters, no rat stays in with a snake that is obviously uninterested, no snake is offered a rat it cannot handle as far as size. We go with a theory that small is better when it comes to live and do offer some of our snakes more than one prey item per feeding night.

For Rauri who is 6 feet long and a very strong male BCI, he can easily handle 4 week old meat rabbits, very large guinea pigs or jumbo rats. He takes live very aggressively other than a slight hesitation with extremely large male rats. This may be from some past experience if a snake is able to retain that hunting memory or just his instinct to be cautious with that type of prey. We have had to on occasion pre-kill a rat for him if it was acting aggressively and he was not immediately dealing with it - the guinea pigs and rabbits of course pose no issue for him. To the point we have had no incident of prey biting any of our snakes but it could happen, that's part of the decision to feed live is knowing there is a slight chance even with the most responsible owner. For us it's all about minimizing risks but knowing you can never totally eliminate all risk to any creature from anything.

Sorry for the book length post, hope it gives you some idea of why for Mike and I live is the right choice. However, that being said, if we had a snake that had a poor strike response or would do better on f/t or p/k, that snake would have that offered with no problems. For us it will always come down to what is best for each particular snake, what we are most suited and capable of offering and what is most readily and consistently available in a superior quality prey item. If that's live, pre-killed, frozen/thawed...or a rat or a mouse...fine and dandy, it's all good if it's done right and you have a hard hitting snake that loves it's feeding night!

[gncz73]

LOL ... that kid didn't "feed live", he offered up his ball python as a sacrifice.

There's a right way and a wrong way to do everything.

-adam

i agree and she moves and eat normally. which made me happy and the vet said she should still be able to breed but i don't know if i will

[recycling goddess]

jo,

thank you so much for going in such detail about your choices... i agree with you 100% - it's really up to how the snake deals with it's prey and what's most readily available. one of my cornsnakes gets f/t - simply because the litter was starting to get too big... and needed to be set aside for future feedings... when i have the approp. size mouse available... he gets live.

gncz73, those photos make me sad. it looks like numerous bites... not just one single bite mark... poor snake

[gncz73]

jo,

gncz73, those photos make me sad. it looks like numerous bites... not just one single bite mark... poor snake

i did feel sorry for her at one time but not anymore as shes never mean and she eat and move and act just like a full body snake. yes it either was numerous bites or just way to big of prey for her when it happen i really don't know