Feeding Question

[BallJohnny]

So i see alot of people say F/T mice, i was just wondering are there some pros to feeding them live, i've seen alot of cons. For information i only have 1bp and thats all i'll own for now lol.

[MrLang]

The only pros are convenience, which is irrelevant for you. Go F/T - I have not found the switch to be as painful as people make it out to be. I haven't fed a live animal yet and probably won't till I have hatchlings.

[BallJohnny]

Had him for 6 weeks ignored every frozen thawed, only tried 1 a week, i put a live in there 20 secs he had it ate.

[Slim]

We haven't had a good old fashoned Live vs. F/T discussion around here in a couple of months...Let the fun begin

I see one primary Pro to feeding live in that there are just some snakes that will not eat F/T, and in order to keep these animals thriving, sometimes we have to feed live.

[siccmade]

I know there a lot of cons, I think as long as you are watching the mouse and snake when feeding it's ok, in some cases it's required, I have 2 ball pythons and one eats f/t no problem I tried feeding the other one f/t but he wouldn't take it, he went a month without feeding, so I decided to try a live one and within seconds of dropping the mouse in the tub he struck at it


---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?dt53k0

[Kaorte]

Do whatever works for you.

If your snake will only take live, then feed it live. If it doesn't care either way, then feed it whatever you are more comfortable with!

I have personally done both. As long as you feed properly (for both live and f/t) then you should have zero problems.

[oskyle1567]

I would attempt pre killed if you can get it to take p/k for 2 straight weeks then attempt f/t. If you cant get her to take p/k then maybe give her a 2 week break from eating before attempting. This worked for me 2/3 of my snakes some just will eat better on live even if you do convert. there are countless threads on how to convert here on bp.net maybe try a search?

[BallJohnny]

So here's my big question that just popped in my head, right now its just mice. How is feeding a snake a live rat, i mean i havent really had to handle a rat, for a mice i just grab it by the tail and dangle it infront of my snake same for a rat?

[Kaorte]

or you can just put the rat in the tub with the snake and let nature take its course.

[satomi325]

There are pros and cons to both F/T and live.
But you should pick which ever method works best for you.

Personally, I feed live because 90% of my snakes refuse f/t and it's just more convenient for me. I'd rather just feed 100% of them live than feed 90% live and thaw out the other 10%.


Feeding live can be safe as long as you take a few precautions.
1) Feed the appropriate sized food. I like smaller and more frequent meals than larger and less often. Weanlings and small rats are safe and harmless(to some extent). They're also not as conscious to danger as an adult would be. Adult rats can pack a nasty bite and are much stronger at fighting back, which is why "smaller and more frequent" is the way to go.
2) Keep the feeder hydrated and well fed. If left alone too long, a hungry feeder is most likely going to go for whatever else is in the enclosure. AKA the snake. This is the reason for most snake killing incidences.
3) Don't leave the feeder in w/ the snake for longer than 30 minutes.

Other than the size difference, feeding a rat isn't much different from feeding a mouse.
Dangling a rat will most likely make the rat panic. If you accidentally drop the rat, he will probably be really defensive and possibly bite your snake.
Just put the rat into the enclosure and let your snake do the work. It keeps the feeder more calm than dangling. Again, I emphasize, smaller meals. This keeps your snake safe.