Hi,

I just keep mine on a seperate shelf of the household freezer - if you live with others it's considered only sporting to at least warn them first.

I'm afraid I only feed F/T but a quick search should find lots of threads on feeding live - it can be done prefectly safely if a little preparation and thought is used by all acounts.

A good starting point is using the right size of rats - the general feeling is that a small rat (around 30-50g ) every 7 days is enough for even an adult snake. Feeding too large a prey item not only intriduces more risk of injury it might cause the snake to go on a fast to recover from overeating. Smaller regular meals seem to work quite well for most people.

Making sure the prey animal is as stress-free as possible should also help. Some people recomend introducing it at the furthest end of the cage from the snke and handing it a treat to chew on.

Make sure the snakes enclosure has a clear area in front of his hides if possible so the snake can get a good clean strike from ambush position.

Prescent the room so the snake knows what is coming and is all set up to feed.

Never leave a live rodent unattended (aside from pinks/fuzzies which cannot harm a snake at all) in the tank and if the snake is not hungry and shows no intrest after 30 minutes remove the rodent and try again next week.

On that point always have a container ready to house the prey if it is not eaten with food and water to keep it healthy. That way it can last until next feeding day with any luck.

Now of course everyone who feeds live can come in and totally school me on how it should be done.


dr del