Most Recent Snake Picture!

[zina10]

I prefer frozen/thawed feedings but I would never condemn live feeding either. When you have an animal such as that, at times you have to do what you have to do to make it survive.

Having had BP's (and many other snakes) for as long as I have and having taken in many rescues back then, I can say without a doubt, for some of those snakes it would have been live feeding...or death. That's all there is to it. Granted, I have gotten ALL of them to take frozen/thawed in time, but the wild caught rescues that were not only sick with internal and external parasites, URI, mouthrot AND starved needed some live feedings to pull them back from the brink, before switching could safely be attempted.

The same goes for hatchlings. Some simply WILL NOT take frozen/thawed as their first feeding. No matter how its heated or presented. Hatchlings cannot afford to go very long without a feeding. That is not the time to give "tough love". I find it sad that some of those hatchlings will be assist fed or even force fed before live food is tried. Again, there is not much time to mess about getting a little one to eat.

I guess I look at it that way. Once I take in or breed these animals, I am responsible for their well being. And I need to do whatever it takes to get and keep them well. I prefer frozen/thawed for a bunch of reasons. And I have been able to switch even the most stubborn one. But sometimes it takes time and I would never, ever withhold food from an animal to make it conform to my own morals and standards.

That said, everyone is allowed their own opinion, that is for sure.

But I didn't see anything horrible about the short video posted. It was a new keeper that was excited to see their new snake eat. Something some Ball Pythons and some newbies struggle with. Nothing in that video was gruesome or graphic, imho.

I tried feeding my new hatchlings F/T. None of them went for it, and I surely know how to do it after all those years. After the second try, they got live hoppers. And they took them. In time they will be switched to F/T rats, but for now, they need to eat, no matter how or what. I helped create those creatures, so I need to do what it takes to make them survive.

To keep this on topic, here is one of my little hatchlings.