I stopped using them a few months ago with certain snakes since they hit so hard and have really poor aim. I had a pair of plastic ones that one of my larger males hit instead of the rat and actually broke it.

Most of my animals eat off the tub floor where I just drop the food in and they go over and eat so I have been lucky.
I now use a long pair of tweezer with rubber tips and dangle in front of the hide. This way the snake hits the prey and they way I offer it, the tweezers are out of the way over the hide.