feeding

[BreaksBabe]

what do you all prefer to feed your burmese?

i have a yr old female and shes close to 6ft. now right now i feed her live med. rats. but i know when we had our bull snake and he got up to 5ft he got more aggressive when we fed him live rats. so whats your suggestion? with her size should i go for pre-killed? i never had to feed my ball pre killed

[Matt_K]

you should always feed pre-killed or frozen thawed whenever possible. You may not think that little rat can cause harm to your snake, but believe me, IT CAN.. Have a look at this site..click here (http://www.redtailboa.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=383&mode=&order=)

[Tim_Cranwill]

99.9% of all herp snake keepers would say <b>DO NOT FEED LIVE!!!</b>

A live pinkie or fuzzy mouse might not be able to do much harm but a live adult mouse or rat could deliver a serious bite to your snake during the feeding and scar or possibly kill your snake.

Your burm will eventually be eating rabbits. Are you prepared to "jump in" in if the tables turn and it is your snake being attacked? It only needs to happen once for you to regret it and for your snake to suffer the consequences.

I'm sure many keepers could feed live throughout their snake’s life and never have an incident, but is it worth the risk? If you truly care about your snake, make the switch to pre-killed or frozen/thawed food items. I'm sure almost everyone on this site will back me up on this.

p.s. If you need any advice on how to get your snake to make the switch to pre-killed or frozen/thawed food, just let us know. We'd be glad to help out.

Good luck.

[BreaksBabe]

If you need any advice on how to get your snake to make the switch to pre-killed or frozen/thawed food, just let us know. We'd be glad to help out.

i would. i cant think of any pet shops that sell pre-killed food either. guess i better get on calling around its almost time for her to be fed again

[norman]

food doesnt have to be sold in popsicles for it to be edible.you can kill the mice/rats/rabbits yourself. some people gas them, some people whack them.

[BreaksBabe]

ya. i used to help a friend of mine do that with her mice. but i dunno what it is i can no longer kill mice/rats myself

[Tim_Cranwill]

In a big city like Denver, you <i>should</i> be able to find a shop that sells frozen rats. If not, you can always order a few months worth online. :)

To make the switch, you may have to start with fresh killed and follow it up with a thawed rat that same feeding. It may take some effort but it will be worth it. :)

[BreaksBabe]

she took both the pre-killed med rats i gave her. mmmm tastey :D

[snakemann87]

i feed my burmese python a small rat once a week

[BreaksBabe]

what size is yours?

[Lisa]

Another thing about feeding live/fresh killed, even if the rat doesn't do anything to the snake it could be carrying parasites such as worms that could. why put your snake through the stress of having meds given to it when you don't have to?

[norman]

if you just cant handle wacking the rats, then you can set up a gas chamber pretty easily.

[norman]

thats good it ate the prekilled rats though!

[BreaksBabe]

Originally posted by norman
if you just cant handle wacking the rats, then you can set up a gas chamber pretty easily.

?

[norman]

is that a question?

[LdyDrgn]

If you want to gas them at home, try this:

Small Animal Euthanasia (http://personal.riverusers.com/~busybee/euthanasia.htm)

If you decide to order frozen rats online, it is much more cost effective to buy in bulk then vacuum seal the excess rats (more than a 2 or 3 month supply).

[snakemann87]

sorry, alittle late on the reply, mine is 3ft, maybe more now.

Originally posted by BreaksBabe
what size is yours?

[BreaksBabe]

ty LdyDrgn