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Q:
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Feeding live vs F/T (pros/cons)
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I was wondering if there are any benefits to feeding live. I have always done frozen/thawed, but I didn't know if my snakes were missing out on anything.
On that note, would anyone say it might be better to breed mice/rats,and then do the whole CO2 chamber thing? Or should I just stick with buying the frozen packs at the pet store?
Thank you =)
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Member Comment
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11/3/2009 9:18:14 PM
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hupababy83
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i buy and its a huge hassel and i only have 2 snakes. I'd say if you have room go with the breeding and co2. I prefer frozen because live likes to fight back and i dont wanna risk injurys. I have seen some wicked rat/mice/gerbal/etc bites. Even cricket bites on gecko's. As for benefits of frozen thawed... i dont think there are any. just feed the recently thawed before it grows nastys/bacteria.
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Member Comment
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11/3/2009 9:48:10 PM
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Geckofactor
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I always try to feed most of my snakes fresh killed vs frozen but someof the pros and cons
Cons of frozen: Vitamins and nutrients atleast at some level are lost during the freezing process and throughout the time they are frozen.
Sometimes it's hard to switch over picky feeders to frozen.
Some people tend to think there's some psychlogical benefit of feeding live
Unthawing a bunch of rodents much like unthawing a bunch of chicken can expose you to certain things like salmonella and then people leave these dead rodents in cages for extended periods of time especially if they overlook them initially when checked
Pros of frozen: Conveinance
No biting or scratching of the snakes
No chance or very little chance of parasites
Pros of live: In young snakes sometimes you have to leave live pinkies in the cage due to the fact the snake may be a night feeder or just private feeder and if you leave a dead pink in a cage it won't last long before just rotting.
Obviously some of the pros and cons can be exhanged in there like the opposite of the pro or whatever but you get the basic idea.
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Accepted Answer
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11/3/2009 9:48:19 PM
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Carusima
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There is no real benefit in feeding live, just the cons. You risk the mouse/rat bringing disease or mites into your snakes enclosure, and there is a risk of the mice/rat biting/clawing the snake and doing some serious damage.
Buy a bulk order online from places like Big Cheese Rodent Factory or Rodent Pro, even with having a small amount of snakes it saves you a LOT of money and they have quality feeders. Buying a colony and waiting until it breeds (Usually you have the wait a decent while until it's established, and even then they don't produce enough to feed a couple snakes) is just a hassle and you end up spending more money feeding the mice/rats than you would of just buying online. My last order ended up being $71 for 100 pinkies and 50 jumbo mice. $27 for the mice and $44 for the packing and weight. I could of even added more to the box if I wanted to.
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Member Comment
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11/3/2009 9:52:28 PM
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Carusima
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I do agree with the small snakes. Hatchling picky corns or kings it's best to use live pinkies because they give off more of a scent and you can leave them in the enclosure overnight if necessary. Pinks rots REAL fast, so I tend to breed a small mouse colony around hatching season only just for the live pinkies.
But yeah, don't leave a F/T food item in the cage. I NEVER just throw it in there, I dangle it just like a mouse moving and if the snake takes it, then great, and if not I move on to the next snake.
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Member Comment
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11/3/2009 9:52:31 PM
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Geckofactor
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Oh as for the breeding mice and rats anytime I've attempted breeding mice and rats myself I give it up because after buying the bedding and food it costs me the same as buying the mice or rats and I don't have to delal with the smell or the body heat of having hundreds of rats in a room. The only plus is if you're breeding them yourselves you know exactly what they've been fed.
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Member Comment
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11/3/2009 10:27:32 PM
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hupababy83
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I just checked out your page and noticed you have 2 snakes like me, i would just stick with buying the frozen for now, untill you get a bigger collection. Saves more money for your next snake LOL you'd have to do the substrate, tubs, racks, rats, food, water bottle etc etc etc for the rodents. by sides the space issue i have, i dont breed because i only have 2 snakes. Judge it, weight and do what YOU think is best, sweety. Your the snake keeper.
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Author Comment
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11/3/2009 10:31:13 PM
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little_windmill829
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It sounds like there isn't really anything their missing with the frozen, and the LAST thing I want is for one of them to get scratched or bit or anything. I would probably die ;)
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 12:36:29 AM
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darkplatypus
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I buy big packs of frozen mice and rats from reptile shows, enough to last me until the next show and no shipping cost. :)
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Assisted Answer
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11/4/2009 2:00:49 AM
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Floof
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No significant "pros" of live, that I can think of. It mimics wildlife and a picky snake might take live faster than frozen... But that's it. The "wildlife" thing is a big fat excuse, and the average picky snake can be switched.
As for breeding, I tried for a few months... I managed to get up to 5 colonies trying to produce enough pinkies for 11 snakes, but the stink, mess, and cost wasn't worth it. As has already been said, you can buy bulk online or at an expo. The Mouse Factory is GREAT if you choose to order online. You can try to find a place locally, too, but their prices/quality might not be as good as an online place.
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Member Comment
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11/4/2009 12:44:49 PM
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Damiens daddy ken
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For me I understand all of it but unfourtunatly my freezer is always packed so I don't have room to store frozen so I do fresh kill.Except with my ball he was a few years old when I got him and the people who had him before always gave him live so now f/t or fk just doesn't trigger his feeding instinct I have tryed,so unfourtunatly I still have to feed him live.The parasites maybe a concern but the biting isn't he is on that rat the second it is in the cage.
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Member Comment
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11/5/2009 11:34:36 AM
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JohnJohn
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I think FT is always best if possible.
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Member Comment
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11/6/2009 12:12:39 PM
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Member Comment
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11/7/2009 1:22:14 PM
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zachrfields
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Pros Frozen- No parasites of any sorts can live through the freezing process. Your snake also cant get bitten by a dead rat. Sometimes snakes that eat frozen thawed are less agressive, at least toward movement.
Cons Frozen- Frozen rodents sometimes ooze, leak, or rupture= mess. Its sometimes hard to convince a snake to eat f/t. Some nutrients are lost from freezing.
Pros Live-Definetly more entertaining. More nutrients.
Cons Live- Some rodents have parasites that cant be seen to the naked eye. Rodents dont always go down easy, some go down fighting and can leave scars.
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Member Comment
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4/14/2010 12:16:41 AM
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LeoNik
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Most of my snakes will only eat live and I have no problem giving it to them because live mice do have more nutrients. A live mouse could bite your snake but in the years iv been feeding live I have never had that problem.
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Member Comment
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11/6/2010 12:02:48 PM
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Kysnakeguy
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Though i feel there is no problem with feeding live, though i have to say depending on how hungry your snake is a rodent can be dangerous. Rodents can bite snakes and ive even seen some ball pythons been mangled by live rats although, in that case the rodent in question was unattended when being fed to the snake. so if u do choose live always wach to see if your animal is actualy eating it. On the other hand, i think from my expirience, snakes are much more happy and healthy when they eat live, it may give them some stimulation in doing what there ancestors had did for thousands of years in the wild. I have fed all of my snakes live and have never had a problem, so if you think your snskes fit for it feed him live! plus its much less work that thawing the mice. also i think some of the nutrients that a snake gets from live is lost in freezing the mice.
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