F/Ts are not for me.

[KyleZ]

Honestly it would cost me more to feed frozen thawed
as I can't get them locally and the shipping is outrageous, understandably so but it would not be worth it for me.
Now if for some reason I had to (i. e. Bought a snake who will only eat frozen thawed) I would but for me live is best.
I don't have any of the bigger snakes but if I ever would go that way I would do f/t then as well.

Even in bulk, with shipping, f/t is still more expensive? If it is, I hear you, and understand. Back in the old pre-internet days my first boid was a ball python and companies like RodentPro, MiceDirect, etc didn't exist; I bought live and pre-killed to feed my BP until a local reptile show started up and actually did offer frozen rodents... I guess I always felt that if the snake would take a killed item either freshly or thawed, that would be the way to go, for the benefits of both the feeder and snake.

[Crazymonkee]

Even in bulk, with shipping, f/t is still more expensive? If it is, I hear you, and understand. Back in the old pre-internet days my first boid was a ball python and companies like RodentPro, MiceDirect, etc didn't exist; I bought live and pre-killed to feed my BP until a local reptile show started up and actually did offer frozen rodents... I guess I always felt that if the snake would take a killed item either freshly or thawed, that would be the way to go, for the benefits of both the feeder and snake.

I wouldn't buy in bulk right now... my one girl won't touch f/t and I was throwing them out, wasted more money than it was worth. So I'm not sure if the new ones would take to them or not. I have no wasted money with live.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[Daybreaker]

I feed all but two of my 40+ snakes f/t because it's my personal preference. Though it can be frustrating, I enjoy feeding them f/t: the warming up, presenting the feeder, watching the snake strike it off tongs or the challenge of getting that undecided one to finally eat is enjoyable to me. The rat smell after warming the feeder up with a hair dryer I could live without though lol

[KyleZ]

The rat smell after warming the feeder up with a hair dryer I could live without though lol

Haha I was just wondering if I should try the hair dryer method for some surface detectable warmth... I always just put the sealed bags in faucet-hot water for a while once they are thawed to room-temp. If there is a noticeable smell, well I guess I will just keep doing that!

[Daybreaker]

Haha I was just wondering if I should try the hair dryer method for some surface detectable warmth... I always just put the sealed bags in faucet-hot water for a while once they are thawed to room-temp. If there is a noticeable smell, well I guess I will just keep doing that!

I swear by the hair dryer method: I've had such great results with that over just presenting the feeder warm out of the bag (after thawed). Once they smell that rat smell they all come out of their hides right up to the front of the tub/cage and feeding is super easy since they're already ready to go and "know" that it's time to eat. You get used to the smell so I guess it's not terrible, just not entirely pleasant lol

[KyleZ]

Maybe I will still give it a shot, at least for the pythons. The boas, they don't seem to have any issues hitting with precision, even without any warming, but the pythons... they definitely seem to rely on the scent + heat pits primarily. It can get downright scary with an adult retic taking swipes when he's hungry, and the only bites I've ever taken from one of my pets in all these years was from my carpet shooting for my hand instead of the not-premium temp food on the end of the tongs. Oops!

[Phantomtip]

I think the reason she tpok it even though it was a little cooler than my hand was os because she is hungry from being on a forced hunger strike. I am trying to get her back up to weight. She was really skinny when I first saw her as in an almost triangle. What I mean by forced hunger strike is the people didn't feed her. They bought food for them and their other pets but not her with the money I sent them. She is nicely rounded right now after eating yesterday.
Oh to the person that said I was being inhumane by popping the rat on the head and killing it instead of breaking its neck needs to realize something. Breakimg the neck doesn't always work. I don't have strong grip strength. Crushing the head is instant. As soon as I killed the poor thing I put it in a bag and directly imto the freezer. I didn't wait. It was limp when I defrosted it. I'm not an idiot. Also if its the first time having to do something like this you can have the bowels void. You also have a higher chance of them voiding with breaking the neck. Also my pet rats were never destined to be eaten. I am an animal lover that is why I did it the quickest way I knew how and I had never had any intentions of ever feeding anything besides live. They are more readily available in my area compared to f/t. Also it's not cost effective for me to load up my freezer with rats when I need to put food in there for my family. I do respect everyone's opinion. This is what makes the world interesting. We can MOSTLY have a good discussion with out someone getting mad or offended. Please lets keep the discussion going. I like understanding why someone does something.

[MootWorm]

I think the reason she tpok it even though it was a little cooler than my hand was os because she is hungry from being on a forced hunger strike. I am trying to get her back up to weight. She was really skinny when I first saw her as in an almost triangle. What I mean by forced hunger strike is the people didn't feed her. They bought food for them and their other pets but not her with the money I sent them. She is nicely rounded right now after eating yesterday.
Oh to the person that said I was being inhumane by popping the rat on the head and killing it instead of breaking its neck needs to realize something. Breakimg the neck doesn't always work. I don't have strong grip strength. Crushing the head is instant. As soon as I killed the poor thing I put it in a bag and directly imto the freezer. I didn't wait. It was limp when I defrosted it. I'm not an idiot. Also if its the first time having to do something like this you can have the bowels void. You also have a higher chance of them voiding with breaking the neck. Also my pet rats were never destined to be eaten. I am an animal lover that is why I did it the quickest way I knew how and I had never had any intentions of ever feeding anything besides live. They are more readily available in my area compared to f/t. Also it's not cost effective for me to load up my freezer with rats when I need to put food in there for my family. I do respect everyone's opinion. This is what makes the world interesting. We can MOSTLY have a good discussion with out someone getting mad or offended. Please lets keep the discussion going. I like understanding why someone does something.

I think this is a pretty good discussion. I definitely agree that crushing the skull is one of the most humane methods, provided it's done correctly. Although I breed my own rats, I prefer frozen thawed for feedings. It allows me to stockpile my rats, so I'm never in a bind if a few of my females decide to eat their litters. Plus I don't have to worry about the rat biting my snakes. Win win for me. And I don't really mind the smell, not any worse than meat thawing

[Phantomtip]

Something about it got me yesterday. I don't know if it was pregnancy sense of smell or what. I nathed my pet rats once every 6 months even though they didn't stonk. It was a way of keeping their skin and coat healthy. The smell of wet rodent doesn't bother me. It could have been the pet store wasn't feeding a high quality food, or they weren't keeping the cage clean. I know the owner is not big on rats. They think they are dirty and mean. They prefer mice. Me I prefer rats over mice. If I were to breed again and needed a large quantity of rodents then I would do rats and I would be able to do a nice euthanasia tank for them, but with only 1 girl I'm not going to worry about it. I did find a better pet store that sells the rats for less because he breeds his own for his snakes and his store. His place was very clean and the rodents he had in store were well fed and clean also. He showed me the feed he uses and it was a very good quality. I just wish I knew what messed me up about this rat yesterday. It didn't smell like defrosting meat but almost my son's diaper lol. The smell was gone as soon as she ate it but still. Maybe its just preggo smell. Even neef stinks at times and I love beef lol