Live Feed

[rabernet]

if your concerned about live prey you could stun (wack the mouse) the mouse just before feeding it.

Over 3000 live prey feedings and I've never had to "whack" any of them. Feed appropriately sized prey and your snake will do fine.

[Ginevive]

I was going to say. From your pic in your avatar (though it is small!) I think that the snake would be fine with one subadult mouse. Or maybe an adult mouse, depending on the rotundness of said mouse. Even when I started out my '07 hatchlings, they were taking mouse hoppers. I never dealt with mouse fuzzies; they are verrry small.

[twh]

that's great,but if and when your snake gets bite you may want to consider other options.

Over 3000 live prey feedings and I've never had to "whack" any of them. Feed appropriately sized prey and your snake will do fine.

[Ginevive]

that's great,but if and when your snake gets bite you may want to consider other options.

Talk to most any of the big, experienced breeders that deal with snake amounts in the thousands. They will smile and most will state that they feed live about a million times a year, just fine. I already described how I do it; I drop the rat into the snake's tub. Snake grabs rat and constricts, If I see the rat is able to bite the snake, I hold its head back with a radio antenna (hemostats would work fine too) until dead.
Sorry, but I don't like to see feeding-live being villified when it is a widespread, easy way to feed. Also, whacking rats is something that I would think could earn you a charge of animal abuse.. this is the last thing that we herpers need.

[SnakieMom]

Talk to most any of the big, experienced breeders that deal with snake amounts in the thousands. They will smile and most will state that they feed live about a million times a year, just fine. I already described how I do it; I drop the rat into the snake's tub. Snake grabs rat and constricts, If I see the rat is able to bite the snake, I hold its head back with a radio antenna (hemostats would work fine too) until dead.
Sorry, but I don't like to see feeding-live being villified when it is a widespread, easy way to feed. Also, whacking rats is something that I would think could earn you a charge of animal abuse.. this is the last thing that we herpers need.

AMEN!!!

[rabernet]

that's great,but if and when your snake gets bite you may want to consider other options.

If I'd even had one bite in 3000, that would make the odds of being bit an .03% chance. I'll take those odds any day. Live feeding is not as inherently dangerous as some people would have you believe if done responsibly.

The average American makes 50,000 car trips in his/her lifetime. Based on this average, the odds of being killed in a car accident are 1 in 140.
source: Richard Wilson, Analyzing the Daily Risk of Life, Technology Review

If and when I get into a car accident, I doubt I'll start walking.

We all take calculated risks. It's not been my experience, or those of countless other breeders who feed live routinely that a bite is rare.

With that said, each owner should choose what works best for them and their snakes.