live vs F/T

k_toast · #1 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 03:40 PM

Ok. I know I am gona probably get flamed for this post, but here goes anywho.
I am curious what every ones oppinions are on this subject. Now I am not stupid nor am I careless. I have had many different snakes ranging from small earth snakes, Ringneckes, Rat Snakes, etc., and have had a Mexican Rosy Boa for the past 3 years. I have always fed my snakes Live feed. Now I am not so dumb as to throw a live mouse in with my snake and just leave them alone. I monitor everything going on. I have also never had any problems. To me it just seams more natural for the snake. But then that is just me too I guess.
Anyways with out making a flame fest I would like to know your oppinions on this subject and why it is you feel this way.
Thanks
Kyle

thomasito · #2 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 03:44 PM

What's better for the snake is pre killed or f/t ..seriously just give ur snakes dead food ..it's not so natural ...but they will get the hang of it ..*a rat = a rat * rather it's dead or a live and 2 avoid future problems ..give em dead.

Regards,
Thomas,

tmfleo1 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 03:56 PM

Feeding prekilled or F/T is the best way to go safer and using F/t is healthier do to parasites

unluckyseventeen · #4 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 04:00 PM

JuliusSqueezer said it best when he stated something along the lines of "If a snake finds food he won't care if it's already dead." Food is food. I know they do things different in the wild, but the wild doesn't care if your snake lives or dies. Any smart owner would do anything they could to keep their pets safe, if they cared enough about them... which they should.

There's two main reasons why I'd feed frozen and thawed, and I'll explain here:

1 - You never know when live prey is going to bite your snake. That's nearly impossible to monitor and even more impossible to stop from happening if you're feeding live. Check out this thread: WARNING!! Graphic Boos pics! - that snake in there is a rescue that one of the members picked up from someone that was feeding live. The snake got bit and that spot got infected. The swelling you see is from the infection. The owner didn't know what to do, so Jem_Scout took it up for adoption. It's been a world of trouble getting that swelling down and the snake probably will never see out of that eye again... all beacuse of a simple, careless mistake.

2 - Lots of mice and rats have internal parasites that will either make your snake sick or die if things get really bad. A lot of people will buy live mice and kill them, then offer them, to prevent getting bit. I wouldn't reccomend that to be the safest solution, but it's still far more acceptable than live prey. If you still want the lowest chance of your snake being harmed, I would strongly reccomend buying frozen mice/rats and thawing them before feeding.

There are lots of people with a counter-argument to this that will say "my snake won't take pre-killed food". Nuts to that. I've seen an insanely small margin of snakes that will only take live food, and most of them are dumerils boas. With any effort expended to make sure things are right for the snake, it will take frozen/thawed. I'd be amazed to see anybody with troubles.

If you want to keep your snake as safe and healthy as possible, feed it pre-killed or frozen/thawed. Don't put yourself, and especially your snake, in a bad position because of neglect.

JuliusSqueezer · #5 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 04:02 PM

Nature has nothing to do with it. Incidently, most snakes will gladly take a prekilled meal in the wild too if they happen to find one. And sometimes they do. Snakes eating roadkill are often observed. Snakes stealing meals from other snakes that have just killed are also often observed. Not all injuries from live prey happen because you walked away and left them unintended. No watchful eye can intervene an instant rat chomp through the skull of your snake. Sometimes the snake grabs the rat in such a manner that the rat can get a good bite in and you don't know there is a problem until it's too late and there is nothing at that point you can do. It happens. It may not happen for years but the risk is there. I use this analogy a lot. I used to work with a guy that was a raging alcoholic. Every single night after work he would go to the bar and get drunk. For over 20 years he made it home somehow without a scratch. Now, we all know the dangers of drinking and driving...but for 20 years he had no problem right? so it's ok for him maybe? right? He's dead now. He passed out driving home on I-20 late one night and drifted off onto the shoulder and drove right under a parked tractor trailer. He left behind 3 kids and a wife that now wish they could have done more to prevent it rather than accept that ...well so far it's been ok...Besides all that, live rodents carry any number of parasites. In the wild, snakes get worms and they just cycle out because they poop and crawl away from it without getting reinfested. In a cage, they don't have that luxury and the parasite loads can get heavy enough to kill them. Freezing kills parasites. Save yourself a lot of grief and become a responsible little herper. If keeping things natural means so much to you, expect a high mortality rate in your collection. Afterall the mortality rate in nature is extremely high. In fact MOST snakes don't live past a month or so in the wild. You should also have occasional floods, forest fires, run over some with your car, maybe put a hawk or a raccoon in the cage with them...just to keep things more natural... you know?

k_toast · #6 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 04:05 PM

Please vote when you post a comment ... or even if you don't.

Thanks

JuliusSqueezer · #7 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 04:06 PM

LOL lottsa people posting while I was typing...I thought I was going to be a little original but seem to have just regurged more of the same...which hopefully through repetition will maybe sink in a little. Good luck and hope you find your way away from the darkside young jedi.

tmfleo1 · #8 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

Nature has nothing to do with it. Incidently, most snakes will gladly take a prekilled meal in the wild too if they happen to find one. And sometimes they do. Snakes eating roadkill are often observed. Snakes stealing meals from other snakes that have just killed are also often observed. Not all injuries from live prey happen because you walked away and left them unintended. No watchful eye can intervene an instant rat chomp through the skull of your snake. Sometimes the snake grabs the rat in such a manner that the rat can get a good bite in and you don't know there is a problem until it's too late and there is nothing at that point you can do. It happens. It may not happen for years but the risk is there. I use this analogy a lot. I used to work with a guy that was a raging alcoholic. Every single night after work he would go to the bar and get drunk. For over 20 years he made it home somehow without a scratch. Now, we all know the dangers of drinking and driving...but for 20 years he had no problem right? so it's ok for him maybe? right? He's dead now. He passed out driving home on I-20 late one night and drifted off onto the shoulder and drove right under a parked tractor trailer. He left behind 3 kids and a wife that now wish they could have done more to prevent it rather than accept that ...well so far it's been ok...Besides all that, live rodents carry any number of parasites. In the wild, snakes get worms and they just cycle out because they poop and crawl away from it without getting reinfested. In a cage, they don't have that luxury and the parasite loads can get heavy enough to kill them. Freezing kills parasites. Save yourself a lot of grief and become a responsible little herper. If keeping things natural means so much to you, expect a high mortality rate in your collection. Afterall the mortality rate in nature is extremely high. In fact MOST snakes don't live past a month or so in the wild. You should also have occasional floods, forest fires, run over some with your car, maybe put a hawk or a raccoon in the cage with them...just to keep things more natural... you know?

Well said Brett

k_toast · #9 (**permalink**) 12-25-2005, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

LOL lottsa people posting while I was typing...I thought I was going to be a little original but seem to have just regurged more of the same...which hopefully through repetition will maybe sink in a little. Good luck and hope you find your way away from the darkside young jedi.

Lol Thanks JS.
I can say I am rather a noob even though I have been raising snakes for the past 17 years or so. I have never been on any other reptile forums or been around others who raise snakes either. The reason why I started this post is I have been seeing alot of people getting realy heated about live feeding. I had never heard of anyone F/T or Feeding dead before. I had never had any problems before and never thought anything of it. I do see your points though. Which is why I started this post.

Thanks and please keep the posts comming.
Kyle

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