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F/T to Live?

P

pheonix

New member
I have a young corn snake that is presently on fuzzies. I breed my own mice but i don't have enough colonies, nor do i want more, to provide the perfect LIVE size every 5 days...So what i would like to do is feed her f/t until she get's big enough for adult mice. Right now she doesn't constrict her meals, and i have tried tugging on the mouse to make it seem like it's alive with little luck. I'm wondering if when she is ready for full grown mice, if she will be able to constrict and kill them properly? (i realize i could just keep her on f/t, but i like to watch them eat naturally thanks guys!
 
I would really use the search feature on the forum to find the answers. This is a very heated topic. I am just warning you now, especially with your comment about liking to watch them eat naturally?

Live adult mice run risks of injury to your snake. Many people feel that it is selfish of you to put your snake at risk just for your own entertainment.
 
I understand that feeding live is a heated topic, but feeding live isn't the topic here. I'm just wondering if she could still constrict properly after more than a year of not doing it. I could even start with fuzzies that haven't opened there eyes yet. (depends on her size) I only have one snake, so i would sit there ready to do something and have full attention on her. She is still a baby so I may even change my mind. but i'd still like to know. hopefully this won't turn into a debate. Sorry if it does.
 
Okay, thanks guys. sorry. :shrugs: for some reason i assumed that this wasn't covered. I wish i could delete this. lol
 
If the snake eats f/t there is NO reason to feed live, unless your "entertainment" is worth more to you than your snake's safety. And if watching one animal kill another is your idea of fun, maybe you should seek help.

It is cruel and selfish and decent keepers just don't do it.
 
Yes, your snake will constrict fine, even though it's eaten F/T it's entire life. Feeding live is not recommended, but that's not the subject here.
 
pheonix said:
Okay, thanks guys. sorry. :shrugs: for some reason i assumed that this wasn't covered. I wish i could delete this. lol
Click to expand...

No worries! lol.
If you are breeding your own mice, you can put anything that is furless straight into your freezer, that way you'll have them frozen. Hoppers and up you can cervically dislocate (place a screwdriver behind the head and pull the tail quickly) or euthanize via CO2.. I just posted a thread about making a CO2 chamber out of vinegar and baking soda, and another member posted a link to a video that shows how it works!
 
starsevol-I hunt, trap, and fish. So my idea of cruelty is probably a little bit different than yours. i wouldn't say that i "enjoy" watching a snake succesfully catch(strike) and kill it's prey, but it is very educational and at the least, interesting. It's a way of seeing how amazing God is, by watching how he made his creations with the skills it takes to survive. Sorry if i offended you. I know you have many years of experience on me, and i respect that. i wil continue to research feeding live and my mind may change. It tends to do that a lot. And of course I hold my snakes safety above all else.

Alicat37-I plan on trying the cervically dislocating method on my mice when the time comes. if i am not comfortable with it, then i'll try to set up a co2 chamber. She is past the "furless" stage. Thanks for the info.!
 
Think about the fact that a mouse can KILL your snake with one well-placed bite, then decide if you are willing to risk that.

As for your question, I imagine that while she will still have the instincts to strike and coil, she'll will be out of practice and even more at risk.
 
This forum's got some crazy ideas conjured up. In the wild how many snakes do you think die from one well placed rodent bite? If your snake dies because a live rodent bit it once, you're feeding it food items that are way to big. As I've stated, I feed a lot of live food to Ball Pythons, and I've never seen a snake get bit, much less injured. the rish of live feeding lies not with the fact the rodent may bite your snake, but the fact that the caretaker is blatant idiot and leaves live mice/rats in with their snake for too long resulting in the snake getting nibbled on.
I don't support live feeding for animals that take F/T because of the extremely minimal risk that is posed to the snake. I do support live feeding for picky snakes like Ball Pythons, and rare snakes that don't take rodents in the wild. My female Cat-Eyed Snake eats live, and I couldn't be happier! She's eating and that's what matters at this point, she's feeding. Now I've spent a lot of time thinking about this whole debate and I relized something.......crickets. If you feed live crickets you should not say anything about live feeding because a live cricket can inflict just as much damage as a rodent can. I've seen lizards torn to shreds by live crickets. We never think twice when we feed those. It hasn't been sensationalized, so people don't pay attention to it. I personally don't feed many crickets, because I've found a species of roach that AFTs take with ease, but when I do feed crickets I won't leave them in overnight because they will bite the hell out of your lizards. That's just some food for thought.
 
Yep David, that's right about the cricket chewing. Not many people think about that.

I feed live to some of my stubborn ball pythons, but I really don't always feel comfortable with it. I have had one snake get a nasty rat bite before. It was a bad hit from the snake and the rat was able to tag the snake on the side of jaw. $100's of dollars spent in vet bills to repair the damage.

Now I watch the live feeders like a hawk, and take the rats out pretty quick if no interest is shown in the prey item.

Feeding f/t or pre-killed is a millions time easier and less stressful to me as a keeper. I don't care about the thrill of watch a snake constrict and kill. I care about enjoying the snake a life-long pet.
 
I'm surprised a Ball Python actually got a bad hit on a rodent! I've only ever seen a few Balls that couldn't quite grab the rodents center mass, most of them were Spiders.
 
pheonix said:
(i realize i could just keep her on f/t, but i like to watch them eat naturally thanks guys!
Click to expand...

Do you like it when your snakes contract internal parasites from eating live never-been-frozen prey, too? Because I guarantee it, they will. EVERY SINGLE SNAKE I have ever done a fecal on, that has ever fed on live prey, has worms. LOTS of worms. LOTS of different kinds of worms! Depending on your vet, it can be an expensive and lengthy process to rid your snake of parasites. And if you don't, those parasites are living inside your snake, feeding on the snake itself. Nice. And avoidable.
 
Carinata said:
I'm surprised a Ball Python actually got a bad hit on a rodent! I've only ever seen a few Balls that couldn't quite grab the rodents center mass, most of them were Spiders.
Click to expand...

This was a lesser bee, so yep spider cross. He had a little bit of the wobble thing going on and just whiffed the hit.
 
Nanci said:
Do you like it when your snakes contract internal parasites from eating live never-been-frozen prey, too? Because I guarantee it, they will. EVERY SINGLE SNAKE I have ever done a fecal on, that has ever fed on live prey, has worms. LOTS of worms. LOTS of different kinds of worms! Depending on your vet, it can be an expensive and lengthy process to rid your snake of parasites. And if you don't, those parasites are living inside your snake, feeding on the snake itself. Nice. And avoidable.
Click to expand...

Nanci, most reptiles have a natural assortment of fauna in their guts. Many actually grow quicker with this fauna than without it. If you're getting your rodents from a good source you never have to worry about an over load of parasites.
 
No-one cares about crickets chewing their lizards? That's odd, because when we got our leopard gecko we were specifically warned not to leave crickets in her tank because they could attack and injure her.
The 'in the wild' argument is a red herring too, because in the natural situation a snake would be actively hunting for prey, rather than sitting passively in a box when a rodent is dropped in. And you do find wild snakes with scarring. Call me picky, but I don't want my pets to get scarred up if I can avoid it
 
What I meant was, yes they do warn you about that, but no ones is out thumping their chest when someone feeds live crickets to a lizard, even though the risks are about the same.
 
Carinata said:
Nanci, most reptiles have a natural assortment of fauna in their guts. Many actually grow quicker with this fauna than without it. If you're getting your rodents from a good source you never have to worry about an over load of parasites.
Click to expand...

Oh, I'll pass that on to my vet, David!
 
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