Live feeding Question

[Fritzl]

Hi all
When feeding a BP live rodents that you breed yourself im just wondering if the rodents should have empty or full stomachs or if it even matters?
Say i feed my BP a live rat that has just eaten some mixed vegetables and dried pasta for example surely that undigested food in the rat is now the snakes job to digest.
Can this cause harm to the snake? In the wild, surely the prey item could still have a belly full of food that snakes dont eat. Same when we feed frozen thawed, do frozen rodents have undigested food still in their bellys?

[predatorkeeper87]

Hi all
When feeding a BP live rodents that you breed yourself im just wondering if the rodents should have empty or full stomachs or if it even matters?
Say i feed my BP a live rat that has just eaten some mixed vegetables and dried pasta for example surely that undigested food in the rat is now the snakes job to digest.
Can this cause harm to the snake? In the wild, surely the prey item could still have a belly full of food that snakes dont eat. Same when we feed frozen thawed, do frozen rodents have undigested food still in their bellys?

As with most obligate carnivores the stomach and intestinal contents of prey items provide some pre and post-digested vitamins and nutrients for said carnivore, it won't harm them in the least. They are equipped to digest all parts of a prey animal and excrete the parts they cannot use.

[cchardwick]

I've thought about this before but have never put my rodents on a fast before feeding them off. Snakes can even digest their bones so I'd say it's OK.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Putting a hungry and stressed rodent in with your animal that will usually start a different kind of thread.....
Properly cared for rodents make great feeders.

[Fritzl]

Yeah good point, it makes sense that they only digest what is needed and excrete what is waste i was just curious as i read a youtube comment where someone tried giving their BP some apple sauce (god knows why) and it soon after died. So i thought what if a rodent ate apple sauce then was fed to a snake straight after then i thought about all food for that matter.
Thanks guys
P.S i only just noticed the thank button today so im going back to previous posts to thank other members. Cheers again guys

[bcr229]

If someone is trying to feed applesauce to a ball python then it probably died for other reasons.

Feeder insects are gut-loaded before being fed off, no reason that it wouldn't work with rodents fed to your snakes.