Live or F/T?

[jjnnbns]

Most people on the site stress how important feeding F/T over live, and I 100% agree, yet there are some who still do not seem to understand. Perhaps a visual statistic may help show them how many successful herpers there are out there who do not feed live.

Feel free to add comments or reasons why you choose to feed live or Frozen/Thawed.

Thanks!
Brent Strande

EDIT: Sorry Tim, I meant to add a 5th but couldn't edit the poll, if a mod could add it for me that would be great...

Here is #5
Live only when necessary, prefer F/T ASAP

[Tim_Cranwill]

With over 100 snakes in my house right now, my answer is all of the above. :D

Depends on the snake... all will be on f/t asap but some hatchlings pretty much need a few live meals to get going. :)

[mark129er]

I feed fresh killed but my boa will take all of the above. Usually I buy several rats, kill them all feed her then freeze the rest.

[jwsporty]

Agreed with Tim, you can't really answer that one with a single option. Most are on F/T or F/K, but I do have some hold outs that will only take live or stunned and hoping to get them switched.

Cheers
Jim

[lolaophidia]

I prefer f/t but I've got a couple of picky little African House snakes that prefer live pinks/fuzzies. I've had pretty good luck switching all my other snakes over from live.

[Dani33]

All of mine are on f/t except one.

[blue24]

I have 3 snakes in my house 2-6'6" boas and a five foot ball python for the ball that is eating mice i'll stun the mice cause they tend to bite at the snake but the boas are on the rats so fast they dont have time to bite the snakes and they have never wraped the rats wrong so they dont relly have a problem

[TheRedDragon]

The majority of our snakes take F/T. Fresh killed for some of the more finicky eaters, and live only as a last resort for our snakes that refuse anything else. I've never used stunned.

[vanderkm]

Frozen thawed for all - so much cheaper than any alternative. Have fed live pinks to start some reluctant feeders and fed live (supervised always) in the past to stubborn snakes (ball pythons! what else),

mary v.

[Leviathan]

I am all of the above as well. Would you rather have your snake starve itself to death or feed it live? Duh! All my snakes are offered frozen/thawed, but my 4 biggest ball pythons will only eat live.

[marisa]

Prefer FT for everything.....live for anything needing a first meal, or picky for too long. (ball pythons of course lol)

Marisa

[burmer]

Depending on the individual animal I'm feeding it could be any of the above.

[Stockwell]

I feed live most of the time if I have it. With the species I work with, neonates require live food so there is little choice. Many young snakes will feed more readily on live food as it offers all three of the strike criteria, those being movement, scent and correct target temperature.(boids)
I do stock frozen rats and mice for convenience and use these with adult snakes, but I have used live food for over a couple decades, and will continue to.

[allamericanPD]

i feed live all my snakes seem to liek the hunt and even if u dangle them in front they seem to like catching it more

[python_diva_06]

i only feed live to reluctant feeders...but luckally i now have all my snakes on f/t after a while with live pinkies for my BRB

[Mike177]

all my snakes are on F/T I find it easyer to just buy a bunch of rats/rabbits to put in the frezzer rather then haveing to go somewere every week to pick up like prey.

[jason_southFL]

i feed live, my little snow corn goes crazy for them, probably a little more than 10 months old and she takes 2 small fuzzies every weekend

[serpcity]

I feed live or stunned ive never had a problem with a snake getting bit my balls i feed stunned and corns i mostly keep juves
and hatchlings so live is a must

[lostwithin]

Hi I feed F/t simply because its cheaper I can stock a freezer and does not require supervision. But for years my ball python would only except live, so for the past 6 years (right up until a few months ago) I fed her live. And in a case like my ball I See nothing wrong with live, since she would not eat if it wasn’t live. As long as the live feeding is properly supervised (and it takes a LONG time sometimes) it is a relatively safe practice (for the snake not me , obviously grabbing for a live rat inside a 4’+ ball pythons cage has its risks). The rats could not harm her because I was there too grab them instantly if they went for her. And I would feed 2 smaller rats rather then one larger one, because larger ones could fight back, while smaller ones were overcome instantly. Luckily this year she decided too finally take F/t rats so now my entire collection is on f/t. I would not suggest anybody feed live unless there is NO other choice, and I would defiantly not suggest anybody tries too pick up a live rat out of a cage while feeding, that’s asking for trouble, I have done it, but my ball python is easy too read and I would normally use a stick too push the rat if it was going too chew on her. Only in cases where the rat was incredibly persistent would I reach in too grab it.

Devon

[LINEBACKER 2]

Frozen for my smaller snakes, and live for my Boa.

Steve

[mykee]

75% of my balls eat RESTRAINED live and the other 25% don't eat (at any given time).

[NewLineReptile]

I NEVER feed LIVE Unless it is the last resort

Brandon