If feeding live works for you then you should continue feeding your bp that. The cases of badly injured snakes occur when you leave a rat in the cage with the snake for days for weeks without any source of food. If you have questions on feeding live then ask around and you can learn what's essential for a safe feeding. Snakes are designed to kill live food, and their hard scales are a type of armor to protect them from any scratches. Don't be scared off feeding live if you feel comfortable feeding it. It may not work for you and that's fine too. I would still try and get 4 feedings in before transitioning to whatever it is you do want to feed. Oh and 1 small adult rat fed weekly is plenty of food for an adult bp. Be careful of overfeeding because this will lead to fasting in the future. Hope this helps.