I feed my pythons live and my colubrids take FT.

I hate wasting prey items, as I raise my own, and if I am going to take a rat's live to feed a snake, then having that be in vain is something I am not comfortable with.

I get a stronger feed response with live, and once you have 5 or more snakes feeding FT can be a real hassle (estimating the amount of prey to thaw out, cutting down on waste, etc.).

Feedling live is only a risk if the keeper lets it be a risk. A rat pup at 30g is not going to do any damage to a BP.

I have a maximum size of rat that I would feed, and that is 40g. Even my biggest snakes are content with two... three if they are really hungry (rare). Never had a bite, a scratch, etc.

Bruce