Should i stay with live?

[Orangephoner]

So i have been trying to switch my snake over to rats ( rat pups) with almost no success. i have been feeding F/T all her life with mice and she was a decent eater. alot of times i had to hold the mouse and her together for her to eat. but she gained alot of weight. so i bought some F/T rat pups and tried once a week for almost a month and she would look at them for a while and then try and excape. so i just tried a live fuzzy rat. it was smaller cause that is all they had but feeding her was never so easy i put them together and looked away and then heard the little squils of a dying rat. so i guess my question is do you all think i should stay with live since i had such great luck with it?
any tips on safely feeding live?
thank you
christian

[Andybill]

I had to get a couple of mine started on live rat pups but they accepted f/t the very next feeding. I would try to offer f/t next time and see if it works out. You could also try p/k. A tip I have for feeding live: Feeding live is to be done under strict supervision. NEVER leave a live rodent in with your snake unsupervised! But it sounds like you already know that. How big is she cuz you mention that the rat fuzzy was smaller than its normal meal?

[Orangephoner]

Well im actually not sure of her wieght. i havent gotten a scale yet. but she is about 22 inches long and she could eat a decent size rat pup. adult mice are a little to small.
i should buy a scale soon.

[AK907]

I would probably get them established eating rats first, but it wouldn't hurt to offer a f/t rat. Worst that happens is they refuse and you give them live instead.

A rat fuzzy (or smaller) is perfectly safe to leave with your snake unsupervised, but once they get much larger than that (pups/weaned and larger) they can potentially cause harm if you aren't feeding responsibly. Feeding live isn't as dangerous as some people (namely folks who have been ill informed by pet store employees, etc) will have you believe. Most of the horror stories you'll hear about are from irresponsible owners who leave rodents in with their snakes for extended periods of time unsupervised (sometimes days at a time!). Feeding live is all about using common sense and being responsible. Never leave a rat larger than a fuzzy alone with your snake and supervise all such feedings. I like to keep a pair of tongs handy to put in the rats mouth in case the snake makes a bad strike. Also be prepared to have to thump the rat (ie knock it out with a whack to the noggin) in the case of a really bad strike. Sometimes you might need to help them by readjusting their coils as well. If they don't seem interested in eating within a few minutes of offering I remove the rat and wait til next feeding. I have fed thousands of live rats over the years and I have never had one serious injury caused by feeding live.

[brock lesser]

i would probably get them established eating rats first, but it wouldn't hurt to offer a f/t rat. Worst that happens is they refuse and you give them live instead.

A rat fuzzy (or smaller) is perfectly safe to leave with your snake unsupervised, but once they get much larger than that (pups/weaned and larger) they can potentially cause harm if you aren't feeding responsibly. Feeding live isn't as dangerous as some people (namely folks who have been ill informed by pet store employees, etc) will have you believe. Most of the horror stories you'll hear about are from irresponsible owners who leave rodents in with their snakes for extended periods of time unsupervised (sometimes days at a time!). Feeding live is all about using common sense and being responsible. Never leave a rat larger than a fuzzy alone with your snake and supervise all such feedings.

x2

[LLLReptile]

If it's easy for you to get live of an appropriate size, and you don't mind it, then sure - stick with live. For me, I feed all 25+ of my snakes live just because it's so easy to bring home live feeders. For some, it's easier to order large quantities of frozen feeders.

As AK907 said, it's not really as hazardous as some would have you think to feed live - you just need to be present and watching the snake(s) to make sure it all goes the way it's supposed to.

-Jen

[Andybill]

Yeah for me I have enough snakes that it gets spendy ordering f/t so I am working on starting a rat colony because its a bit more cost effective. I actually like to feed live because for me it never gets old seeing a snake feed live so it makes it less of a chore for me. So you should do what works best for the snake and in many cases for both of you! But then again it must always be what works for the snake.