Live? F/t? Or P/K?

[littleindiangirl]

why isnt nobody recommending me to feed p/k isnt the same as f/t?

Prekilled generally means the animal has been freshly killed.

Btw, that is a double negative.

[anatess]

I feed pre-killed to my hognose (won't eat live). It is an alternative. Fairly easy to do with a keyboard cleaner and a ziploc bag. Advantage - no need to thaw out, and of course, won't hurt your snake. Great for those who has a quality live breeder close-by or if you breed your own.

By the way, I went to PetSmart today and I found this thinga-magic called Artic Mice Defroster. Interesting stuff. You fill it up with water, put a "landing disc" that sits above the water line, nuke it in the microwave to warm the water up, then put the frozen mouse/rat on the disc and let sit for 6-9 minutes. Dunno if this thing works but it looks like a great invention...

[DrEwTiMe]

I feed live simply because thats what my BP was raised on so i didn't want to mess with what she was already eating consistently.

If i had my choice i would love to do F/T but i just don't want her to refuse and then for some reason go off feed(that would be my luck). There is just less hassle with having to run to the pet store for live once a week.

Just a thought. I know that if you cook veggies for instance they lose some of their nutrients. Perhaps freezing could have the same effect on mice?

[frankykeno]

why isnt nobody recommending me to feed p/k isnt the same as f/t?

Nope, one is where the rodent has been killed then frozen and you need defrost it and bring it to temp again. The other is when you freshly and humanely kill it then offer it immediately to the snake.

By the way, I went to PetSmart today and I found this thinga-magic called Artic Mice Defroster. Interesting stuff. You fill it up with water, put a "landing disc" that sits above the water line, nuke it in the microwave to warm the water up, then put the frozen mouse/rat on the disc and let sit for 6-9 minutes. Dunno if this thing works but it looks like a great invention...

I do remember someone here at BPNet bought and used that. Darned if I remember if it was worth buying though, sorry.

[Slim]

Just a thought. I know that if you cook veggies for instance they lose some of their nutrients. Perhaps freezing could have the same effect on mice?

This is not correct. There is no corralation between cooking and freezing. Frozen rodents hold their nutrients just fine, up to a certain amount of time. Though this has not been studied, 6 months seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb.

[frankykeno]

I haven't fed f/t in ages (other than here and there) but I seem to remember I was told it was up to 6 months for hairless prey and 6 to 9 months for fully haired prey. That assumes of course that you are storing them correctly in properly airtight freezer bags and not thawing and re-freezing them.

[hoax]

OK so I didn't read all of these posts...

I breed my own so I feed live.

I prefer to feed live because if the snake don't eat it I can put it back.

If you have a snake that takes F/T readily then I would go with it because there is less risk of injury, other then that if you don't mind throwing away a few rats then F/T is the way to go.

On the other hand if you don't mind having a pet for a week (or in some situations a few months) then live should be ok, if you feed live always supervise.

Mike

[psycho]

well i want to thank all guys for your advice and like i dont breed my wn mice i'm going to start feeding it F/T