snake got bit

[BPelizabeth]

Wow, strong opinions here.

Now if I could get all my snakes to eat FT I would

What are the pros of feeding live?

Cons for me are:
-cost, FT in bulk is less expensive.
-have to drive and get rodents (large amounts for some people).
-Rodents are messy and alot of live rodents in transport containers is gross, they cannibalize eachother at times, they smell.
-they poop and pee in the cages, chew up paper, splash in water bowls, if not eaten right away.
-what to do if your snakes dont eat them? now I have to either make a place for them and feed them or kill them. if you have lots of snakes this may not be a problem.
-and now the small chance of a rodent bite that is not even an issue with FT.

I personally dont see any advantage to live, I dont think its wrong and if you want to thats great but I have yet to see any advantage here.

And again I say that is your personal choice and opinion

[rabernet]

I've got a con.....I've got a baby rat running loose! GAH!!!!!!!

Trying to get my cats to hunt it down right now. Sneaky little bugger, I don't know where he's gone!

[djansen]

And again I say that is your personal choice and opinion

Ok... now whats your opinion on feeding live? I asked the question what are the pros of feeding live? I gave my cons and could not think of any pros.

[Wh00h0069]

Pros: some balls are picky and will only eat live. Why starve a ball when it will readily accept live? Hmmm. Seems pretty simple to me. If your snake doesn't eat, you can save it for another time, unlike f/t.

Con: you have to either raise rats , or buy them live from someone else. They could potentially harm your snake. They can get loose in your house, which has happened to me on multiple occasions.

BTW, Brian from BHB said on Reptile Radio that he feeds all of his thousands of ball pythons live prey each week, and also leaves they prey in over night. He said that he never has issues with the rodents hurting the snakes.

[BPelizabeth]

I've got a con.....I've got a baby rat running loose! GAH!!!!!!!

Trying to get my cats to hunt it down right now. Sneaky little bugger, I don't know where he's gone!

lol....Robin you are not helping....lol. How in the world did that happen?

[PurplePython]

Well most of the time people who have large amounts of snakes will feed live. Generally because they breed their own. Which is cheaper then buying mice

And people with smaller amount of snakes generally buy f.t

Not saying this is exact for everyone just generally you dont see breeders with 600 snakes have 600 ft mice ready each week

I used to feed live for our guy but the trips to pet stores for 1 mouse + cost was way more then a bag of 50 frozen ones.

This poster completely PROVED my point.

MOST people who feed f/t only do it because it is more convenient for themselves. It has nothing to do with what they feel is best for their snake.

Am I saying that f/t or live is better? No I am not. I am not preaching to only feed live here, but the bottom line is most people that feed f/t are people like this who dont want to drive to go pickup a live mouse.

Like I said, this is the point I was trying to make.... People do it for their own convenience and try to preach f/t like its the best thing just because its easier for them.

@f4n70m - Sorry I am not trying to attack you, but your post completely proved my point.

[djansen]

Pros: some balls are picky and will only eat live. Why starve a ball when it will readily accept live? Hmmm. Seems pretty simple to me. If your snake doesn't eat, you can save it for another time, unlike f/t.

Con: you have to either raise rats , or buy them live from someone else. They could potentially harm your snake. They can get loose in your house, which has happened to me on multiple occasions.

BTW, Brian from BHB said on Reptile Radio that he feeds all of his thousands of ball pythons live prey each week, and also leaves they prey in over night. He said that he never has issues with the rodents hurting the snakes.

Ok, like I said if you had a choice. I know some balls only take live and there is no way around that. obviously if the snake will starve then live prey is the way to go (any prey, wraped in bacon if need be).
And I know of people that leave live prey in overnight and have seen first had a couple attacks from rodents that were pretty nasty on some nice morphs so just because he said he has had no issues does not mean it does not happen.

[PurplePython]

Ok, like I said if you had a choice. I know some balls only take live and there is no way around that. obviously if the snake will starve then live prey is the way to go (any prey, wraped in bacon if need be).
And I know of people that leave live prey in overnight and have seen first had a couple attacks from rodents that were pretty nasty on some nice morphs so just because he said he has had no issues does not mean it does not happen.

I don't understand why someone would leave a live feeder in with their snake overnight

Thats very irresponsible if you ask me.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Ummm,, Well I have an ASF that escaped last night and was found in the hallway alive but half chewed up by the cat.. Does that count???

LOLOL!!

Pull up a chair folks! Grab some popcorn and join in the BPnet fun!

We know how to keep things interesting around here

I feed live and F/T. Depends on the snake & its feeding habits. Live is easier IMO. I have only had 2 snakes in a total of 16 years ever get bitten. Regular neosporin or bacitracin on the bite a couple times a day will speed up healing. These snake are very resilient. It will heal and there should not be a scar. Any mark will disappear within a coupel sheds if there is. No need to worry. Carry on carry on...

[mr. s]

I've never had a f/t mouse bite my snake.