I feed what the snake will eat. If the snake will only eat live, then I'll feed live, but I'll stand there until it kills the prey item and is starting to swollow it down. I also always check over my snake for injuries. I would of course, love to get my girl onto p/k in the future, but since mice are kind of on the pricey side, I've decided to wait until I have a good population so I can risk her being picky. Seeing how excited she gets at feeding time though, tells me I won't have an issue, but I'm not realy to have a dead, uneaten $1.25 mouse ;D

I have no issue with feeding live and watching them die. Admittedly, the first time I watched my girl constict her mouse, I fell a twinge of guilt. Still, I keep in mind that these mice are bred solely for one reason: food for my snake. Keeping that in mind, it's no different than walking out into my goat herd and pointing out goats that will go in the freezer, or pointing out goats to take to auction knowing they might end up in the freezer.

More than likely, I'll have a harder time feeding my breeders (they have names) than the nameless mice that reside in the 'kill tank'.