Feeding question for breeders

[Moose84]

[QUOTE=ApathyAngel;2739078]So I'm hoping to be able to get another snake next year, as long as our financial situation allows for it (was planning on getting a new one for my 35th birthday, which is next year, but our current economic situation might make me have to postpone it), so I've been looking a lot into what I want and where I want to get it from.

But there's something that I'm seeing in like 99% of cases, and don't understand, and it kind of worries me, to be hone

What worries you about the animals eating live?

Because I'm reading that babies can be picky eaters. And this will only be my second baby. All my other snakes have either been rescues or purchased as adults (and my first baby was a retic, so not exactly a great comparison).

But pretty much every breeder I see feeds live. And that is not remotely an option for me, nonnegotiable, I simply will not do it (my current girl, a rescue, has scars along her back from being fed live, and my friend's retic died after being injured by a live rabbit).

Why is this not an option for you? Just because one person was negligent while feeding live doesn’t mean that’s always the case. Rarely happens to be honest.

I know that transitioning from live to F/T can often be a struggle, so I'm curious why all these breeders only feed live. What is the reasoning behind it?

Because the goal is to get them on food quickly so the animal thrives.

If I were to pay for a snake before its first feeding, could I request that the breeder feed it F/T until it's old enough to ship to me? How do breeders handle situations where customers who bought their snakes can't get the snake to eat F/T

I won’t sell a snake to someone who adamantly refuses to feed the animal live prey. Some will only eat live and that would be setting both you and the animal up for failure.

If I buy a baby that has been fed live, is there a way for me to ensure that the snake I buy will be able to make the switch?[/QUOT

no. Like deb said, don’t buy anymore ball pythons if you are unwilling to meet the animals needs if it won’t take FT prey.