Feeding Question

[AK907]

I have heard of the ferret thing. The difference here I would say is that the food item is the same -> if they imprint on a rat they're still getting a rat.

AK - I hear people say that in these threads. I haven't seen a single person confirm your claim (beyond very small hatchling snakes). The closest I've heard is what Slim just described which, while inhumane from a domestic pet standpoint, is sustaining the snake's life. My pewter was 150g and a year old when I bought it and it has no permanent effects and is now gaining weight rapidly.

They have the know-how to sustain life. They have genetics telling them to eat food BY OPPORTUNISTIC MEANS that is millions and millions of years old. They eat dead things in the wild if they need to. In captivity, we simply measure NEED differently. I don't disagree with that notion.

If I ever get a multiple refusal snake I will most definitely feed it live. Here's the thing, though. My 4 snakes are all on F/T now and haven't skipped a meal. If at some point they choose to do that, I'm going to wait until they take F/T again to feed them. Why? They know it's food and they know what to do. They're not THAT stupid.

I don't have a problem with f/t if your snake willingly takes it, but I most definitely have seen cases of them starving themselves to death. I worked in pet care for a certain major pet store chain that refused to feed live. During my two years there I saw several ball pythons who starved themselves to death because they refused the f/t they were offered. Sure some took f/t without an issue or with a little persuasion on our part, but some simply refused and died because of it. We aren't talking a quick death, either. We're talking months and months of slowly wasting away. Can I back these up with pictures and vet records? No, because these weren't my animals, but I know what I saw. Now other species of snakes seem to have a little more brains in their skulls and will usually switch very readily (insert most colubrids). Had a few of those that were picky, but shortly after almost always switched without an issue. Your claim that ALL can be changed might hold a little water with other species such as corns and kings, but not with all species.

I tried playing hardball with a few of our own animals as well. We have an amazon tree boa that will only eat live, and they aren't exactly known for being picky eaters. I tried waiting her out once for months trying to get her on f/t because we don't always have live feeders in her size. Well it came down to us having to offer her live and making special exceptions to always have live her size on hand because she will NOT eat f/t.

A similar story would be a ball python we had that would only eat all white female mice. Put a brown mouse in there, she would turn her nose up at it. Put a male mouse in there. Nope. Put an all white female rat in there. Negative. Put the tastiest looking african soft fur you ever saw in there. Would not even look at it. Put an all white female mouse in there. History and begging for seconds.

The point I was making with the ferret is that animals will starve themselves to death. To say animals won't is an ignorant statement.

Please show me your sources that Wild ball pythons scavenge already dead prey.

I think if a snake takes f/t regularly at one point and goes off feed for whatever reason(breeding/winter/whatever), you have a good chance that it will eat f/t again. However, what about a snake who has never encountered f/t? What if they refuse time and time again. Will you keep trying f/t and only f/t. Let me know how that snake fairs physically if it keeps refusing food based on food type while it will clearly take live. Who knows how long a snake can refuse a meal just because it only eats live and you want to feed it f/t. You've been lucky so far that your own personal snakes have been so easy to switch.

Not feeding your pet because it refuses food based on food type is poor keeping and almost cruel. You're physically offering food. But thats not feeding. The snake is not eating.Yes snakes can last a long time without feeding. Days, weeks, months, up to year. However, that doesn't mean it shouldn't eat if it will willingly eat something else immediately.
In my opinion, as pet owners, it is our duty to do what's best for the animal regardless of personal preference. And I don't think starving a snake to take f/t out of desperation and starvation is one of them.

I agree with you 100%!

Like I said above, I don't have a problem with f/t if your snake will willingly take it, but I flat out refuse to force the switch on any animal if it puts them in harms way and affects their quality of life. To do so is outright cruelty in my opinion. We are responsible for their well being and we owe it to them meet their needs, even if it isn't what we want.