Special Circumstances

[BoaVixen]

Originally Posted by hartsock

AMEN BROTHER!!!!! lol, I agree with everything you said there Owen, I do feed two of mine live that were WC and I got them in Feb and they didn't eat until I offered live (mice) last month. So far, we have had two feedings and they are doing good. Two more and then I will try to get them over to f/t. There are some times when you need to do the live thing, but I believe they are few and far in between.
Also, when you read the thread, I think you can see Boavixen coming to the understanding that f/t is better. So I am grateful for that because usually people just yell at each other and everyone goes away mad. As far as the hunting thing....most people who are novice or begining snake owners and ones who don't own them, think that in order to give it the best care of life you need to provide the snake with something that will keep it's instincts sharp. Look at many wolves or eagles and other animals in captivity. They seem so out of place and so "depressed" at times. These people are just trying to do what is best for their animals and they think that hunting (which is very impressive in a snake) is something they need to keep up.
And as much as I have wanted to see it --- I have never seen a live or dead prey have it's eyeballs pop out! LOL, I have heard it can happen, just have never seen it.

Thank you, I do understand that I need to switch them and we are working on it. I did not know any better until this site. Thank you.

	Frozen/Thawed A rodent or other prey item that is frozen and then thawed to be fed to a reptile or other animal.

	Wild caught wild caught

[owen.richards]

Originally Posted by BoaVixen

Okay, because my snake refuses to eat frozen, I am a bad owner? I am trying to find a way to feed her. I am changing to F/T. I am sorry I didn't know everything about snakes and I was trying to ask for nurtuting, well though out advice. My snake shop said that we should feed live and didn't present another option so changing will be difficult. Thanks for not being understanding at all. I really appreciate your concern.

i didnt say that, that snake is a good reason, but the other ones that you said the guy at the petstore told you was the only option, that guy should be slapped, live is never good, just sometimes needed
and hartsock, we have a GTP at work that someone dropped off to us and he was in crappy condition and had been fed live all his life, he has a few scars but nomatter what weve tried he only takes live, and whenever i give him a mouse you can actually see the eyes start to pop out, they dont actually go boom, but they bulge noticeably and you can see blood around them

	Green Tree Python Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)

[BoaVixen]

Yes, he should be slapped. And when I figure out why the heck he told me that, I will slap him. Which is cheaper? f/t or live. Perhaps (since it was the store manager who told me this) he was trying to make money.

I am trying, thanks all.

[Allysen]

Generally, f/t is a lot cheaper, especially when you buy in quantities, but even at say, Petco, one little f/t rat is at least a couple bucks cheaper than live.

How is the switch going? Ball pythons are pretty much imprint feeders, so once you manage to get over that initial hurdle of the first f/t, it's pretty much smooth sailing after that.

Have you tried offering a much smaller food item live and following it in the same feeding with frozen? Sometimes that can work wonders just because they're all in that food-mode but not full yet.