Live prey

[ChrisS]

Any snake will take live no problem, and maybe for some of you feeding ft is cheaper but I feed 4 snakes (1 med rat 1 sm rat 2 adult mice) and my Ts crickets all for $3 a week. Rodent pro prices for a single mouse $.47 single sm rat .99 and single med rat 1.39. That's $3.32 (without crickets) and doesn't include shipping. So buying ft isn't always cheaper.

[JTrott]

Dont leave it in for 30 minutes. After 5 minutes if your snake hasnt eaten it then hes not hungry. Also the dead f/t rats dont really smell at all when you thaw them. Live ones smell worse imo bc they can piss and crap everywhere.

I will stick to how I do it....thanks for your opinion though........been doing it this way for about 10 years now....never had an issue......don't plan on having one now.....

Kinda curious why you quoted my post though when Robin(rabernet) posted almost the EXACT same thing I did......

Anyways, thanks again for your opinion.

Jason

[JTrott]

Feeding F/T eliminates two worries for me...no bites and no mites.

As far as the smell goes...smells like dinner time to the boys

FYI.....rodents don't carry reptile mites.......

Jason

[Rob]

Everyone has their own way that works for them and their animals. The live vs f/t battle will go on forever lol. The original post caught my eye because you always see it the other way around. there are ups and downs to both I guess, I just know for me having a freezer full of rodents is easier then breeding an entire other animal just to feed my other animals. But if it's something that some one enjoys doing and they are responsible when feeding live have at it.

[rabernet]

Yeah that's fine, but why add the risk of putting in live when it will readily eat dead food?

What added risk? In my own personal experience feeding off well over 15K live prey, I've not had any significant injuries to my animals. I've got animals in my collection that are $1500 to $2000 each. If I felt there was a true risk, I wouldn't be feeding THEM live for sure.

There's a difference in real hands on experience when "judging" feeding live prey versus making a judgement based on emotion, and the feeding live debate is often based upon emotion.

But for giggles, let's suppose that even IF I had let's say - 5 injuries in over 15K live feedings - the "risk" that you mention would be .00033% chance of injury. Far less than a 1% risk of injury.

Let's caveat that with - if one chooses to feed live - do so responsibly. Make sure that your prey is well fed and well hydrated. Drop it in at the opposite end of the enclosure as your snake. Remove it after 30 minutes if not eaten.

Simple "rules" that result in a successful live feeding. I don't stun prey - never, ever - it's not necessary and results in a scared and defensive prey item if not consumed immediately. I also have never interfered in a kill (other than to move the coiled snake out of a water dish if they happen to have their heads under water as a result of how their strike landed). I don't stand by with tongs at the ready. In my experience, it's not necessary.

My snakes get a bad shot? They quickly adjust and squeeze even tighter resulting in the prey more concerned with getting a breath than biting.

I'm not advocating that feeding live is the best choice for everyone. But it's certainly not the worst choice that many try scare people away from.

Feed whatever method works best for you and that your snake will eat.

[rabernet]

Dont leave it in for 30 minutes. After 5 minutes if your snake hasnt eaten it then hes not hungry. Also the dead f/t rats dont really smell at all when you thaw them. Live ones smell worse imo bc they can piss and crap everywhere.

I've had snakes wait 15-20 minutes before deciding to eat. A well fed, well hydrated rat is no threat to anyone's snake for 30 minutes. You'll often find it happily grooming itself in the opposite end of the enclosure when you go to retrieve it.

[rabernet]

Everyone has their own way that works for them and their animals. The live vs f/t battle will go on forever lol. The original post caught my eye because you always see it the other way around. there are ups and downs to both I guess, I just know for me having a freezer full of rodents is easier then breeding an entire other animal just to feed my other animals. But if it's something that some one enjoys doing and they are responsible when feeding live have at it.

Only speaking for myself - I don't ENJOY feeding live. That's not why I choose live for my collection. I feed live because it's what my large collection will eat, and it's far more convenient for me to feed live than to defrost 60-70 animals a week.

[Rob]

There's a difference in real hands on experience when "judging" feeding live prey versus making a judgement based on emotion, and the feeding live debate is often based upon emotion.

Hand on experience no I don't keep 100 plus snakes, but I have been keeping snakes and other reptiles for close to 20 years. So I'm not making a emotional based judgment. I still feed two of my animals live because that's what they want. Again whatever works best for people and animals is fine. But you can't say there isn't a risk when you put two animals in a fight for their life. Will 99.9 percent of the time will the snake win? Yup, but a live rodent always has a punchers chance to put teeth on head and that's all it takes to kill the snake.

[Rob]

Only speaking for myself - I don't ENJOY feeding live. That's not why I choose live for my collection. I feed live because it's what my large collection will eat, and it's far more convenient for me to feed live than to defrost 60-70 animals a week.

I was talking about enjoying breeding rodents.

[rabernet]

I was talking about enjoying breeding rodents.

Got it. I don't think anyone enjoys that either! LOL

One rat rack is enough for me - used primarily for keeping rat fuzzies and pups at the ready for hatchlings. I buy from a local breeder all the rest.