My BP is not doing so great with live food...

[SnakeBabe]

...I know the easy solution is to switch to frozen, but I am very very very busy at the moment and learning the process/thawing a mouse weekly will not be do-able yet. ...

Thawing a mouse is very easy and much safer for your snake. Not sure what you mean by learning the process.
For me it’s as simple as letting it thaw on a paper plate and leave it in the cage before I go to bed. I wake up in the morning and it’s eaten. Safely, humanely and easy. Much easier than watching over a live feeding in hopes you can stop the mouse before it eats your snake’s eye. Give it a try. Good luck
Hugs and Hissessss,
Maria

[SnakeBabe]

...
Stunning not only is inhumane but also potentially dangerous to the snake if the rodent wakes-up. In other words, not a good idea.

and Illegal

[MeMe]

Another lesson learned. Don't feed live.

If you can't learn to thaw something I can offer you another solution, stun him. Put the prey item in a bag and give it a good wack on a hard surface. Then if you snake isn't to aggressive. Do the mousy dance.

Are you even kidding me?

How are you going to dismiss something like that to "Don't feed live" as if that is the answer.

and you don't STUN a mouse or rat. How would you like someone to give you a good whack on a hard surface?

I mean really...it is a living creature that is going to feed your snake...the LEAST you could do is put is down humanely.

People who feel that feeding a mouse/rat live is just as bad as stunning it or whacking on a hard surface are wrong.

IMO.

there are many threads on this subject...do the research and you will find a ton of useful info.

Feeding live can be done safely, I have been feeding both live and F/T to multiple snake each week and never had any issue feeding live whether it is mice or rats

Stunning not only is inhumane but also potentially dangerous to the snake if the rodent wakes-up. In other words, not a good idea.

He didn't say put the mouse in a sleeperhold, what I mean is: that mouse isn't "waking up" (if hit hard enough.)

ahhh...IF it is hit hard enough!

IF not...you have a neurologically damaged ...crippled...animal.

Would you like to be crippled before you die from that whack to the head?

just sayin' some people...no..MOST people will not hit it hard enough the first time and will...have to either hit it again or feed it off crippled.



that is no way to treat ANY living creature.

Much easier than watching over a live feeding in hopes you can stop the mouse before it eats your snake’s eye. Give it a try.
Maria

Eats the snakes eye??? Are you serious?

I have not seen one of my...balls...corns...or my RTB that will sit there and LET their prey EAT their eye out. C'mon!

Besides the fact that...if you are monitoring the feeding...the prey won't have time to eat anything.

I have had snakes for 10 years and I have NEVER had a prey bite my snakes...much less eat it's eyes out.

[BigCeC43]

Thanks for all the responses,

JLC,
I have been "pre-scenting the room." Within minutes of me putting the mouse(in the box) above his cage he's out off his hide w/ tounge flickering. He does attack quick, it's just that he doesn't bit the face/neck like he used to, and he doesn't constrict hard enough anymore giving the prey a chance to bite back.


As for stunning... I honestly don't feel right wacking the prey against something hard. To me it seems like that would either kill it (if done hard enough) or just break it's bones. I don't really see a mouse getting a concusion from a blow to the entire body.

I guess I might try frozen, but I'm going to have to try live again also. It doesn't make sense that he is getting worse at the kill.

[rabernet]

Much easier than watching over a live feeding in hopes you can stop the mouse before it eats your snake’s eye. Give it a try. Good luck
Hugs and Hissessss,
Maria

Eat it's eye? A bit melodramatic?

Bottom line, feed what works for you and your snake. Feeding live is not as inherently dangerous as people try to make it seem.

When feeding live, you feed an appropriately sized prey item (when feeding rats, the largest one you need is a 4-5 week old weanling, even my 3000 + gram female gets one 40-50 gram weanling a week and is still putting on weight), you feed prey that is well fed and healthy, you pre-sent the area, you know your snakes.

I myself have fed over 3000 live prey items off to my collection. I've never had an injury of any kind. If I even had just one injury, the "danger" would be in less than 1% of my live feedings. In fact, it would be a risk of .000033 %. I've never even had an eye eaten in over 3000 live feedings.

I can't even begin to imagine how many live prey that Adam has fed off in 10+ years of feeding live to over 700 snakes a week. And he doesn't experience injuries either.

Anti-live feeders seem to always over-inflate the risk of feeding live, when in fact, the real risk is very small.

BP.net prides itself in not taking a stance one way or the other. If pre-killed or frozen/thawed works best for you and your animals, then that's great! If feedling live works best for many of the members here, then that's great as well! Neither way is better than the other. Just my

[andy6432668]

>Thawing a mouse is very easy and much safer for your snake. >Not sure what you mean by learning the process.
>For me it’s as simple as letting it thaw on a paper plate and >leave it in the cage before I go to bed. I wake up in the morning >and it’s eaten. Safely, humanely and easy. Much easier than >watching over a live feeding in hopes you can stop the mouse >before it eats your snake’s eye. Give it a try. Good luck
>Hugs and Hissessss,
>Maria


Is there a danger of the snake eating a half frozen mouse ?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Much easier than watching over a live feeding in hopes you can stop the mouse before it eats your snake’s eye.

A bit too dramatic don't you think?
What's next the picture of a snake severely injured after a irresponsible owner left a prey unattended in the enclosure without food or water for days?

Is there a danger of the snake eating a half frozen mouse?

Yes, if not properly thawed it can lead to the death of the snake.

The bottom line when feeding is to know your options and feed responsibly whether it is live, F/T or P/K.

[Greenlover]

i think ya also have to consider ur snake a little i know for a fact that my ball python wont lose to a mouse and im willing to watch every time... less then 20 seconds in the container together and the mouse has stopped twiching... but iv watched a few adult kenyans inculding my own whos all better now and they dont bite as hard they dont constrict as fast or nearly as strong as a near baby ball... but i agree what ever works stunned is my choice esspecially since most are pinkies but a good flick in the head works for me ....

[SnakeBabe]

Eat it's eye? A bit melodramatic?

I don’t think so but I’m not going to take the risk with my pets.
I am sure you all have seen the photos. I have snakes here that were victims of live feedings. Missing nostrils, scars up and down their bodies but no eyes missing. I was just making a point. With the live method it is possible. Not mine.
Hugs and Hissessss,
Maria

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I don’t think so but I’m not going to take the risk with my pets.
I am sure you all have seen the photos. I have snakes here that were victims of live feedings. Missing nostrils, scars up and down their bodies but no eyes missing. I was just making a point. With the live method it is possible. Not mine.
Hugs and Hissessss,
Maria

Many of us have seen the pics used by people who strongly oppose to live feeding!

And we also know the story behind the one you have in mind and that is posted on your website.

Leaving a rat or a mouse for days in an enclosure with a snake with no food or water is not what I call responsible feeding. (this is the story behind that pic and some others)

A responsible owner that supervises feeding and feed an appropriate size prey CAN do feed live safely. Animals that are severly injured are the result of irresponsible owners.

The bottom line is to chose one or the other not because people are telling you to (their way being the best), but because you are informed, responsible and know your options.

Based on that people should feed what work and is convenient for them whether it is live, F/T or P/K. (On my part I feed all 3)