Frozen to live?

[Korclabael]

What are the major risks? My red-tail has been fed frozen thawed since birth, but its starting to get more pricey just for a few medium-large mice, and I noticed that for 1 large rat petsmart seems to overprice them (In my opinion). I wanted to switch her over to live, slowly weaning her into it. But of course there's always the risk of parasites and sickness, since she has only been fed frozen, I'm fine not feeding her live but I feel it would be cheaper, but I don't want to risk her getting bit, scratched, or sick and not be able to pay the vet bill, sinceI have no idea what the vet bill for a reptile would cost.

If anyone can help me come to a final verdict on this before tomorrow (her feeding day) that would be great.


Kaala

[Daybreaker]

I'd just buy f/t in bulk honestly, I recommend Layne Labs for smaller orders (their shipping is very reasonable IMO) and they have lots of different sizes.

[SaintTawny]

Stop by your local reptile show and buy a 50-count bag of whatever size prey she's eating. It'll likely cost you 20% of what that number of live prey would cost, and there's definitely something comforting about knowing that your snake is going to get fed for some time regardless of any financial crisis you may run into. This winter has been absolutely terrible for my boyfriend and I, surprise bills left and right with a new puppy in the house and me adjusting to a relatively new job kept overlapping with show weekends so we weren't able to go a few times even when we had the money. Everyone gets fed, but having to buy live prey on a week-to-week basis when we couldn't afford to drive to a show and buy in larger F/T quantities sucked.

If it truly is cheaper to buy live prey from your local shop than to buy frozen of the same size, consider pre-killing on your own. When I cull from my colonies I hold them by the scruff on a stable flat surface with my hemostats and give a quick sharp blow to the back of the neck at the base of the skull with the flat side of a sturdy snake hook so that I hear a quiet little click and know that their spinal cord is severed. I adapted this technique as an alternative to "thumping" which was the only method they used at the pet store where I worked to pre-kill on request for customers, after being taught the method on live chickens for a college pre-veterinary class. Quick, painless, and free. I will warn you though that the post-death spasms can be disturbing if you aren't prepared. If you don't have the heart for that, a little dry ice and some water in a perforated container, inside a sealed container with the prey will produce CO2 to gas them down quickly and humanely. When you're done they'll still be warm and attractive to your snake, without posing the danger that live prey does. You can also cull a handful these ways and freeze them for use later.

I know it's a matter of personal preference, but my preference is always to reduce hazards, and that includes feeding F/T or pre-killed to any snake that will take it. It would be different if you were struggling to get an exclusively life-feeder onto F/T but I can't see a good reason to make the opposite switch as you're suggesting since you don't seem to be having any problems with her now.

Edit: I realize that even what I think is a detailed description of my culling method can be difficult to follow. One day I just might post a video or picture set showing the steps I follow. Even if you don't plan on culling a lot of rats/mice it can be a handy way to dispatch an intended live feeder that one snake refuses to eat and you can't house for a week.

[Korclabael]

Thank you both for your help :] I like both of the options, I will most likely have to buy them in bulk, I was intending to breed my own rats as soon as I can get a sturdy place to live, and make sure that they were all healthy before feeding them to my snakes. I have the heart to do what must be done to keep my snake alive and from eating me! LOL

But thank you ^^ I'm glad I can get good advice.

[Evenstar]

I also order from Layne Labs. They have great quality control and their rodents are prisine and very well packed. Ordering online and/or buying in person at an expo is going to be a lot cheaper than Petsmart. I think they only carry Arctic Mice brand that those are expensive. Even with shipping costs when you order online, the cost per rodent works out much cheaper than Petsmart. If you have a good expo near you, you can usually find an f/t dealer and pick some up whenever you go there and that'll save you the shipping.

Buying f/t this way will work out to be much cheaper than feeding live - unless you breed your own. But if you're not going to breed your feeders any time soon, than stick with f/t and just buy from Layne Labs, or another good internet source (there are a few good places), or at your area's expo. Forget Petsmart! LoL.....

[Korclabael]

yeah thats all petsmart sells and they are super pricey for just 1 rat.

[lX V1P3R Xl]

I've actually been debating doing the same thing, but for different reasons. My BP was fed live for about 4-5 months after hatching before I got her. I fed her live for another 5-6 months. I was moving for school and was forced to switch to frozen because there was no place that sold live rats in the area. However, I am moving back home in a couple more months. The main reason I want to switch my BP back to live rats is because she was was an eating machine when she fed live. When I switched her to frozen, she went from eating twice a week, to eating once a month. What do you guys think, should I switch her back to live when I move back home?

[Gio]

" When I switched her to frozen, she went from eating twice a week, to eating once a month. What do you guys think, should I switch her back to live when I move back home?"

Hi, I'm wondering the age and size of your snake. Eating twice a week seems to be a lot unless you have a growing snake and are feeding small meals. Our Royal started out eating once every 5 days, but then as we gradually increased prey size, it was once a week, then when we hit our medium rats about once every 4 weeks. Now we are in the shutdown mode and she has not eaten since Christmas.

You may be in the same boat where eating slows or stops. The folks here told me not to worry and that this is common. I think if your snake is not interested in food right now a live prey item could be risky. But don't hold what I say as gospel because I'm learning too.

With the picky nature of some of these snakes, I feel switching to live could ruin the F/T conversion which is somewhat difficult to begin.

Hope you get it worked out, but once a month with a decent sized meal is not a bad thing.

[lX V1P3R Xl]

" When I switched her to frozen, she went from eating twice a week, to eating once a month. What do you guys think, should I switch her back to live when I move back home?"

Hi, I'm wondering the age and size of your snake. Eating twice a week seems to be a lot unless you have a growing snake and are feeding small meals. Our Royal started out eating once every 5 days, but then as we gradually increased prey size, it was once a week, then when we hit our medium rats about once every 4 weeks. Now we are in the shutdown mode and she has not eaten since Christmas.

You may be in the same boat where eating slows or stops. The folks here told me not to worry and that this is common. I think if your snake is not interested in food right now a live prey item could be risky. But don't hold what I say as gospel because I'm learning too.

With the picky nature of some of these snakes, I feel switching to live could ruin the F/T conversion which is somewhat difficult to begin.

Hope you get it worked out, but once a month with a decent sized meal is not a bad thing.

She is just over a year old right now and about 850g. I had her eating 2 rats a week for the entire last summer, fall, and beginning of winter until I had to move. I don't know if she has lost any weight because I don't have a scale, but was looking into getting one soon. As for the switch to live, I have also thought about the possibility of it ruining the f/t conversion. However, she has been extremely picky ever since the switch, so I don't know if I can really call her "converted" lol.

[Gio]

I wonder if the move/stress and time of season caused this. I am sort of in the same boat. Great eater until January and now BOOM, nothing. I'd say give her a chance once a week and offer food but don't worry if it's not eaten.