Quote Originally Posted by van_garret2000 View Post
And you should always feed your BP Frozen thawed, not live. It is just safer for the snake. It gives zero chance for the prey to harm the snake. Feed live and you could go years without it harming your snake but there is going to be a chance EVERYTIME you feed him that he could get hurt or bit. Body injuries could heal after shedding(but not always), and eye injuries could be very harmful and never heal. A dead prey can never scratch or bite you snake. Why take that chance if you don't have too? Sometimes a snake could refuse to eat unless its live prey but you could and also should ween him off that very easily.
Thanks for your post! I did want to hit on this part of your post though!

Here at BP.net, we advocate that each keeper feed what works best for them. We don't make blanket statements that you should always feed f/t or always feed rats, etc.

I have always fed live, well over 4000 live feedings without a single injury. Yes, there's always a risk that the prey item can bite, but if you calculate just one injury in 4000 feedings, that makes the odds .00025% chance of having an injury.

Having said that, I believe that someone needs to weigh the risks of feeding live before they make the choice for themselves. Feed appropriately sized prey (just because your monster bp can eat a jumbo rat, doesn't mean you should be offering a live jumbo rat - a small or small/medium would the the largest I'd ever offer). Pre-scent the area so that your animals know that food is coming, feed in the enclosure to allow them to hunt from the safety of their hides, etc.

There are also risks associated with feeding f/t - not completely defrosting the animal - thinking that you had, and then it rots in the belly of your snake, making it very sick and/or kill it.

So - great post overall, just can't help myself when I see a blanket statement that someone should "never" feed a certain way, when my experience is completely opposite of the dire warnings!