Oh round we go again LOL....
Up front, there is no right or wrong way to feed your snake....live, frozen/thawed, pre-killed...mice or rats...as long as the snake eats it...eats it consistently and is growing and healthy and you are a happy snake owner....you got it goin on!
However, there is nothing inherently cruel or inhumane in feeding live. This is not a pet animal we are talking about here. This is a snake, that even if bred in captivity is barely a slither from the wild. In my mind, not a domesticated animal. We humans like to make everything antiseptic and apart from the natural processes of life. Snakes eat rodents...snake were designed to eat live rodents and rodents were designed to be prey...been going on for eons of time and will go on for eons of time....Mother Nature is no dumb broad
We raise our own rats....we feed live...by choice and through responsible, careful consideration of all factors...including the rats. As my posts and anyone will tell you I'm a fiend about the rats being properly managed for both their welfare and that of our snakes. I actually respect our rats and their contribution to the predator/prey dynamic that occurs every Thursday in our home. I would never allow a living creature to be treated inhumanely or without respect for it's place and function.
Please understand, I am not promoting live feed over another method but I do take exception with it being labelled inhumane and tend to hop on my lil ole soapbox so do forgive the small rant here LOL.
As to the original poll question, as long as the snake is a good eater we don't care what or how it eats and will copy the way it's been eating till it's settled in. Then if we wish to use another prey or method we'll attempt to transfer the snake over to our way at that time.
~~Jo~~
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