Feeding live?

[Paysons Bps]

I have heard many horror stories on feeding live. If you feed live, please share your thoughts on why you feed live, and how you do. If you feed F/T Share how and why you do. Thanks!

-Payson!

[mr. s]

In the history of snake keeping a f/t mouse never bit a snake.

Also, I like that I can keep them in a bag in the freezer rather than driving to a pet store every week.

[Kaorte]

There is no option for both.

I normally feed f/t, but when I need to, I feed live.

The horror stories you hear of are from irresponsible keepers leaving a hungry mouse in with a snake for days on end. Not from responsibly feeding live.

[kitedemon]

Kaorte well said. Personally I feed frozen but mine take F/T. I think that feeding live is Ok as long as the keeper is responsible and keeps control of the situation. Rodents will try to defend themselves the keeper needs to be able to prevent injury.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I have seen 2 of your posts where you are advocating people to feed F/T and not to feed live, not because of personal experience but because of "horror stories", what you need to know that there is often a lot more to those horror stories and graphic pictures.

Many of those horror pictures used were the result of irresponsible owners Leaving a rodent without food or water in a snake enclosure for days.

The key when feeding a snake (whether live or F/T) is to be responsible and knowledgeable.

In the case of live feeding here are a few things that can be done to ensure a safe feeding experience.

Pre-scent the room
Do not stress out the feeder prior to feeding
Feed smaller preys
Remove the feeder if not eaten within 20-30 minutes
Never leave a feeder unattended with your snake

There is no "I am a proud this or proud that" when it comes to feeding, just like here is no F/T vs Live debate.

Each owner should be knowledgeable regarding feeding options (knowing the pros and cons) and decide for him/herself what works for them and their animal.

I feed a few hundred of live preys each months (mice and rats) and I also feed a few F/T each month (mice) and I never had any problem.

[rabernet]

15K live feedings, 5 insignificant scratches - works great for me!

[alittleFREE]

I have fed both live and f/t. I greatly prefer f/t, so as long as my snakes would eat it, that's what I would always choose. However, like I said, I have fed live before when necessary.

[Emilio]

I have fed thousands of live rats, mice and ASF's and have never had an issue. To each is own I respect those who choose to feed FT. I just don't like it, no horror stories here if they don't eat in 5 to 10 minutes its a refusal plain and simple. Like Deborah posted earlier if you leave a prey item in to long thats when horror stories are realized.

[bsash]

I feed live now, and only live. I used to feed frozen thawed, but I hate waiting for them to thaw, then having to pre-scent the room, and then blow drying them. With live, there is no wait, only my supervision. As long as you watch them to make sure they kill it, and begin to swallow it, you will be fine. Do not just throw it in and watch them coil and leave, sometimes they will not always kill it, and then when they take their little break, it can "come back to life". That is how you will become one of them horror stories. Just supervise the feeding up until the swallowing, and you will be fine.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I proudly feed a bit of everything. Because I am proud to be able to feed even the picky eaters! Rats mostly, a few mice to a picky one, a few ASFs to another picky one. Live and F/T for all of the above. I breed norway rats an ASFs. My spare freezer is full of norways, ASFs and mice. It depends on the snake.

As for thawing and warming I found a better way. I just put the bag in a small plastic litter box for a few hours til thawed. Then turn on the human heating pad under it until good and warm. Some people use a piece of flexwatt for the same purpose.