How do you feed live?

[Skyrivers]

For F/T I have tried 2 methods so far. First I take the rat out of the baggie and put it on the top of his cage to thaw. Once thawed I will either heat up some water(i have tried wet and dry rodent), or get the blow dryer. I heat up the prey to about 90 deg, and then I open the tank and try to find him. Usually I can find his nose poking out of the substrate, so I try to tease him with it. I spend about 15-30 minutes trying to get his attention while he is in the substrate. Now if after 30 or 45 minutes I am unable to get a response, I will then pull him out of the substrate and try again. If that doesn't work I take a paper towel, and put the prey on it and leave it overnight. I try to heat the prey back up about every 5 - 10 minutes, until I put it on the paper towel.

When I do live he eats within 5 minutes of being presented with the prey item.

Do you think you might be scaring him? Have you tried just placing inside and leaving it and have the room dark and quiet?

[sur3fir3]

Yes things do change and typically for the better. As Deb noted, stunning is no longer considered appropriate. In addition to not stunning rodents, there have been other changes in the last 20 years:

Myth: Feeding snakes in the enclosure will cause the snake to become aggressive and mistake your hand for food, so it should be moved to a separate tub for meals.
Fact: You are more likely to get bit by a hungry snake if you attempt to move it than if you just feed it in the enclosure, and you can tap train a snake to break its food response so it doesn't mistake your hand for food when it's not time to eat.

Myth: Freezing a snake is a humane method of euthanasia.
Fact: While the snake's body goes torpid its brain remains active, so it feels itself painfully freezing to death. Freezing is not humane. Pith the brain if you need to put a snake down quickly, humanely, and painlessly.

OH WOW! the freezing thing is interesting. I had no idea the snake felt it... THANKS for that info. I also heard about the tub thing. When I first got my snake I was tub feeding, but as soon as I read that I stopped. I'm sure there is more, but thank you for this.

[sur3fir3]

Do you think you might be scaring him? Have you tried just placing inside and leaving it and have the room dark and quiet?

Yes I have tried just leaving it in there overnight, and it would be there in the morning. I tried this method 2x. The few times I did get him to eat frozen was when I was tub feeding, before I read that its no longer an accepted practice.

[Skyrivers]

Yes I have tried just leaving it in there overnight, and it would be there in the morning. I tried this method 2x. The few times I did get him to eat frozen was when I was tub feeding, before I read that its no longer an accepted practice.

I don't have any experience with bloods. I do know that they are creatures of habits in general. The advice you are getting from others is good. Take the good.