Live or F/T?

Originally Posted by v_various

yes, breeding corns has a lot of positives. Feeding live, however, has a lot of risks and the only positive you've been able to come up with is muscle tone in breeding females who don't constrict f/t, which can also be achieved by swimming and exercising your snakes.

I agree with you. I think it's silly to feed live for muscle tone. There are many other activities that force them to contract their muscles. While they're slithering through your fingers, you can make them work to get all the way through. Don't allow them to perch on you as much as move across you. If you provide an active "snake-life style" you'll have a snake with good muscle tone.

However, I don't know about swimming. I once put my snake in the bath tub (shallow water of course) and he just floated there. I watched for a few seconds and he still didn't move. I picked him up and he was limp. I thought I killed my snake. He then continued to explore up my arm as he'd done before the bath tub. It was an awful experience. Makes me wonder, do snakes need to be "taught" to swim? It would be great if he liked swimming! What great exercise!!!

To what I was saying before though, I think that if you handle your corn for extended periods of time, the lengthened spurt of accelerated heart rate will also help. If your snake constricts f/t it doesn't matter that the prey isn't live. The corn is going to apply the same pressure in its squeeze. I saw this clip on National Geographic and they were measuring the force of small constricting snakes. They measured with corn snakes with both a f/t and a live mouse. The two year old males applied about 8psi to both items of prey. The only difference was the male with the f/t constricted for a shorter period of time.

Also, I like the fact that there is passionate discussion on the forum! It's thought provoking and stimulating (to me). Because we're all different, it's challenging to us. Bashing one another is pointless but having an exciting discussion (I think the number of pages in this thread constitutes 'exciting') is great. It all helps us learn and grow from one another. If there weren't threads like this, people wouldn't be as aware of the risks of feeding live prey or the risks of cohabing or many other seemingly "confrontational" subjects. It's good to talk about it!!!

Originally Posted by JanuaryLove

Hey everyone...I am sorry I even posted/asked this question. I hate to see that everyone is at each others throat.

Nah, don't feel bad it's part of the routine here. These threads pop up quite a bit, sometimes it's with different people carrying on the conversation but it's always the same. Some people don't want to see snakes put at risk, others need to defend the risk they take so they aren't seen as needlessly careless with their animals welfare. I just hope when that mouse finally does bite, it's not in a serious place like the face. I know a boa with only half a nostril left because of a nasty bite, he often breathes with his mouth open.

Take care of your animals, everyone! You're all they have.

Oh, and bloodread dad, yeay you agree with me!
As for learning to swim, I usually put mine in a sink so they have the option of getting out, and going back and forth. Also, I don't have a full bath where I live (just a shower). Or, maybe your snake doesn't like to swim. Who knows.

Well than, I am glad you all are enjoying your discussions...lol! You are right...it is great to see everyones opinions. We can all learn from it! Great discussions btw! Keep up the good work...hehe!