Feeding question for breeders

[ApathyAngel]

I would be careful about the lines you draw in the sand when it comes to feeding bps. Even if you receive a baby that has been fed on f/t, it's possible it could refuse once in your home and at some point you will do anything to get it to eat, and the next step after the hairdryer/wiggling tricks is to feed live. As you mentioned, they're notoriously picky eaters and you don't want to let a hatchling hunger strike (especially if it's because of your feeding preference).

I wouldn't let someone who clearly didn't feed live correctly sway your perception of it. It can and is frequently done responsibly by taking steps like weighing both the snake and its prey to make sure it's the correct size, always watching, feeding in the enclosure, etc. Time and patience should give you success in transitioning to f/t but I would be prepared to have to feed live with any bp you take on. All of ours eat live we've had no hiccups (over 12 years)!

That makes sense, and I understand where you're coming from.

But I wasn't really talking about the live vs f/t debate. I have no problems with those who feed live, and I'm aware that the scars along Eden's back were because of neglect (my friend's retic wasn't a case of neglect, just a freak accident that he couldn't stop in time. He was a great owner and helped me out a lot with my own retic). I know that it's extremely unlikely that a ball python would be injured by a rat.

Personally, I choose f/t because it's what works for me. I don't expect everyone else to agree with that choice, and I don't assume that it would work as well for everyone else.

I was more just asking about why breeders do it that way, when I would think that maintaining a large rat population would be time-consuming. And I was asking if it's realistic for a buyer to ask the breeder to help transition from live to f/t after the baby has been paid for, if it's still too young to ship.

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