how hard is it to switch from live to f/t

[TeaNinja]

my snake eats live and i've always just fed live because i know it's more natural and that's what snakes are used to. but not only is f/t more safe but i feel bad watching big rats die because they are really smart animals (my snake just ate a rat i had to house for over a week)
also he's around 2 years old and i only got him a month or so ago, i assume he's eatin live his entire life. i'm just thinking it will be near impossible because i watch him sit VERY still and wait for the rat to walk up to his face before he strikes every time. maybe if i used food tongs to dangle a rat in front of him, but i think he'd know the difference. (and they get kinda violent with their strike/constriction)

[infernalis]

sometimes they just eat the thawed out rats without hesitation.

Other times take some patience.

[Jenn_06]

ill would try PK(prekilled) first, kill the rat and give it to your snake right away, just dont throw it in the cage put in on the tongs and move it around, then when he eats that move on to FT, with boas most of the time its not hard to move them to FT. good luck

[macbeth110]

It really depends on he snake. When I bought my kingsnake, the breeder had been feeding him live for his whole life (three years), and I wanted to feed f/t. I tried it and he took to it without hesitation. However, my ball python was also fed live and he has no interest in the dead mouse I drop in his cage. I actually grab the mouse by the tail, drag it across his face to get the scent and kinda move it all around the tank so it catches his interest. That's what works for me.

[Lankyrob]

None of my snakes have been fed live to my knowledge but a couple of them i need to "tease"with f/t prey before they will take it. My JCP and Retic would quite probably eat anything i put in front of them - dead, alive, frozen, thawed, food or not food!!

[Nafun]

It all depends on the snake.

Here's an example.

I rescued two adult ball pythons, both about 3 years old.

Both had been fed nothing but live rodents for their entire lives.

The first, Dodge, will not take anything but live rats. They must be live, they must be rats. He doesn't fall for any of the wiggling with forceps tricks, he doesn't fall for freshly killed.

The second, Bocce, will eat anything. I feed her last every week because she'll eat as much as I give her, regardless of what it is. She'll take mice, gerbils, or rats. She'll take em frozen/thawed, she'll take them freshly killed, she'll take them live. She just doesn't care.


This being said, it is usually possible to switch a snake onto a new food source. Dead prey is not entirely unnatural. Snakes are opportunistic and will be more than happy to eat carrion in the wild if it's a choice between that and hunger.

Here are some things to try.

First, however long you usually go between feedings, double it. It won't harm the snake, and should ensure that it's nice and hungry.

Second, get a pair of forceps, feeding tongs, or even snake tongs. Something that you can grab the rat with, while keeping your hands out of the way.

Third, Kill a live rat. Crush its skull between two pieces of wood, then pierce the head with a knife.

Four, immediately take the rat in to the snake, grasp the nape of its neck with your feeding tongs, and wiggle it, slowly moving it toward the snake.

If your snake feeds this way, you can begin removing steps until your snake is taking frozen/thawed, unworried, and at room temperature.

Snakes are largely imprint feeders, however. It is possible, though unlikely, that your snake will absolutely refuse to take anything but live. At which point you would need to weigh the risks inherent in feeding live against the risks of fasting your snake for increasingly longer periods of time to try and induce feeding.

[infernalis]

It all depends on the snake.

The second, Bocce, will eat anything. I feed her last every week because she'll eat as much as I give her, regardless of what it is. She'll take mice, gerbils, or rats. She'll take em frozen/thawed, she'll take them freshly killed, she'll take them live. She just doesn't care..

That sounds like our BP. He will eat it no matter what.

[dragunov.762]

my boa was fed live at the pet store and i have only fed her F/T. she never misses a meal. i would buy a F/T feeder from your local pet store and give it a go, if it works then you don't have to worry about all the prekilling and other steps you may end up having to go through. If it doesn't work than go throught the steps that Nafun has outlined and see if that works. if all else fails you may have to feed it live. there are ways to make live feeding safer for your snake though. try holding the rat by the base of the tail with tongs and put it in front of the snake. that way the rat cant bite your snake.

[Marica]

It took a month before our little Dum, Johann took his first meal with us. We waited a week after bringing him home before offering him a f/t rat pink. He refused that one and the next a week later, but the third time was a charm. I mentioned this while chatting with another vendor at show the following weekend and he informed me that the breeder I got Johann from usually feeds live (live rats are banned/illegal in Alberta so f/t has to be shipped in from Sask. or BC, which is where he was from). When we purchased Johann, the breeder mentioned he was on rat pinks, but not that he was feeding live. I'm actually kind of glad I didn't know, otherwise I'm sure I would have been more stressed.

My first Corn was also being fed live when I got him. I continued to do so until I got my next Corn, whom I was told would only eat f/t. Thankfully my boy switched no problem and I no longer had to make weekly runs to the pet store hoping they'd have stock.

As others have suggested, patience and perseverance are a must when attempting to switch. Most will eventually take f/t and both you and the snake (and the prey to some extent) will be better off.

[Ch^4]

It looks like everyone has supplied a wealth of value info on transitioning your Dum to F/T.

Another anecdote: My BP was raised on live for over 4 years, due to him being a very picky eater. I decided to try to switch him over about 8 months ago and he was like "what the h*ll is that?!" However, by mimicking the movements of a live prey item via feeding tongs, he had no problems accepting the F/T. Just keep at it and eventually he should switch over.

[Marica]

Zombie Dance FTW! :D

[ggallininmyhead]

i guess it all depends on the snake , i only deal with ball pythons and what i have noticed the last 12 yrs dealing with them is that if they are really that hungry they will eat either f or l . if they are frozen though it seems to work a lot better if you use a blow dryer , it seems to heat the rat or mouse up just right , it takes a few though ,, and if you try to train one to eat frozen use tongs and dangle the rat in its face until it finally decides to take it

[Damion930]

I think enki the retic would eat tennis ball if I let him I worry about my thermometers lol I'm sure he eyeballs them

[Ch^4]

Zombie Dance FTW! :D

I'm laughing my a$$ off! Agreed, zombie dance FTW!

[presspirate]

I have an adult coastal, that when I got him I was ASSURED that he would only eat live MICE. The very night I picked him up, it was feeding time for the rest of my snakes, my female Nic would not eat her large rat, so I thought. "What the heck" and I offered it to my coastal. He nailed it and swallowed it in under 15 minutes.