Feeding live mice?

[kjimeson]

I've heard that ur supposed to break the mice's necks first or somethin befor giving them to the snake, but the lady i bought my 1yr old BP from just gives them live mice. Will doing that hurt anything in the snakes body or anything like that? or will it be just fine??My BPs pix [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
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	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[Thade]

Go here. http://www.anapsid.org/prekill.html
Melissa Kaplan has a site full of info on many different types of animals and information on captive care.

In general. Feeding the snake live won't hurt it. But the live mouse most definitely might hurt it. If the snake doesn't immediately take the mouse then the mouse could attack the snake and cause serious injury.
Go to this link and see what feeding live can get your snake.

http://www.homestead.com/koalaskritt...vefeeding.html

((This is off of Lori's page. Lori I posted this..hope ya don't mind [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] If so you can flog me later.))

Thade
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[XzyluM]

Feeding live prey carries many risks. These risks include causing severe injuries and even death. Live prey can also carry parasites with can be passed on to your snakes. Pre-killed is better than live prey, but it also carries a risk of parasites. I would suggest frozen/thawed. You can buy a bulk order pretty cheap which saves a lot of money than buying live. F/T prey do not carry parasites and are not able to defend themselves. Afterall, F/T is pretty risk-free. A good site to order frozen prey is http://www.rodentpro.com . It's one of the best frozen prey online businesses out there. If you prefer pre-killed there is many humane ways to kill them. Grabbing them by the tail and holding their head of an edge of a table or something similar and jerking their tail real hard and fast will kill them instantly if done right. You could put them in a pillow case and slam it against something hard to kill them or stun them as well. There are many other ways. Go with F/T prey. It also saves a trip to the store and they are easy to store in the freezer.
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[Thade]

Or if you want a humane way to kill them, there is an article on humane killing of prey on the first link I posted. Pretty much you set up a little "gas chamber" and kill them quick and painlessly. Xzy's ways work but you have to do it right or the poor mouse may suffer. The gas chamber is fool proof and guarranteed to kill them. Alot of people will say hit them in the head with something. I advise this method least of all. You generally end up with a half dead mouse that is hopping around bleeding everywhere. There are alot of ways to do it though. Any one of which will ensure that your snake is ok.
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[phaedrus]

Kyle, I agree with Thade and Xylum (as you will find, most everyone here will as well. Those who don't, well, we'll convert 'em. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] ) Feeding live = bad...very bad. Feeding F/K, F/T or stunned = good thing. F/T is most preferable. But, I must admit, there are some rather extreme exceptional cases where live feed is the only way. (as usual, there are exceptions to any rule). In this instance, live feed is monitored very, very closely, until the prey is dispatched. Pinkies (mice and rats) are a different story. They can be fed live if necessary. But even then, you still run the parasite risk.
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[kjimeson]

Well yesterday was feeding time...I went against your guys' advice and gave her a full live mouse and she snatched the lil bleeper up once i got it in there and squeezed the poopy out of it! it was awsome, it was the first time i've ever seen a snake eat in person! I kept a close eye on the mouse to make sure she wasnt hurtin her, and when she was done, i picked her up and put her back in her cage with no problems at all. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[Woapalanne]

The gas tank method is more expensive, and only advisable if you have a lot of killing to do - I've never had any trouble putting a mouse in a plastic bag and whamming it against the concrete. No blood (blunt head trauma), a bit of twitching, but no clawing at the snake.

The only time I've fed live was when I couldn't get any frozen mice and he had just shed - he was acting hungry, but I didn't know if he'd actually eat the guy. I held the mouse's arms together with tongs and waved it around until the snake jumped, then pulled the tongs out of his grasp [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Ah, but now I'm getting a shipment of rat pups from RodentPro, they should be here next Tuesday [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] I shall have to offer my guests "popcorn rats"...
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[eddie]

Its not worth the risk to the snake to feed it live.
Even if you do watch it eat, if the mouse or rat decides to do some damage, you are NOT always gonna be fast enough to prevent an injury.
Feeding live along with prekilled also greatly increases the odds that your snake will get internal parasites.
They may not be readily seen but the damage they can do over time can have deadly consequences.

Frozen thawed reduces the chance for any parasites to about 0.00% as freezing kills both internal and external parasites.
This leads to better long term health and less cost per average in medications and vet fees.

Mow for the gruesome stuff, damage from a rodent bite.

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[Seany]

feeding live BAD, if the rat/mouse does bite your snake than A) The damage has been done and B) the snake will not be happy to see your arm poking in there when it is under attack. My advice? Just say NO!
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[RevMojo]

Now see what you did? You went ahead and fed live, and made Eddie get out the bite pix...next thing you know, everyone's gonna be draggin out nasty pix like that. Thanks for spoiling my lunch [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

But seriously, as picky as BP can sometimes be about feeding, the sooner you get it used to eating dead prey, the better. It's been said before, but why let a $50 snake die because a $1 mouse refused to...

I've been there man...I used to feed live. I didnt have cable, it was the closest thing I could get to the discovery channel, but without all the animal sex. Except in very extreme cases, there's really no good reason to do it. I dont want you to think that we're all picking on you, we just want what's best for your snake.

That said, drag out the gallery y'all...I'll just remember not to check this post near meal time
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[phaedrus]

Well, the Rev said we could so, here. Read this thread.
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[phaedrus]

Ah, found it! I think Lori says it best on her website.

Go Here:


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[XzyluM]

Ugh...not the pics again, but it's a good example of what could be coming if your choice is to feed live.
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