I much prefer f/t. However, my adult female BP, Ella, who has always been a powerhouse feeder on f/t since we got her 2 years ago, decided last year to be finicky about her f/t. She went 4 months of refusing f/t and only ate maybe 2 meals total in all that time. SO I finally broke down and offered her a live mouse because I was frankly starting to get worried (even though she really never did drop weight).

Ironically, it took her almost 30min to finally eat that first live mouse. But she ate her f/t perfectly the following week! So for awhile, I alternated giving her live and f/t that spring and she was sort of on again off again with her food but usually ate pretty well. Then in August, she starting refusing more than she was eating again. She ate a f/t mouse only 2 times in 2 months. The first of October I broke down again and got a couple live mice. BAM! She was a piggy again. So I've kept her on live for the last 2 months and she's eaten every meal so far.

I would LIKE to get her back on f/t. But I've been a chicken about trying it, lol. I would also like to get her on rats, but I'm even more nervous about trying that. I know I shouldn't be, but I'm a very motherly and nuturing person so I can't help but worry about her when she doesn't eat. I would rather feed her 2-3 live mice each week and have her eat than have her keep refusing f/t.

I feel that feeding her live is safe because I am extremely dilligent about watching out for her when she eats. I will NOT leave a live rodent in with her even for a just a few minutes. She's either going to eat it right away, or out it comes. I tail feed so each rodent is offered to her by me and I am right there to watch her strike and constrict in case there should be a problem. But for me, there is no enjoyment in watching her kill her prey. I have no moral or ethical problem with feeding live, but the reason I do it is simply because that's what works for her right now. All my other snakes happily eat f/t and I'm very thankful for that....

I've never had her even come close to being bitten, but if Ella were to be injured by a rodent, I would evaluate how serious the bite was and immediately take her to the vet if it was that serious. A minor bite I would keep clean and use an anitbiotic ointment and keep a very careful eye on it. Rodent bites are nasty and not to be trifled with so I wouldn't hesitate to take her to the vet if I thought it was necessary. But I think most bites happen when the rodent is left unsupervised in the snake's enclosure which will not happen with Ella.

Sorry for the long post. That turned out to be more of a novel than I'd intended.....