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Feeding live to F/T babies ??

alpine

alpine

New member
I've got two 7 month old hatchlings that are eating fine on F/T. I have a co-worker who breeds rats and mice (for pet purposes mostly) who gives me some mice for my older snake. Recently he came to me saying he has a new batch of mice and he's trying to get rid of a few and told me he'd bring me some of his litter to give for the snakes to try.

With my bigger snake, I have no problem feeding live as she just switched right over and liked live better IMO. Wondering what some opinions are on converting younglings from F/T to live.
 
This may sound terrible but I would take the new 'live' ones and freeze em.. You are much better off having your snakes used to F/T, sometimes once they get into live feedings they won't go back. I had a BP that was super fussy and would never eat anything but live, and it was really annoying to have to locate live mice every time she ate, instead of a trip the the freezer it was a trip to the store.. Unless you want to switch them to live forever, don't start down that road.
 
There are tons and I mean tons of threads about this subject. Use the search feature and you can find them. Personal I would feed any snake a live mouse or rat. There is too much danger to the snake if something happens. Google images of rodent bites on snakes. Some will argue its rare, but do you really want to put your snake at risk for injury. You can feed pre-killed just as easily as live. Again use the search feature on this forum and you will find most everyones opinions and suggestions!
 
beautifullywild77 said:
There are tons and I mean tons of threads about this subject. Use the search feature and you can find them. Personal I would feed any snake a live mouse or rat. There is too much danger to the snake if something happens. Google images of rodent bites on snakes. Some will argue its rare, but do you really want to put your snake at risk for injury. You can feed pre-killed just as easily as live. Again use the search feature on this forum and you will find most everyones opinions and suggestions!
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You meant would NOT I assume :)
 
Yeah, either flick the pinkies in the back of the head or just put them in the freezer. I think it is more humane to kill them first. I'd also switch your adult back to f/t.
 
Why would you ever want to switch to live? There are no benefits and many risks (including the mouse killing your snake) when you feed live.

Please don't just throw them in the freezer; it's extremely cruel and inhumane. How would you like to be frozen to death? It's very painful and you do not "just go to sleep". Have your friend euthanize them first, you can buy the equipment to do it yourself, or if you know how to do it right, you can whack them against a wall or counter to quickly kill them first. I can't tell you how to do it right though, as I went the way of building my own CO2 chamber.

In general it's a lot easier and cheaper to feed F/T, as well as safer for your snake.
 
Right, need to become a contributor to edit... I would NEVER feed my snakes live prey that would hurt them. I have feed my adult spotted python Live hoppers and rat pups trying to get him to start eating but never something that could do damage to him.
 
mini4x said:
More or less so than being suffocated to death or being eaten alive?

:cheers:
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CO2 IS humane and they are rendered unconscious in seconds and literally die in their sleep.
Freezing anything with fur takes a long time and is very cruel. They suffer horribly that way.
 
Sita said:
Why would you ever want to switch to live? There are no benefits and many risks (including the mouse killing your snake) when you feed live.

Please don't just throw them in the freezer; it's extremely cruel and inhumane. How would you like to be frozen to death? It's very painful and you do not "just go to sleep". Have your friend euthanize them first, you can buy the equipment to do it yourself, or if you know how to do it right, you can whack them against a wall or counter to quickly kill them first. I can't tell you how to do it right though, as I went the way of building my own CO2 chamber.

In general it's a lot easier and cheaper to feed F/T, as well as safer for your snake.
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I am 100% with you on your stance on feeding live. To the OP, there are no benefits and no your snake does not like feeding live more. They are instinct driven animals and when offered live vs. f/t may take live at first because that is their INSTINCT. Not a personal preference. And if you think about it, predators want the easiest prey to catch (that's why they go for the young, the old, sick, and injured) so feeding f/t would be much proffered! Plus many snakes don't show any signs of really knowing the prey is dead and go ahead and constrict it anyway.

I did want to point out, Sita, that CO2 is actually VERY inhumane for euthanizing pinkies/fuzzies. These little guys are designed to cope with small amounts of oxygen because they're so crowded under their fuzzy mom/littermates so it takes way longer to die that way and presumably it's painful and panicking. They are not, however, designed to deal with any amount of cold and will die very quickly once put in a freezer.
 
I agree, Kill them first, live or fresh killed have more nutrients than long term frozen. Euthanize the live pinkies and give them to your snake then.
 
For some reason I knew I'd start a flame war for this topic. :twohammer . I feed my snake live because I feel it is better for her. Many posts have been made about how there's no benefits to it, but would you prefer it if I were to serve you a steak freshly prepped this morning or one that's been sitting in my freezer for 6 months and in someone elses freezer for who knows how long. I'd go with the fresh food if it were up to me. I know of the risks, trust me, I know, but I'm not an idiot and I've watched every mouse my snake has killed up to the point where it's dead. Never had a problem.

I'm also only asking to feed live because I'm getting these pinkies for free, I don't have access to any CO2 setup to put em down humanely, don't want to put them in the freezer or want to flick em on the back of the head or whatever else way there may be to kill them real quick. This topic was made for my concern for my snakes, not the food I'm feeding it.

That being said, my concerns still go back to my snakes. All I'm really worried about is if they'll eat it or not. I suppose the only way to find out is to watch if they'll take it; if not than I'll know that much more about my snakes.
 
Again, frozen food do not lose their nutrients in meat that is... My cousin who is a professor of meat science at the University of Arkansas has done study after study. I asked her about mice as well.

When you purchase from places online they dont got to a freezer and pick out your mice. They go to their live stock, humanely kill them flash freeze them and send them on their way.

If you knew this was going to start a flame war you should of used the research button and researched the number of threads already on this subject... Just sayin!
 
alpine said:
This topic was made for my concern for my snakes, not the food I'm feeding it.
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And we are answering not ONLY for the concern of your snakes, but also for the food, because the food has nerve endings, intelligence, and can feel both pain and fear. To put an animal (ANY animal) through that for no good reason makes you rather unlike most of us, who are animal lovers.

There is a definition for someone who hurts and tortures animals for no good reason......
 
alpine said:
For some reason I knew I'd start a flame war for this topic. :twohammer . I feed my snake live because I feel it is better for her. Many posts have been made about how there's no benefits to it, but would you prefer it if I were to serve you a steak freshly prepped this morning or one that's been sitting in my freezer for 6 months and in someone elses freezer for who knows how long. I'd go with the fresh food if it were up to me. I know of the risks, trust me, I know, but I'm not an idiot and I've watched every mouse my snake has killed up to the point where it's dead. Never had a problem.
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Of course you knew that it would cause a problem. "You never have a problem" till you do and it happens so fast that you can't stop a quick bite when your snake is curled around it. I know it happened to me. Believe me it in not worth the vet bills and possible loss of you snake. Free mice are great unless they come with a few hundred dollar vet bill. Then they are not so free.
 
starsevol said:
There is a definition for someone who hurts and tortures animals for no good reason......
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So because I feed my snake live mice, your classifying me as someone who tortures animals for no good reasons? Got it. Not even really gonna answer that except with I work at a Veterinarian Hospital so don't sit there and hint that I'm "someone who hurts and tortures animals for no good reason......" when every day I go to work to help animals and save lives on a daily basis.
 
alpine said:
I feel it is better
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Do you have any evidence to back this up, besides just a feeling? Snakes thrive on F/T, and there is 0% chance of a dead mouse biting a snake.

but would you prefer it if I were to serve you a steak freshly prepped this morning or one that's been sitting in my freezer for 6 months and in someone elses freezer for who knows how long. I'd go with the fresh food if it were up to me.
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This is called anthropomorphism. Snakes and humans have completely different brains, and to compare the two is an error. That would be like saying, "how would you like to eat a mouse everyday? I know I wouldn't ever want to eat a mouse and would rather have ice cream and pizza, so that is what I'm going to feed my snake". Anthropomorphism makes your argument irrelevant.

I am not bashing you, merely stating the fallacies of your arguments. If you feel you need to feed your snake live for some reason, there is no way I can stop you. You say you know the possible issues with feeding live, so I don't need to go into them. However, as someone who prefers to feed F/T, I am not going to advocate feeding live, and I think that is what most people responding to you feel.
 
alpine said:
So because I feed my snake live mice, your classifying me as someone who tortures animals for no good reasons? Got it. Not even really gonna answer that except with I work at a Veterinarian Hospital so don't sit there and hint that I'm "someone who hurts and tortures animals for no good reason......" when every day I go to work to help animals and save lives on a daily basis.
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Regardless of where you work if you purposely put living creatures through pain and suffering FOR NO GOOD REASON, then it is what it is.

Your snakes will accept f/t food. So, there is no reason why they aren't eating that except for the reason that you think live is better for them.

And if you think live is better for them, then reason should dictate that fresh killed are just as good for them. So, nice people who buy into this and love animals make sure that the prey dies HUMANELY before feeding it out.
Pinkies and fuzzies are frozen, anything with fur either dispatched by cervical dislocation or CO2.

What you do for a living has nothing to do with doing the right thing in other aspects of your life. There is a rumour that Jack the Ripper was a doctor.
 
ZoologyGirl said:
Do you have any evidence to back this up, besides just a feeling? Snakes thrive on F/T, and there is 0% chance of a dead mouse biting a snake.



This is called anthropomorphism. Snakes and humans have completely different brains, and to compare the two is an error. That would be like saying, "how would you like to eat a mouse everyday? I know I wouldn't ever want to eat a mouse and would rather have ice cream and pizza, so that is what I'm going to feed my snake". Anthropomorphism makes your argument irrelevant.

I am not bashing you, merely stating the fallacies of your arguments. If you feel you need to feed your snake live for some reason, there is no way I can stop you. You say you know the possible issues with feeding live, so I don't need to go into them. However, as someone who prefers to feed F/T, I am not going to advocate feeding live, and I think that is what most people responding to you feel.
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Well thanks Heather, I appreciate a civilized answer. I know you disagree with me, but thank you for not lashing out and hinting that I am a cruel person and a murderer. For now I believe I'll keep things the way they are with the 2 little ones of F/T and my big girl on her live. Perhaps I can't prove that she likes the live better, but I have noticed a positive change in her behavior since the switch. Once again, probably not enough evidence to satisfy everyone on the forum, but that's pretty unavoidable...

Sorry you disagree with me starsevol, but after the way you handled the whole situation I could really care less to what you have to say to me now. I know it's a heated topic and get's some worked up, but you should handle yourself better. Thanks for your opinion and the criticism.
 
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