F/T vs live why do you feed

[Lankyrob]

We buy frozen from a reptile shop. Defrost them overnight as we would our own food. Once defrosted we put the bowl we keep them in on a hot radiator for five minutes then just before feeding each prey item press the skull directly onto the radiator to give the head a good heat signal. Then hold the prey by its scruff with 12inch tweezers and "dance" the prey in front of the snake.

[kellcore]

We package them in the vacuum packs as we are the sellers not the buyers and who knows when a order is coming in. We usually get large orders all at once and i dont have time for expos i have 3 children there is just no way to do expos i cant even do garage sales at home they keep us busy.

I have never really talked to anyone about why they do frozen i have just known and been taught my ways and went with it never bothered to find out why a person personally does it. Thank you for sharing your insights.

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by kellcore

Ok so i see alot of people feed frozen. And i want to know why. I think its more natural to feed live. Now on more scared snakes we will stunn the rat or mouse so the snake doesnt get hurt but they still move around. And i always was one to like my meat fresh other than frozen. But also the fact that when thawing a rat the inside could still be frozen, or rotting from the stomach acid. or as the inside is thawing the outside could be rotting.

So i guess my question is why do you feed what you do?

I also recomend live for beginner snake owners as they may not thaw right or feel comfortable making the mouse dance. Now for the larger snakes i do not recomend them to anyone but someone that has been dealing with snakes for a while. Our large snakes eat mediums to large rats now. We do stand watch and always have something to knock a rat away and have had to intervene with the bigger rats or break thier teeth but the small snakes we have never had to do anything but enjoy the show.

I dont want to start a debate or arguement i just like to hear other peoples opinions.

not having a go

i also agree there is a place for live feeding with fussy feeding snakes

imo you seem to base a lot of you against reason on people not having the skills to defrost properly

theres nothing technical about taking a rat out the freezer the night before you feed and allowing it at least 12 hours defrost at room temperature

theres not much chance of a rat that was fresh at the time of freezing, rotting during defrost imo

also if someones going to feel uneasy about wiggling a rat on tongs,i'm pretty sure they will feel a lot worse about throwing a living rat in to be killied

larger prey items like medium rats if struck badly by the snake,say on the rear end can bite out in defence very quickly (imo faster than we could intervene)

i feel its a lot safer feeding frozen thawed and imo the pro's outway the con's

cheers shaun

[Jay]

Originally Posted by kellcore

Thats i know balls its more natural to eat ASF

Not even close, you have been misinformed.

[Lankyrob]

Ball pythons are indian - asf are african - hell of a distance to travel just for dinner

[SnakeyJay]

The subject with asf comes up alot eh.

[stephanbakir]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

Ball pythons are indian - asf are african - hell of a distance to travel just for dinner

I think you got that backwards my friend :P

[Lankyrob]

You mean AFRICAN soft furred rats are from India?

[reptile65]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

Ball pythons are indian - asf are african - hell of a distance to travel just for dinner

Wait a minute. I thought ball pythons were from Africa. I'm not saying that automatically means ASFs are more natural, but I've never heard of ball pythons being found in India.

[ilovemypets1988]

i personlly defrost my rats and mice by boiling the kettle, half filling a suitably sized tub, putting a frozen rat/mice in for as long as it takes to defrost.

once the food has defrosted i simply (but dont recommend it) grab the rodent by the legs and dangle it above the snake without tongs, as my heat signature adds to that of the rodent and as my blood is still pumping, it looks like the rodent still is to a snake.

the reason why i put the rodent directly into the water for defrosting is that, the water also hydrates the rodent and as such rehydrates the snake - obviously by this time the water has cooled enough not to burn the snake.

[kellcore]

Oh i have no idea on the ASF then i thought thats what they ate in africa. But i do know i will never touch or deal with a ASF if its dead or alive that was one bad expierence i will not relive again. I like my rats i have always had good luck with rats.

Its enteresting to hear all this new info. Wether its natural or not i will still believe feeding live unless it is a shy snake then thats different. But i have 5 that are very agressive eaters.

[Little Wise Owl]

I feed frozen because it's safe, convenient and cost effective.

I don't think it's humane for either the rodent or the snake. Especially the rodent. I know it has to die but I'd prefer it'd be in my hands rather than an animal that makes half-arsed constricting efforts sometimes. Predators don't kill things painlessly or quickly enough for my liking and if I can control that, I will.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by Little Wise Owl

I feed frozen because it's safe, convenient and cost effective. .

Bingo....

After watching a live mouse bite one of my snakes, I have been a strict user of F/T

[FeederBreeder25]

Where do you buy frozen mice usually? From a website? Or a friend that breeds? How many buy from private breeders? And why?

[infernalis]

I order like crazy from Rodent pro.....