Everything gets fed live here... My boa is the only one on aspen and we havnt had an issue with it. Its the softer aspen made for small animals instead of the more woody/toothpick aspen. We use the aspen for my bunny so the extra stuff goes to the Boa who likes to burrow. I too would likely be lunch (or at least tasted strongly) my snakes have amazing feeding responses, I certainly am not moving them so they can eat more stress to them and me then what its worth IMO.