• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Dead vs Alive

R

Reddi

R U Reddi
I've been feeding my red albino corn dead pinkies, but would like to try live ones. Will this be a problem, and will I then have to feed him live ones after that. It would be cooll if I could switch off.
 
If you changed to live your snake might want to stay on live. Plus you have to take into acocunt that if you get them hooked on live, its not a good idea for when they get older and start eating prey that can fight and bite back. So its just easier and safer for the snake to stick to Frozen/Thawed. And your snake probably isn't a "Red Albino" Probably an Amel or something. The older members will know exactly what morph of corn it is if you ask them nicely.
 
Reddi said:
I've been feeding my red albino corn dead pinkies, but would like to try live ones. Will this be a problem, and will I then have to feed him live ones after that. It would be cooll if I could switch off.
Click to expand...
Captive adult corn snakes, with few exceptions readily accept pre-killed or thawed frozen mice and rats of appropriate size. Feeding pre-killed prey is preferred to prevent dangerous wounds to the snake. If you decide to feed the snake live prey, it should never be left in the cage unobserved; a snake that is not hungry can be killed by it’s intended prey.
 
IMO you should never feed live food unless the snake will starve otherwise. I don't mean to be rude, but that you would "like to try it" is nowhere near a good enough reason for offering live food.

Feeding live is dangerous for the snake, frightening and stressful for the mouse, the snake may refuse f/t after, and feeding live is even illegal in certain countries.

I would have to say please do not feed live unless there is a reason linked to the snake's welfare.
 
Plissken said:
IMO you should never feed live food unless the snake will starve otherwise. I don't mean to be rude, but that you would "like to try it" is nowhere near a good enough reason for offering live food.

Feeding live is dangerous for the snake, frightening and stressful for the mouse, the snake may refuse f/t after, and feeding live is even illegal in certain countries.

I would have to say please do not feed live unless there is a reason linked to the snake's welfare.
Click to expand...


I love my snakes and only want the best for them, PLUS I am a soft-hearted idiot. I feel EXACTLY the same way you do Plissken.
 
I agree that using pre-killed is better all around. It is safer for the snake, less risk of the snake getting parasites from the prey or bitten even killed by the prey. And it is illegal to feed live prey in some states here in the US. It is considered inhumane/animal cruelty.

I found this page http://www.proexotics.com/FAQ2.html and it has a section on feeding prekilled. It also has a pic of injuries that a ball python received. WARNING that pic is pretty disgusting but is an accurate depiction of what could happen.
 
Where in the U.S. is it illegal to feed live? I thought only the U.K. had that law. For what it's worth, I wouldn't feed live unless you have to. F/t or prekilled is better. That said, I ended up feeding my female that just laid, live mice for two feedings to try to spark her appetite back up. She was very thin and was one of those females that refused to eat during the breeding season. I'm not sure that it's really all that stressful on the mouse. The mouse showed absolutely no fear of the snake, and went as far as sniffing her and then checking out the viv all over before sticking it's nose in her cave one too many times. It didn't have a chance. There wasn't even a squeek. I fed her f/t last night now that she's had her post lay shed and taken a couple of meals, and she ate that readily. I admit that I was very nervous feeding her live prey, especially large adult mice, but she dispatched them very rapidly. I wouldn't do it again though except in special circumstances such as that. I don't need the stress!
 
MegF. said:
Where in the U.S. is it illegal to feed live? I thought only the U.K. had that law.
Click to expand...

It is only the UK and some of Europe that actually has that law. Some cities may have ordinances which prohibit live feeding or of the sale of live rodents as food, but so far, no states have such laws in effect, to my knowledge. I don't know of any cities who have ordinances like that, either, but with so many different cities and townships, it's a possibility.
 
not illegal in UK

Just to clear this up, it's not illegal to feed live vertebrates to reptiles in the UK, The 1911 act only prohibits cauing unnecessary suffering in doing so, and each case would have to appear in court and be judged on it's own merits. This allows the feeding of live where alternatives are not viable, but discourages people doing it for kicks. It's an urban myth that it's illegal, I think that is the impression given deliberately in this country, again to discourage casual feeding of live prey
 
I didn't mean to mislead. I have not seen state laws that prohibit but in some cities ordnances it is illegal. How they would know, you got me. I have heard there are a few in my area. I live in the country, so it doesn't effect me.

Regardless, feeding live is not a great practice. No matter how closely you watch, there is no handler that is quick enough to intervene if there is an incident. Just google this subject and you can find all kind of pics of snakes that were mortally wounded.

But to each their own.
 
wow I've been feeding my snake live food since the day I got him lol. I have NEVER fed him dead or thawed. Minus the times when he was sick and they had to force feed him.... I guess I have an Amel as well. He is beautiful. He is 6ft and quite fat. He is a "Red Albino" like stated above.
 
Could you post a picture of your 6 ft. amel next to something that's measurable? I think the world record for corns is just over 6 ft. so yours is something most of us have never seen.
 
albinoscooby said:
wow I've been feeding my snake live food since the day I got him lol. I have NEVER fed him dead or thawed. Minus the times when he was sick and they had to force feed him.... I guess I have an Amel as well. He is beautiful. He is 6ft and quite fat. He is a "Red Albino" like stated above.
Click to expand...

Here is a great program you can use to measure your snake.

http://www.serpwidgets.com/Apps/apps.html
 
Is there any chance you can resize the photo to about 600 pixels X whatever it gives you. I'm having trouble with my program and it won't let me resize it. Then I can use the program to measure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top