first off i wanna say i am not debating this about hots, i have no experience with them. my experience is with ball pythons and redtails. someone with hot experience can help with hots and F/T. i feel there is no reason to feed a snake live prey. i havre many reasons why i feel they should never see live prey.
1. your snake is trapped in a small place with a very angry rodent, the snake may not be hungry but the rodent could be. snakes do not seem to kill just to kill. the snake isn't hungry and the rodent is. the rodent can and will start eating the snake.
2.freezing the prey will kill parasites, parasites can kill your snake.
parasite (pār'ə-sīt') Pronunciation Key
An organism that lives on or in a different kind of organism (the host) from which it gets some or all of its nourishment. Parasites are generally harmful to their hosts, although the damage they do ranges widely from minor inconvenience to debilitating or fatal disease.
3. do not think 'how much damage can a small mouse do?' a perfectly aimed bite to the snakes head can kill it.
4. do not think 'if my snake gets bit i can just take it to the vet.' snakes infection is not like ours. thiers is hard and like cottage cheese. the vet cannot just pierce and drain the pus out. my snake had her lump drained and lanced many times, the lump just kept returning. she had 3 surgerys over a rat bite. the final surgery they had to put her under and remove all tissue and all forms of infection. she will always be missing the top part of her eye now. it took years to finally get her 100% and a clean bill of health. it also took 1,500.00 dollars to save her.
5.you can get your snake to switch over to F/T. i always hear 'my snake just wont eat already dead prey' that is not true. it is because you haven't found the right trick to get your snake to switch. maybe you didn't wait long enough for the snake to get good and hungry, maybe you didn't dangle the prey, did you dangle the prey in front of the hide box while the snake was hiding? there are many things you can try and one of them will work. i have helped so many people on the site to get thier snakes that just wouldnt switch, switched.
like the smartest snake person i know says '"How do I switch" Not "how does my snake switch" (thanks brett). it is the owner who needs to learn how to get the snake to take F/T.
if you still want more proof of what rat/mouse bites can do...click on this link.
http://redtailboa.net/forums/feeding...ight=live+pile
