Disclaimer! I really don't want to start a live vs. f/t debate. This is just pure respect for these little pythons as hunters coming from someone who has always fed f/t.

So, my 500 g male has skipped his last couple of meals...I'm not super worried, but being a typical, new BP owner, I can't help but wonder if he'd come around with a live rodent (the breeder had actually started him out on live and I switched to f/t). Admittedly, there was probably a bit of my own morbid curiosity as I've never seen a BP eat a live rodent...but now that that's out of my system...

So I picked up a couple of mice at the pet store (having never offered him live, I wanted to keep the teeth as small as possible...I should also mention that I had resigned myself to the fact that if I was going to do this, it was going to be all on the snake...no stunning, no pre-killing...I don't know quite how to explain my rationale, maybe it's a little selfish, but I've never done either of those things and was afraid I'd only end up torturing the poor thing. I was therefore prepared to take full responsibility if anything happened)!

Anyway, I put the little box with the mice in it in Hank's enclosure in an effort to prescent. He showed no interest whatsoever, but I wasn't surprised...I highly doubted that he was holding out for live food! I let a mouse loose in his enclosure and he briefly stuck his head out a couple of times to inspect...but ultimately retreated back into the safety of his hide.

Sooooo...Plan B: Hope like hell that Betty (who's never had live in her life) will absolve me of an obviously bad decision on my part to buy live mice! Well, she did and then some! I was in complete awe at how quickly and efficiently she killed those mice (something I could not have done)...like she had been doing it her whole life. It sounds sappy, but I've truly got a whole new respect for these guys...I've got 4 limbs and opposable thumbs and Betty just schooled me on on all counts with nothing but neck.

Anyhoo, thought you guys who've fed live for some time now would get a kick out of a f/ter's newbie perspective on live feedings! I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon (only source of live is Petco at $3 a pop!)...just wanted to say that it always kinda commands respect to see a hunter do what he or she does best!