Why feed live prey?

[ExotixTowing]

I would stop doing that. That hot of water is probably cooking the rats. Warm tap water is much safer, just drain and refill the water a couple of times and itll thaw out fine.

Internal temps of the rats are never higher then 39f so I can't see it being cooked

How long to you thaw in cup of hot water ??

The water coming from my hotwater tank is 160 ish

[Mike41793]

Internal temps of the rats are never higher then 39f so I can't see it being cooked

How long to you thaw in cup of hot water ??

The water coming from my hotwater tank is 160 ish

I use warm water. Maybe 100-110 degrees. I drain and refill probably 3 times. Once every half hour or so. Thaws them out safely.

192degrees would definetly begin to cook the rat. Thats only 20 degrees below boiling.

[jason_ladouceur]

Why not feed live prey?

in the almost 20 years i've been keeping reptiles i have seen my fair share of injurys resulting from bites. so i personaly choose to feed f/t or fresh killed. even when my collection was almost 300 animals it really didn't take much longer to feed f/t than it would have live. i keep hearing that people don't have any problems with feeding live but out of all the keepers i know that feed live i can't think of a single one that doesn't have at least one animal with a bite scar on it.

[Kyle7676]

Well, I don't feed F/T because we once had two snakes in at the vet with what we eventually found was internal gangrene because the rats weren't thawed properly.

I feed live and not pre killed because, well, I've never had a problem with it. While I'd have long stints of fasting when I fed pre killed, I found my snakes became more aggressive feeders and all around better eaters for live.

I've only had one rat show a tooth to my big gal, Sienna, and I reached in and snatched him up before the situation could progress. I got a good bite out of it, but that's the only issue I've ever had. It seems underwhelming in lieu of the benefits I've noted. (:

The " rat wasnt thawed out enough so it caused an illness " isnt really a valid argument against feeding f/t. Thats like saying UTHs are bad because they can burn the snake. They CAN if not used properly.

It is up to the owner to make sure the f/t is thawed properly.

You cant say though that you can guarantee your snake wont get bitten. Even if you are careful, the snake can wrap at an angle where you might not be able to see the rats head. I know some people argue that you should only feed rat pups since they cant really bite but personally i dont see how that is a viable option for a 3000g

[MasonC2K]

I'll answer this like I've answered before.

• F/T is only feasible in bulk. I don't have the space to store F/T in bulk.
• Thawing and warming is time consuming and has to be done just right.
• Refreezing and rethawing can be problematic.
• Most importantly, only one of my snakes will give the time of day to F/T.

Live just makes more sense for me in feasibility. The snakes readily eat them and when refused I can put them in a holding tank till next week.

If you feed appropriately sized prey and don't leave them alone for hours then there's no real risk to the snake. I give them 30 mins tops with me there then they get taken out.

[Egapal]

The " rat wasnt thawed out enough so it caused an illness " isnt really a valid argument against feeding f/t. Thats like saying UTHs are bad because they can burn the snake. They CAN if not used properly.

It is up to the owner to make sure the f/t is thawed properly.

You cant say though that you can guarantee your snake wont get bitten. Even if you are careful, the snake can wrap at an angle where you might not be able to see the rats head. I know some people argue that you should only feed rat pups since they cant really bite but personally i dont see how that is a viable option for a 3000g

It most certainly is a valid argument. Its more like saying heat rocks are bad because they can burn your snake. The argument doesn't assert that every person feeding F/T is putting their snake in danger every feeding. Its saying that some people may have a problem at some point. By your logic you couldn't say risk of a bite is a valid argument. The point is that you could have this problem with feeding F/T at some point if you are not careful. Just like you could have your snake bitten at some point if you are not careful.

[Rob]

there's no real risk to the snake.

Live or f/t that's cool whatever works for you and your snakes. But there is ALWAYS a risk when feeding live. Every mouse or rat has a "punchers chance". One of my snakes right now will only eat live and I hate it cause I know all it takes is one good bite to the head and my animal is gone.

[Slim]

• F/T is only feasible in bulk. I don't have the space to store F/T in bulk.

As I've previously stated, I have no problem with feeding live to live eaters, but I have to disagree with your feasibility statement. I have a very small collection, and feeding F/T is actually more feasible than feeding live. I can store F/T in my freezer. I have no place and no desire to store live rats.

[Skittles1101]

Only 3 of my snakes refuse anything without a heart beat, the rest all get f/t. I prefer f/t simply for convenience and safety. Some nights I wouldn't have time to sit and supervise live feedings for all my snakes. It's also very easy to just buy f/t in bulk and store them in my freezer. The three that eat live, I have to drive 20 minutes to the reptile shop once a week and get live rodents for them. I don't mind because as long as they are eating I'm happy. I can't do prekilled. I can't kill a rodent. I've tried talking myself into it on many occasions and I just can't. So, they get live. It's easier to supervise 3 live feedings instead of 16, so it's not a big deal.

I have a pet rat (two actually). One I bought as a pup, eyes closed and all, for my very first picky snake. I left the poor little critter in with her overnight, and in the morning when I went to check if she ate, the baby rat was huddled up in the corner of the hot spot. The reptile shop I got him from told me to put him in the freezer, alive, if she didn't eat him. I couldn't do it. I actually stopped my boyfriend from doing it for me, and I bottle fed him for about 3 weeks then weaned him. Now he's a fat and happy adult, sweet as can be. And, probably the reason why I have trouble prekilling and feeding live lol.

I must add that I don't like feeding live because in the only about 8 months I've needed to feed a live rodent to one or more snakes, I've had two get bit. Very minor, but it's still scary, especially when you can't see the rodents mouth. I'm treating a minor wound on my female albino even now from a recent bite, and I supervise from the time I place the mouse in the tub to when it's down the hatch.

[Kyle7676]

It most certainly is a valid argument. Its more like saying heat rocks are bad because they can burn your snake. The argument doesn't assert that every person feeding F/T is putting their snake in danger every feeding. Its saying that some people may have a problem at some point. By your logic you couldn't say risk of a bite is a valid argument. The point is that you could have this problem with feeding F/T at some point if you are not careful. Just like you could have your snake bitten at some point if you are not careful.

Sorry but you are wrong on ever point you made.

First, heat rocks ARE bad for snakes because you cannot effectively control the temperature. You CAN control an UTH but if you dont, then your snake gets burned.

If you are careful, will your f/t always be thawed out ? Yes. Period. If it isnt thawed out then that is a matter of the owner being careless NOT because it is f/t. I honestly dont even see how you argued that in the first place but w/e.

Last point. You can have your snake bitten REGARDLESS of whether or not you are careful. If you are careful you will never feed a snake a frozen rat.