Quote Originally Posted by Kb- View Post
So, I bought a six year old female from Reptiles By Mack at a local expo almost two months ago. Was told she was eating live. I've only ever fed frozen thawed, so I tried that first just to see. No luck, so I bought a medium rat and tried offering fresh kill-- as I've been told that it's dangerous to feed larger rats live. Still nothing, so now I've been trying live large mice. She's very active, tongue flicks, but the mouse can go right past her and nothing happens. I know it's probably too small, she's got a big enough girth to be eating medium/large rats.

How does everyone feed live rats? I've heard that some people stun them first, some just toss them into the enclosure, some kill first.. I'm just terrified of the damage a big rat could inflict.
It's not unusual for adult females to go of feed for a long amount of time when changing environment, the key here is patience, optimal husbandry and feeding the same prey than what was previously offered.

Because she is big enough for a large rat does not mean she needs to or should get a large rat, if you want to have an animal feeding with consistency feed smaller preys this will also allow you to feed live without issues.

The largest I feed are 125/150 grams rats and those are only meant for females 3000 grams and over.

The key to live feeding

Scenting the room
Making sure the feeder is well hydrated and well fed (offer food and water if you purchase your feeders from a store)
Feeding a appropriately sized prey
No stunning,not only is it inhumane for the prey but in the event the feeder wakes from it's daze it could make it far more dangerous for your snake.
Monitor feeding
Remove prey within 15 to 20 min if uneaten.

I feed 250 live prey a months to my breeders and never had an issue, many do the same without issues either.