Is live feeding really that dangerous?

[Spiritserpents]

If done properly, most of the time it is safe. That said, no matter how closely you supervise accidents *can* happen. If the snake strikes but doesn't hit the right spot or coil correctly, the rodent *can* reach around and bite them. If your snake is also developing cataracts or any other vision issues, live feeding becomes the *ir*responsible thing to do.

Monitor your snake's health. Have a plan in place in case something goes wrong. Be aware that things *can* go wrong even if you do everything correctly.

[rlditmars]

If done properly, most of the time it is safe. That said, no matter how closely you supervise accidents *can* happen. If the snake strikes but doesn't hit the right spot or coil correctly, the rodent *can* reach around and bite them. ........ Be aware that things *can* go wrong even if you do everything correctly.

I am living this as we speak. I have a 2300 gram female that I will be taking back to UGA Veterinarian Teaching Hospital for the second time tomorrow. About three and half weeks ago while feeding her an appropriate sized live rat, she was bitten in the gum line under her lip where it wasn't visible. About five days later her right lip started swelling considerably so I took her in. After examining her they found the puncture which had become infected and had to anesthetize her and do a small surgery in which they drained the puss and removed two of her teeth along with a small piece of her upper mandible that were taken off in the bite. Despite giving her treatments of Meloxicam and Ceftazidime since then, the swelling has only slightly reduced. I am hoping that we can get this under control without utilizing anything that could compromise the impending clutch as she ovulated last week. If the choice is between the dam or the offspring, I have to save the dam obviously.

There was absolutely nothing I could have done to prevent the incident as it occurred immediately upon the strike and couldn't be seen in the balled up coils. Further, the expenses will likely be between $600 and $1000 minimum, and believe me that is reasonable compared to some Veterinarians. Further consideration can be given to the possibility of lost revenues if the clutch should be rendered nonviable. Not to mention that it will set back future breeding plans I was hoping to achieve if I hit a specific combo possible in the pairing.

You can feed thousands of rats without incident, but you only need one to go wrong on the right animal for it to have serious consequences. I would do everything you possibly can to switch them over. That said, some simply won't switch and there is nothing you can do but to feed them live and hope for the best.

[Sonny1318]

My 900g female BP does not seem to be interested in f/the and actually hasn't eaten since I got her which was a little over a month ago. I think I'm going to try to feed live but I keep hearing horror stories of infections from rat bites, losing an eye etc. Is live really that serious of a problem. P.s my husbandry Is great I got her around the same time I got my male and he is eating f/t like a beast and they're Temps are almost identical. The place I got her from said she sometimes eats f/t and u was hoping that would be all she ate for me, but clearly that's not the case. So again my question is how dangerous is live feeding really? Should I just wait for her to take f/t? Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks

I believe you have gotten some good advise on feeding live. I been a doing this as a hobby for 30 years easy. I've feed live with no problems, like I said lots of good advise given. But as my collection grew, I switched to frozen. If your worried about the possibility of an accident or injury. With patience and a little scenting, I believe you'll eventually get her to eat F/T. That's my two cents. Hope it helps.

[MalachiJ]

I feed live, it's natural. Just watch the kill and then leave it alone with it for a while so it feels safe.

[Spiritserpents]

I feed live, it's natural. Just watch the kill and then leave it alone with it for a while so it feels safe.

This I must quibble with.

The way we feed live to our snakes is nothing close to natural as in nature, the snake and mouse/rat do not find themselves confined in an area that is a couple square feet, unable to escape.

It's like saying that, because it's natural, I should release live rabbits and fawns in my living room for my dog to kill and eat for her dinner. I'm also not going to release song birds, rabbit pups and rodents for my cats to hunt and eat because that, too, would be 'natural'.

There are understandable reasons for feeding live. 'Natural' is not one of them.

[LostWingsInTime]

I don't like feeding f/t rats, they lose a lot of moisture when your thawing and warming them up, which can lead to some constipation issues, as well as their growth seems to do better with non frozen, but I would never put a live rat with my snakes. I kill the rat right before giving it to them and then nudge it around a bit with the snake hook to make it a bit more lively. Also neither seem particularly interested in thawed. The nice thing is, if the don't eat the rat after it's been killed, you can freeze and use it next week if your ok with the occasional f/t or a different snake is more opening to eating f/t . (Personally I recommend vacuumed sealed)

[Eric Alan]

I don't like feeding f/t rats, they lose a lot of moisture when your thawing and warming them up, which can lead to some constipation issues, as well as their growth seems to do better with non frozen

Source?

[BCS]

I don't like feeding f/t rats, they lose a lot of moisture when your thawing and warming them up, which can lead to some constipation issues, as well as their growth seems to do better with non frozen,

I would also like to know where you got this idea from.

[LostWingsInTime]

Source?

http://www.netvet.co.uk/snakes/constipation.htm over food
The growth was more just an opinion I remember getting from a quite a few different people on different forms when I was first researching before I got mine.

[Sonny1318]

This I must quibble with.

The way we feed live to our snakes is nothing close to natural as in nature, the snake and mouse/rat do not find themselves confined in an area that is a couple square feet, unable to escape.

It's like saying that, because it's natural, I should release live rabbits and fawns in my living room for my dog to kill and eat for her dinner. I'm also not going to release song birds, rabbit pups and rodents for my cats to hunt and eat because that, too, would be 'natural'.

There are understandable reasons for feeding live. 'Natural' is not one of them.

Dogs and cats are and have been domesticated for quite sometime. Well I might see you first point, I'm not sure about how you backed it up. Peace