Is F/T worth the trouble?

[cinderbird]

Personally, i feed F/T because 1. all my snakes will eat F/T 90% of the time and 2. it is SUPER convenient for me so i really lucked out.

I get all my feeders from a local supplier and have a chest freezer (5 cubic feet freezer) dedicated to rodents, but sometimes i store regular food stuffs in it as well (lol i was SO confused when i pulled out a bag of chicken breasts and went omg what happened to these rats!?, my BF had put some chicken in there and forgot to tell me, whew).

I get great quality feeders and save shipping because i have a few local shows around me here or when i was in NY there were a few specialty exotics pet stores around me that had a ton of frozen stock. Since i buy in bulk i usually get a nice discount anyway.

Feeding live is a pain for me because my cats get SUPER predatory and i really dont have any room for mice where they wont be harassed constantly by the cats and thats not really fair, but i have fed live on a few occasions before and would again if i had to.

[Lolo76]

(lol i was SO confused when i pulled out a bag of chicken breasts and went omg what happened to these rats!?, my BF had put some chicken in there and forgot to tell me, whew).

That is too funny, LOL. We only have one freezer in the house, so it has played double-duty for both human & reptile/fish food... since my roommate also has lizards & large fish, it not only has rodents but mealworms, brine shrimp, etc. We try to keep them on ONE shelf, however, to avoid any mixups or confusing moments like you had.

Feeding live is a pain for me because my cats get SUPER predatory and i really dont have any room for mice where they wont be harassed constantly by the cats

My dog is actually a bigger pain on live feeding day, and I usually end up locking him out until it's done. Then I got a breeding trio of mice, which I thought could be a problem... but Rudy (the dog) immediately recognized them as "pack members" and hasn't bothered them once. My old cat looks for a second before losing interest, and the little one does think their cage is like a personal kitty TV-set. So I keep the cage in a closed bathroom now, and only let her in when I can supervise.

We'll see what happens with the mouse breeding, but that might solve my problems... then I can save myself a little money, time (from the non-dog/cat pet store visits), and even go half F/T and half live if I so desire. Wish me luck!

[Lolo76]

Btw, you're lucky that you have a good local supplier, because around here it's slim pickings... which might be surprising since I live in a major metro (SF Bay Area), but reptiles really aren't that popular here. Not to mention, we have too many "hippies" who would probably protest even the F/T suppliers. Our craigslist users are constantly flagging rodent dealers, not to mention anyone trying to sell a snake - whether it's a rescue or high-end CB morph. Oy vey.

I even caught slack from the local Petco manager, when I bought a male & female mouse with one cage. He was like "you know, we aren't supposed to sell mice for breeding, or feeding for that matter." My response was "Okay... then I'm buying them as beloved pets, and I already have a second cage at home." I mean, really? Like Petco is soooooo good with live animals, LOLOL.

Our best local supplier is probably East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley, but that's across the bridge from me - which means a $4 toll, and minimum of 30 minutes in heavy traffic (any time of day). I used to go there when I worked in the East Bay, but now it simply doesn't make any sense.

[rabernet]

Feeding live is a pain for me because my cats get SUPER predatory and i really dont have any room for mice where they wont be harassed constantly by the cats and thats not really fair, but i have fed live on a few occasions before and would again if i had to.

One of my 2 cats is super predatory, and I'm quite thankful for that. When I've had ASF's "boing" out of a tub - she's right there to catch them for me.

I call the ASF breeder tank "Lexi TV".

[Wh00h0069]

In my opinion, no. It is not worth trying to convert balls to f/t. They are such picky eaters as it is. I tried to feed all my ball pythons f/t when I got big into them, but I was throwing away too many each week. Once I switched them to live, I have a much better feed ratio. The rats that are not eaten are put back with the breeding colony until the following week.

[Lolo76]

One of my 2 cats is super predatory, and I'm quite thankful for that. When I've had ASF's "boing" out of a tub - she's right there to catch them for me.

Now, that's what you'd call a symbiotic relationship. I use Rudy as my cricket-catcher, whenever they escape during gecko feeding... all you have to say is "GET IT" and he'll catch whatever you point to.

I call the ASF breeder tank "Lexi TV".

LOL... and cute pictures! I guess mine could be called "Bindi TV," although her interest does seem to be lessening with time. Btw, I wish I could breed ASFs, since I hear good things about them (in terms of keeping & feeding). But for whatever reason they're illegal here, along with gerbils - which kept me from buying this gorgeous striped/normal adult girl I saw online, since the breeder said she would ONLY eat gerbils.

[extensive]

all of my balls eat f/t

[trott]

FT is easier for me just not having to keep extra pets around. I have one picky eater that will only eat live and when she wont eat it gets fed off too one of the others. I'm lucky in that all except the one slam FT.

I think there'sa little miss conception ar far as which is more humane especially in the big pet stores. I work in a research facility and although its not my job i've seen rodents get CO2 before it takes a minute or 2 and a struggle. Feeding live takes seconds. Its the fact that we're spared the human emotion aspect. Kinda like just dealing with the Steak at the supermarket.

[NorthernRegius]

Be prepared to be flexible. If you have enough snakes & a desire to feed FT, you'll find you're doing a bit of everything. I've one stubborn mouse eater (used to be more than that), but he's a boy & we've got him on a 5 day schedule- he gets 2 items at every other feeding.

I've got babies (all start on L rat pups) converting over to FT rats, 1/3 are still a tad shaky. If I get a refusal on FT they get L the next day. Then there's the older ones 4 of those - 2 will only eat live, 2 will do pre-killed. 3 of those are girls & I can usually get them on FT after their 1st clutch if not before.

The rest (25+) are on FT & do great on it. I like the consistent feeding I see with my FT feeders, they seem to be less sporadic than the others. But you'll end up being flexible because as you get snakes in, you're adjusting to whatever feeding method they were on, some will adjust, some not. You have to be flexible. I still think it's worth it for me because of the % of FT feeders here & I'm pretty good at getting them to come 'round to it.

I say give it a shot if you feel up to it.

[JohnAvilla]

All of my snakes eat FT. No ball will ever eat 100% of the time. They all go off feed for a little bit. I have one that consistently goes off feed 6 months every winter. As for money, you should redo your math. If you buy a small stand alone freezer and get a full box of ratcicles not only will you save money on rodents but the freezer will pay for itself in a few months. I just went this rout after getting sick of shelling out 50 a week to feed my 9 snakes and am saving a ton. The main reason to feed FT or PK is to avoid scars. Who wants to look at a snake with a bunch of scars, especially a morph? If you try feeding and they don't eat just refreez it once. Twice no, but once never hurts. Time is the other reason to feed dead. If it takes you longer to feed dead than live you are doing it wrong. If live is working for you and you can't get them to take FT stick with live. It sounds like you just need to wait them out though. If they take it once they will take it again. Good luck.