Quote Originally Posted by Sauzo View Post
I would not say its ridiculous. Have you ever seen what a small to medium rat can do to a snake that grabs it by say the butt end and rat manages to spin around and bite? Its horrible. I have never had it happen to any of my snakes or monitors as I always pre kill my rats before feeding but I have heard and see pictures of the horror stories. Like I said, sure you might not see it for months or years but it only takes 1 time to change your mind. I personally would rather not even chance it and like I said, I pre kill for my reptiles safety. Again to each their own but go google rat bites on snakes and see for yourself or you can try it yourself. Grab a rat in your hand and squeeze it and see how big of bite it takes out of your hand. Not some little weanling or fuzzy but a small to large rat. I'm actually rather surprised you would advocate feeding live to begin with as 90% of the snakes owners I've talked to either feed F/T or pre killed because of the statement I've stated above.
While your point is fully relevant AMD makes perfect sense, the rats that bite are the ones that are hungry and left unattended. I always (I don't mean go sound like a monster) watch my snake kill the rat. I usually feed f/t but sometimes they just won't take it. If the snake grabs the rat by the rear end, take something metal or solid and give the rat something to bite on while it's being suffocated. That sounds bad in text, but it really works. It's not my favorite way, but I'd rather have my snake eat and do so safely. Do not EVER leave a live rat that has it's eyes open unattended in a snake cage. EVER.