F/T versus live

[roastedspleen]

now i want to know why so many people say pre killed food items for reptiles is so much better. this morning pokey just ate a live hopper. i have heard of the possibiltys of biting but those little things wouldnt touch me when i stuck my hand in there.

although i can say iv been bit by my dads girlfriends pet rat (bled a LOT)
i dont know how much it would damage my snake

 

[james.w]

Live rats/mice can and will bite. This can cause severe damage to your snake. I don't feed live, I have but not on a regular basis. If you want to risk your snakes safety by all means feed live, but otherwise stick to F/T or P/K.

 

[Rhetoric]

For me it's being able to have hundreds of mice or rats in the freezer at any given time. I'm not worried about my tegus getting bit they would destroy live prey.. Assuming it is the proper size for them to eat. A jumbo rat would do some damage though.

 

[roastedspleen]

mmm the problem is that he/she dosnt want to touch a dead rat/mouse.
plus my family (all of them have no knowledge of reptiles at all)
say it needs live food... i wanted pre killed but my mom didnt want to waste or something....
so for now all i can do is hope pokey is a good enough of a hunter to not strike it the wrong way so it can start biting

 

[james.w]

How did you offer the dead mouse? Was it f/t or prekilled? Was it warm or cold? Did you just lay it in the cage or try wiggling it around?

 

[roastedspleen]

i thawed it in hot water and than offered it but it seemed uninterested plus it was a pinky

 

[Logie_Bear]

i thawed it in hot water and than offered it but it seemed uninterested plus it was a pinky

Try putting the snake in a seperate tub with the F/T pinky, and just leave it in the dark for a few hours, just the snake and the mouse. I'd also try braining the pinky if she's not showing much interest.

I do have a snake that absolutely refuses live food as well, what I do to help avoid any potential damage to my snake is to hold onto the rat's scruff (this is my boa, big food) with tongs so that its head is never near the snake and when she strikes I make sure that the rat's mouth is not in a biting position. Its really sad for the rodent, I really like rats and dont enjoy doing this, but I use the tongs because I dont want to risk damage to my boa.

 

[james.w]

Another thing you can do is kill the mouse right before you put it in the enclosure.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

The most common issue with feeding f/t especially with snakes,.. is it's not warm enough. Their (prey) live temp is about the same as ours at 98*, if it's not warm enough they won't eat it. They see heat in a gradient so they know when the inside is still cold.

If your snake is kept in 85-90* temps then make sure their prey is a little warmer than their enclosure temps and what they're use to seeing so that it stands out more, temp, sight and scent wise.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Prekilled is better for a variety of reasons: it prevents the snake from getting injured, it allows you to purchase food in bulk, it is easier to throw away a dead uneaten mouse than deal with a live uneaten mouse, and it keeps the snake calmer. When I was younger I used to live feed, but I have not done so for many years. It's just easier. Rodents can do horrific damage to reptiles with those incisors; I know people who have had snakes mauled, killed, and in one case actually EATEN. There's a reason the expression is "fight like a cornered rat." Here's how I see it, at least in a romanticized sense of things. In the wild, reptiles would be killing their own prey but they're not in the wild. They are our captive guests and as such we should make their lives as comfortable as possible. Why go through all the stress and risk of killing a mouse when you can eat one that's served to you?

 

[Jason]

all of my snakes are now eating prekilled or F/T. One of my ball pythons took a while to make the switch from live. first i got him used to eating from feeding tongs with live. After he got used to that and consistently ate, i switched to freshly killed and slowly worked toward F/T. when he was eating live; numerous times I had to rescue him. He always seemed to strike at the tail end of the rat then wrap the back legs. I ended up having to choke out the rat myself with tongs a couple times. If i had just put a live rat in the feeding bin and walked away; there's no doubt in my mind that my backwards @$$ snake would have been killed several times over by rats.

There's three great reasons to switch to F/T
1) Way safer for the snake
2) More humane for the rat (in my opinion)
3) Buying in bulk saves alot of money

 

[roastedspleen]

LOL i dont think i could ever kill a rat or mouse....
i guess i could try it next week when i have to feed again
how would i do so without being cruel?

 

[Jason]

a friend of mine holds them by the tail and flicks (as hard as you can) the base of their skull/back of their neck.

I don't have that in me. If i have to do it myself i use CO2. You can put them in a bin with dry Ice in a small dish of water. the "smoke" it produces is CO2. It will suffocate them. It only takes a minute or so.

 

[roastedspleen]

thanks, but wont it make the rats/mice colder? dry ice is -109.3°F
ill probably try it tho

 

[jdpFL]

I should post pics of our latest rescue ball python. HORRIFIC scars all over his entire body due to previous owner leaving live rats in with him. I'm sure that was a very unpleasant experience for that poor snake. It took some time, but we've now got him eating F/T. The key as stated above is to get it hot enough, then wiggle it around with tongs in front of your snake to trigger feeding response. Also use rats if possible, you'll need them when your snake us larger and some can be difficult to switch from mice. Good luck to you!

 

[james.w]

I should post pics of our latest rescue ball python. HORRIFIC scars all over his entire body due to previous owner leaving live rats in with him. I'm sure that was a very unpleasant experience for that poor snake. It took some time, but we've now got him eating F/T. The key as stated above is to get it hot enough, then wiggle it around with tongs in front of your snake to trigger feeding response. Also use rats if possible, you'll need them when your snake us larger and some can be difficult to switch from mice. Good luck to you!

Can you post the pics for the OP to see what can happen when feeding live?

 

[jdpFL]

Sure thing, will do it in the morning....I'm headed to get some zzzzzz's.
And, side note....both are doing much much better....eating and had a great shed.. Got rid of some nasty bad eye caps too!

 

[Dirtydmc]

Rodents bite when they are about to die. Self preservation. I have a rescued boa, she had a large wound on her. Looked horrible. I've had her for about 4 months and have been using medicine on her. It's still very much there. She can only eat small prey. While the wound is healing, it takes along time. Snakes don't heal very well. Sometimes not at all.


They can get aggressive during feeding. Live prey brings out their wild side. Both my snakes eat live prey. Well, almost live. Ramses food gets wacked on the head before he eats. Rats leave big holes. Cloe is a master killer and gets perfect strikes everytime. But her food is allways babys. Once she is fully healed ill wacky hers on the head too.

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One more thing. Live food costs way more. $20 for one feeding for two snakes. Frozen guys are around 50 cents a piece if you buy in bulk. And no nasty smell in your house from raising food.

 

[james.w]

Rodents bite when they are about to die. Self preservation. I have a rescued boa, she had a large wound on her. Looked horrible. I've had her for about 4 months and have been using medicine on her. It's still very much there. She can only eat small prey. While the wound is healing, it takes along time. Snakes don't heal very well. Sometimes not at all.


They can get aggressive during feeding. Live prey brings out their wild side. Both my snakes eat live prey. Well, almost live. Ramses food gets wacked on the head before he eats. Rats leave big holes. Cloe is a master killer and gets perfect strikes everytime. But her food is allways babys. Once she is fully healed ill wacky hers on the head too.

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One more thing. Live food costs way more. $20 for one feeding for two snakes. Frozen guys are around 50 cents a piece if you buy in bulk. And no nasty smell in your house from raising food.

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Why don't you feed F/T than? Especially if you are paying $10 per rat, that is ridiculous. Where do you buy your food?

 

[got10]

frozen is always cheaper and in my opinion safer