I think I'll keep feeding him live, as for my baby girl, I'll keep her on frozen lg mice until she's a bit bigger then I'll switch her to live too its alot easier (don't have to hear the naggin from the ol' lady about thawing rats and mice while she's tryin to make dinner anymore) plus I'm going to be picking up a few more drops of poison (I've now developed an addition) so I'll be either building or ordering a rack soon and I know live is the only practical way to go once you start accumulating snakes. I was expecting to get beat up because I took some delight in watching my boy do what he was designed to do. Thanks for your replies

Chris

PS one other question. Does it matter if you drop the rat into the box or hold it by the tail w/ tongs? I've heard that its "cruel" to hold a rat by its tail but seems safer than just dropping it in although its interesting to watch Monty "hunt" the rat down that way. I'd rather be safer than entertaining. Thanks again