It seemed so wrong, but felt so right...

[Chocolate Muffin's]

I had never done “it” before….lots of heavy breathing, long anticipation, the longing for the real thing!

I treated my precious animals to live food for the very first time – My baby ball ‘Muffin’ has NEVER been fed live food, nor has my 17 year old adult. For some reason today I got a wild hair and decided to feed them live rodents. I went in knowing the risks and decided ahead of time that I would keep a very close eye on the rodent, and keep the tongs attached to the feeder until it stopped fighting.

For me, it was the wildest thing I had ever seen, in the flesh. Normally when I feed F/T, I do a little dance and dangle, and then I get a rather sluggish pull at the tongs, and then a ‘thud’ and it’s done. Simply drama free. With the live feed, I put the container with the rodents in for a short time and those snakes came alive like I had never seen them before….the real predators came out in what I thought were sweet little slithering puffs of goodness.

Anyway, for ‘Fat Nico’ my adult BP, I had to crush the rats’ feet, to prevent it from scratching Nico. Muffin’s mouse was far worse however, I had to take my hemostats and crush his face to get him to calm down. I was terrified of these rodents hurting my animals, so the tongs never left my grip.

I now recognize how easily this could have gone awry, but the snakes got to those rodents faster than I have seen them do ANYHTING. It was quite a sight, and it happened so fast, that I would have missed it if I hadn’t been intent on not letting the rodent scratch/bite my snakes.

What an experience for a ‘Live feed’ virgin – I just had to share….

I am assuming that I can’t go back to F/T now?

[kjinxx2]

yikes you crushed the live animals feet and face? That sounds horrible!

[SGExotics]

I had never done “it” before….lots of heavy breathing, long anticipation, the longing for the real thing!

Sounds fun! Congrats on Your First Time!!! I remember my first time.. What a thrill, it really gets your adrenaline going when you've never done it before!
~Brandon

[aaramire]

So what was the point of feeding an animal that is very well adjusted to eating f/t a live meal? You are probably going to have a hard time getting them back on f/t now. I personally once I get my animals eating frozen will keep them on that, because its cheaper and there is no risk of a bite. I just don't see the point in changing up the diet of an animal that is known for being extremely picky when it comes to food. Good luck.

[ballpythonluvr]

I feel very fortunate that my BP accepts f/t. I would never put her on live unless it became absolutely necessary. I like to do what I feel is safer for my snake.

[Chocolate Muffin's]

yikes you crushed the live animals feet and face? That sounds horrible!

Sorry about that, but the welfare of my snakes came first. I din't realize how maternal I was about them until I felt like their safety was in jeopardy. I love them sooo much.

[Chocolate Muffin's]

So what was the point of feeding an animal that is very well adjusted to eating f/t a live meal? You are probably going to have a hard time getting them back on f/t now. I personally once I get my animals eating frozen will keep them on that, because its cheaper and there is no risk of a bite. I just don't see the point in changing up the diet of an animal that is known for being extremely picky when it comes to food. Good luck.

Hi Allie,

I have been growing tired of frozen food for the younger one for awhile. I knew that once I started on live that I might not be able to go back to F/T, and I am 100% fine with that. I really don't want to go back to it now that I know that I can safely feed on live. Its a switch that I have been wanting to make for a long time.

[Chocolate Muffin's]

I feel very fortunate that my BP accepts f/t. I would never put her on live unless it became absolutely necessary. I like to do what I feel is safer for my snake.

I agree with that, its just that I have been wanting to make the switch for a long time. My preference would be to purchase PK food, but that is not an option for me where I live. I want them to stay on live feed and I will ensure that they don't get injured.

[ballpythonluvr]

If you feel that you can safely feed your snakes live, then by all means, go for it! I just prefer to feed f/t because for me it is convenient and it is what my snake accepts.

[aaramire]

I guess I am curious, why was it so important to you to make this switch? Most people make the switch the opposite way...