Are Frozen Mice Unhealthy for Pet Snakes? Live VS Frozen Rodents

[@GoHerping]

Which have you fed: live, frozen and/or fresh killed and why? Check out the full playlist, reptile keeping for beginners! kzbin.info/aero/PLIXZgmnvg0nCJpzayhzHu-DsOauXRMjkw

[@hammysexoticanimals6598]

Hi, I don’t have a reptile I have amphibians lol. But I like your videos!

[@kirby.684]

i’ve been feeding my children’s python frozen mice for a few years (going from pinkies to fuzzies so far). she was fed frozen before i got her, so i just kept her on that because i didn’t want to watch her kill mice, keep her safe, keep her on the same diet she’s used to, etc.

[@blockednostril9739]

I’ve never needed to feed live to my snakes, in the uk it’s technically banned to feed live but let’s be honest how they would govern that I have no idea. I see the same reasons for live food in fish where the animal simply isn’t stimulated by the the smell or fake motion of a dead food item, like snakes this is usually wild caught animals or ones whos feed response is much more specific than standard fish. Obviously live fish food isn’t usually mice it’s shrimp and worms but the same logic applies

[@patrickharriss]

I have used live rodents... if mice were not available i used hamsters. I never killed them but stunned them... a pencil or screw driver.

[@melanopygus]

Frozen. My snake is scared of live lmao

[@kadenbane]

Goherping: Animals' lifespans are longer in captivity" Goldfish: Am I a joke to you?

[@secretreptoid]

A tiny round bowl with water and nothing else whatsoever is all they need, right?

[@Dragonemperess]

I still can't believe there was a 40 year old goldfish.

[@wheelerdealer8337]

@@Dragonemperess most goldfish are long lived they only die fast because people don’t know how to take care of them

[@Dragonemperess]

@@wheelerdealer8337 Yup. Research before you buy or adopt. Pets depend on us to survive, after all.

[@kagehikari4281]

I have a gal who got a gold fish and stuffed it in a small tank. Fish gets big and possibly ate other much smaller fish and then they hate it cus it got so big and eats so much. Yeah... told her they get huge and there it is. PSA people, fish do *not* grow to the size of the tank. They just get stunted and there organs get squished and live horrible miserable lives. Goldfish get way bigger than you think and live a very long time if you bother to keep them right. Always always research. Another fish people are surprised gets big are common plecos. Yeah, thoes suckers get gigantic! Also they dont eat algae. Maybe some, but not much to be of any use for control.

[@Trippy824]

I work at a pet store and I suggested frozen to this one guy and his reason for feeding live was “I like to listen to the rat squeal as my snake kills it” I was disgusted, that’s messed up

[@erikalise2256]

Ew I'd be scared to sleep at night after hearing someone say something like that in a genuine manner.

[@valtiel6306]

My ex got a snake after he became interested in my collection and this was his reasoning for feeding live. He hated rats and mice and wanted to watch them die for entertainment. It actually ruined our relationship lol I couldn't handle it.

[@Trippy824]

@@valtiel6306 yeah that would be a huge deal breaker for me, like I’m not like super fond of rats but I do have a heart lol

[@Trippy824]

@@erikalise2256 yeah I didn’t even know how to respond, I was just like, oh, handed it to him and left lol

[@briannelson3830]

@@valtiel6306 terrifying red flag

[@desertdragonworksaz]

I did labeling and nutrition analysis for the last 6 years of my working (for the man) life... I can tell you with 100% confidence that freezing meat does not change the nutritional value. It might change the flavor (to the human palate), but snakes are not exactly as discerning as humans, so... no worries there. I'm sure some snakes are more discerning than others, though.

[@armourdillo1236]

I do agree with you, I just want to point out that they absolutely are as discerning as humans when it comes to their food, if not more. Their chemical senses are far more potent than ours, they're just not going to care as much in most cases, and the process the animals go through to be frozen does take some of the scent off of the animal. But yeah. Freezing particles obviously isn't going to change the molecules. So the nutrients content isn't going to change.

[@Trippy824]

@@armourdillo1236 yeah they do usually react faster to live because of the scent. But you can still get them conditioned to frozen pretty easily. So like while I do agree it still ultimately doesn’t make much of a difference for frozen

[@armourdillo1236]

@@Trippy824 I totally agree but it's still a point worth making I think.

[@desertdragonworksaz]

@@Trippy824 sure! I was referring more to flavor, as far as AFTER they've decided to eat it... if it smells good enough to eat, they pretty much eat it - whereas I might turn my nose up at a hamburger and order a ribeye instead. lol

[@technoraptor7778]

Yes ball pythons tend to like live better...mainly because its fresher and they can smell the difference...but all snakes of any kind can have preferences..my boas don't care either way so frozen thawed it is! Haha

[@localbuzzkill1760]

The “natural” argument doesn’t even work. Like yes I’m sure your Banana enchi fireblast lavender whatever the fuck ball python wouldn’t survive two days in a “natural” environment 😂 feed frozen if you can y’all

[@localbuzzkill1760]

Just to clarify, I have no issue with morphs or anything. Just thought it was funny! Hope everyone has a nice day :))

[@Trippy824]

I totally agree. The whole point of keeping pets is to make their lives the best possible and even better than nature. So I don’t see how risking the health of an animal because “it doesn’t like frozen” is a good idea. You just have to be more stubborn than the snake and only use love if it starts to lose weight. A fuzzy rat with its eyes still closed made a huge scar on one of my snakes and I’ve done my best to never do live again. There really isn’t a good reason unless you absolutely have to. If it doesn’t eat frozen right away you just need to be more stubborn than the snake as long as it stays healthy.

[@safetyzone2962]

Plus, in captivity the mouse can't get out of the area like they could in the wild. So while a little natural to the snake (not much), it is completely unnatural to the mouse.

[@andreheise1170]

Feeding f/t to larger collections would produce a lot of wasted rodents. I don't find it to be very ethically correct to produce and kill livestock for the waste bin. As a small hobbyist breeder with a few ball pythons, I feed selfbred and f/t rats to my snakes. It's manageable. But when it's feeding day and I have living rats of the right size, than my snakes get a live meal. It can be discussed if CO2 or a snake killing the rat is more humane. A snake kills it's prey fast and without playing with it like cats do. I don't like to hear when snake keepers are criticized for live feeding and the cat keeper says: "Oh darling look, the cat has brought us a little gift, isn't that cute.". The whole discussion about live or f/t feeding being more humane isn't based on any scientific facts, like so many things nowadays. Haven't heard of any studies comparing the suffering by CO2 to suffering by a constrictor. It's all about personal opinion based on individual imaginations. I imagine that both methods make a rodent equally fast unconscious. "Natural" arguments are mostly bad arguments. Something being natural doesn't mean automatically that it's better or worse. I agree on this.

[@erikalise2256]

I think if someone's first concern is keeping everything "natural" then they should give up pets in general, stop wearing clothes and start a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. My point is that "natural" doesn't mean anything. The welfare of my pets is way more important and feeding frozen is a no-brainer. My snakes don't care 😂 It's not like frozen rodents are processed like human food, they're just dead and thawed! It's pretty damn natural if you ask me.

[@Katie-xl8fd]

I'd like to add to the "it's natural part": there's nothing natural about the rodent being fed to a snake inside of a tank. In the wild, if the snake misses its strike, doesn't coil correctly, whatever, and the rodent escapes, it just scampers off into the brush and the snake needs to find a new meal. In captively if the snake misses, the rodent is trapped with the snake. So instead of being able to run off, it has to turn and fight to defend itself. Which leads to way more injuries on the snake's behalf

[@xnaydrax8189]

I know you commented this a while but I had to add something. we got my snake from a person who did not take care of her and fed her live. She was unhealthy, never eating,(we got her in January, did not eat since August) did not have the right bedding, too many decor, etc and was constantly stressed. She eventually developed signs of sickness and had bacteria build up in the mouth which was part of the cause of mouth rot. We got her sickness under control and it went away. She never ate frozen until we had to force feed her and we never tried frozen mice again. But anyways the reason I was telling you this was a thank you for opening up my mind to it and helping me out. As a pet owner you want to do the best thing for the snake so thank you for commenting about it.

[@MostlyHarmless68]

I fed my snakes live rodents once, last Christmas I thought it would be a treat. They didn't seem any more "excited" about it than if I wiggle a thawed rodent at them, and I really didn't like the squeaking of the rodent or watching it thrash around. So my snakes don't care, and I prefer thawed. Question solved for us.

[@notsorry3631]

Mine seemed annoyed he had to chase the mouse down, lol.

[@taritangeo4948]

@@notsorry3631 It seem only because they have an instinkt doesn't mean they enjoy the process😂

[@azuleen5479]

My bp literally doesn't strike at his prey at all. I have to leave a thawed rat in his enclosure over night for him to just swallow eventually. He could never be fed live. He gets legitimately too scared of the f/t rat if I try to wiggle it for him to strike.

[@ameliartrebnio]

Some people are just dumb. People say "I feed my leopard gecko live insects instead of dead ones cause it has more nutrients and it's the same with snakes. It's best to feed live rodents" Well I guess you feed your dog live chickens, pigs, cows, ect.

[@puessietoo1]

doesn't that actually apply to insects tho? I heard the ones sold dead in packages don't have the same nutrients. those are also usually freeze dried tho, so is that why?.. I've never thought of simply culling/feeding or regular freeze-thaw/feeding. I don't keep any bug eating species so it's not my specialty lmao

[@Lyrabela]

@@puessietoo1 you're right it does actually apply to insects for several reasons. Freeze dried takes away all the moisture, and nutrients from the guts of the insect, which is an important part. Many also wander on the bioavaliability of minerals for many species as well, but I don't know of studies/specifics on this. You could always cull if you are worried about the insect being hungry/dehydrated and biting--but why not take the opportunity to gut load it and make it a better meal for your pet?

[@puessietoo1]

@@Lyrabela fair. again, I don't have any insect eaters so I haven't researched it a ton, but I've seen gut loaded recommended a ton. im glad I wasn't horribly wrong about freeze-dried. though, after gut loading, would it still be better to cull first? or can you get away with tong feeding / supervised feeding for them?

[@mediumugly4322]

Well my dog has caught many many live dove in my yard, so she feeds herself live birds

[@beladeruberknecht2123]

@@mediumugly4322 and my cat once killed a dog and ate it's ears, so that is that...

[@beeserenity9864]

The UK has outlawed live feeding of vertebrates - unless it's been recommended by a vet or it can be shown that live feeding is the only option to save the predators life. Practically this mostly means no one can advertise rodents etc as live food and stores only sell pets and don't have cheaper 'feeders' in stores so the only way to feed live is either expensive or work in that you have to care for the rodents at home yourself.

[@bugloverspiderlover8490]

Stupid U.K. So glad I can feed live vertebrates to my animals in the states.

[@franziskawild6981]

@@bugloverspiderlover8490 why do you believe that feeding live if the animal would take f/t is okay or ethical? I understand that when the snake would otherwise die because it doesn't take f/t you have to feed it something but since most European countries actually have laws against animal cruelty that are actually followed (not like in the US where technically there is a law but nobody gives a fuck and of course a hamster is happy in his 10×5inch enclosure) making live feeding illegal unless there is a proper reason is the only ethical thing to do

[@nogames8982]

So even if you raise the mice or rats yourself you're still not legally able to feed them to your snakes live? That's interesting. I don't like to feed live and I have only done it a few times with young snakes I couldn't get to eat anything else.

[@jonatanstenberg6349]

@@nogames8982 Not unless you pre-kill, we have the same law in Sweden but is a bit more lax.

[@charlotteharris6951]

Pet rats are £12.50 in my local Pets At Home. The frozen rats I buy from the same store are £2 each or £10 for 6. 😂 ain't no way I'd willingly choose to feed live and it would be my absolute last resort. Too expensive for my tastes.

[@Khandrake]

I need frozen just for storing "Natural" yea keeping a snake in an enclosure is def natural

[@mediumugly4322]

You don’t take your snake for walks?

[@themotions5967]

I mean the whole goal of keeping animals in human care is to provide them with as natural a environment as possible with access and ability to preform natural behaviors BUT Regardless feeding live is far more of a safety issue than a enrichment issue in human care. the whole “natural or not” debate with live feeding is a loaded but ultimately empty and pointless question relative to this topic in particular as in animal care at a professional level we have to consider the safety of a activity way before we consider how enriching it possibly is for the animal.

[@earlknit5372]

Even if the feeder loses nutritional value from being frozen, wouldn't the fact keepers ensure snakes have to option to feed on a regular basis more than make up for that? In the wild they have to be opportunistic, they don't know when the next prey item will come along. It could be days. It could be months. As pets they get fed at regular frequent intervals.

[@IrieRogue]

I hated feeding live. I was so happy when I finally got my BP to switch to f/t. He refused 3 fuzzies, and each time I took off work to stay home, stayed up all night, and diligently fed them every 2 hours. Not a single one made it, and it was devastating every single time. Feeding was also soul-crushing, because I had to listen to their cries for help everytime, knowing there was nothing I could do if I wanted my baby to eat. As part of my penance, I adopted 3 feeder rats, and I give them the best lives possible. While ever grateful for being able to feed f/t, I can't help but feel pain and shame each and every time I feed, as I imagine how helpless and afraid they must be beforehand, how they undoubtedly suffer, and how they are also undoubtedly robbed of love, affection, and treated less than ideally. I honestly can't say which is the lesser evil, because either way there is suffering, and I believe we will all have to answer for these activities with which we involve ourselves. I think taking personal accountability, feeling shame and remorse, and respecting the sacrifice that animal made is vital to the spirit. To disassociate from the cruelty of life in attempts of escaping culpability is not only pointless, but a great sin against the self. Ultimately, I go with f/t because it is safest on the snake, and if prepared by a humane and mindful organization, it is indeed a death with less suffering (but it can be perhaps more miserable if the person operating the device is negligent or uninformed).

[@pokegirltasier6]

This is the first time I seen Stan that damn peaceful in the background. Usually it's head bobbing or death stare. You dream your best dreams Stan, you go.

[@Monica_bondevik]

I've been bit by multiple rodents in my life trust me their bites bloody hurt and they can bite super deep.

[@SnowWhitePanda]

Very true

[@jamiezingsworld5887]

Very true I’ve owned guinea pigs and they’ve only nipped me and it hurt I can only imagine what a full blown bite feels like

[@drewjenn9819]

I only pic them up by the tail. I'm not risking a bite. My young ball python is a fantastic eater and a very efficient hunter. I also enjoy watching her stalk and ambush her meals. I'm sure they taste better than frozen, so I'll keep her on live. It's the only fun she gets and it also, refines her killing skills. I think she she likes it too!😁

[@Monica_bondevik]

@@drewjenn9819 from what I know snakes don't have a very good sense of taste so they likely wouldn't taste any different to her. Also my comment was to inform people who do feed live just how much a rodent bite can hurt for the sake of the snake more that the sake of the human. I got bit of the finger last year while trying to treat a wound on the bottom of my chinchillas foot and her top teeth went super deep into my finger. The amount of damage that could be done while a rodent is fighting for it's life just don't seem worth it to me for both the snake and the rodent. Also just imagine the vet bill, even more so if your snake gets an infection from the bite.

[@Monica_bondevik]

@@jamiezingsworld5887 I found that gerbils and Degus are the most likely to bite and bite hard. The nibbles you've likely experienced is grooming behaviour as guinea pigs are such social animals. I studied animal welfare at college so was often around and handling different animals so on vet side of that course I got bitten a few time, gerbils, rabbits, chinchillas (only once) and Degus are all rodent/rodent like animals that have bit me so I'm pretty knowledgeable on their bites 😅

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Bet Tom would want to do that to Jerry

[@Tom-ty3zg]

I agree with Kim Jong-un on this one guys

[@goatslayerwp]

The fearless reader has commented! HAIL HIM!

[@notsorry3631]

Theres a theory that Tom only chases Jerry so his owner won't get rid of him for not chasing mice, but that they are secretly buds.

[@Adamlol642]

Yeah

[@undomesticatedhuman]

I see your comments literally everwhere lol

[@Xiporah]

12:00 - Stan could successfully stare down a god.

[@uicornpoorainbows]

My kids ended up with a pet mouse because my sisters ball refused to eat it.

[@Monica_bondevik]

That's adorable especially compared to some of the stuff I've seen here *seen some awful stories I'm certainty scared*

[@uicornpoorainbows]

@@Monica_bondevik he only lived for 2yrs sadly but he was well loved and called Henry.

[@notsorry3631]

My cat always seemed way more interested in the mice we used to bring home than the snake ever was. He kinda seemed annoyed he had to catch anything, lol.

[@Monica_bondevik]

@@uicornpoorainbows that's not bad actually, that's actually old age for a mouse. I'm glad he got to live a full happy life with a loving family. (I'm a rodent lover and have owned nearly all the rodents available for pets, chinchillas are probably the longest living pet rodent at up to 20 years. Just a fun rodent fact)

[@uicornpoorainbows]

@@Monica_bondevik I thought they lived longer. My kids were very upset about his passing. We got a hamster and he lived till he was 5yrs old.

[@xandermin]

people really underestimate how much damage a small rodent can do, their jaws & teeth are crazy strong, & once you get up to the bigger rodents like guinea pigs you'll need a good first-aid kit on hand. so i do not want my snake anywhere near a live rodent lol.

[@mosey_around2231]

I just got my first ball python who was on a mix of live and f/t. For the first month he didn't want to eat. I tried different sources where I get my rodents (I settled for a family owned petstore), I've fed at different times, I left it in overnight, etc. I really though I would have to feed live and then transition to f/t. But I tried braining a f/t and that did it for me. Thankfully I only had to do that once and now he eats like a champ :)

[@Kyenta]

Love when you get a snake thats a good feeder

[@nearlyghouls1727]

When i bought my hognose snake, he was only fed live mice and when I asked about why they choose to do that they said "thats how it would be in the wild" and man did I really want to say to them "if you really wanted it to be naturally fed like if it was in the wild, you'd be feeding it toads instead of rodents so I dont think that should be your argument here, man." But I was able to get him to f/t easily anyways as its my preference and i dont have any place near me that sells live mice, feeders or otherwise.

[@IrieRogue]

Not to split hairs, but technically they only eat toads during the hottest period of the year, when they leave from the grasslands and travel to the wetlands. They eat rodents in the spring and cooler parts of summer/fall. I agree that his argument was poor. If his primary concern was keeping it "natural", he wouldn't have animals in captivity at all. I think we should strive to make their lives *better* than the wild if we are to bother keeping these innocents at all, and that should absolutely go for your feeders. If you can't treat a feeder with love and respect, imo you have no business keeping animals. They are all innocents and should be treated as such. Life is cruel, and as entities with awareness and great influence, we should be mindful of how we treat all creatures.

[@nearlyghouls1727]

@@IrieRogue Generally for my hognose, which is a western, they dont travel to wetlands. they mostly stay in dry climates and never travel to more humid places like wetlands. only very rarely do they feed on rodents, its mostly toads that live buried in the sand and gravel and sometimes eggs and lizards too, but plains/western hognoses were built for toad eating and it makes up most of their diet in the wild. Since I live in east Texas and more towards the swamps of Louisiana I see eastern hognoses a lot and id agree more with your statement in regards to them. but i do agree that live rodents should be kept with the same respect you have for any other animal even if in the end it does get eaten.

[@IrieRogue]

@@nearlyghouls1727 check out Dāv Kaufman's most recent video on hognoses. He studied them for a year to observe their behavior in the wild. Eastern hognoses eat almost strictly toads, and are incredibly difficult to get on rodents. You generally have to scent the rodent with toads, which is why Snake Discovery keeps toads. For their Eastern. Western hognoses are most often Plains hognoses (occasionally people with include Mexican hogs in this group, but they are very different species with different characteristics, localities, and lifespans). Plains hognoses are the one that have adopted the behavior I mentioned previously. This is precisely what Dāv observed, and it solved a few mysteries for the hobby.

[@IrieRogue]

@@nearlyghouls1727 I've had several plains (western) hognoses. All took to rodents with ease, and seemed to even prefer f/t. Some are more stubborn than others, however. It is however true that if you introduce toads into a captive diet (in attempts to imitate their natural diet) they can grow fonder of toads and go on food strike as a result, so it isn't advised for this reason. I had an Eastern hog as a kid, loved that little bugger. I was able to eventually switch him to f/t rodents, but it took work. I'm from Ferriday, LA, cool beans 😎

[@IrieRogue]

@Blakeavore lmao, empathy isn't a sin, bruh, and it doesn't change the facts. In fact, the majority of material I've covered would claim that the lack of empathy is sin, but you do and believe as you please, attempting to educate an idiot is a foolish endeavor.

[@undetestable1]

I feel like if a rat/mouse takes down your snake then you keep that rat/mouse as your new pet. They have clearly proven themselves the superior animal and deserve a long life of leisure.

[@pauldefillippo8490]

Sometimes you have to use Necromonger rules.

[@canairi5004]

“6 months ago” “5 months and 30 days” ah yes, the floor here is made out of floor

[@katneate6320]

Some months have 31 days. Think that's what he meant.

[@legopizza8063]

Ploy Twist: the pinky mice was born in February

[@leggi_bois4eva]

Took my baby almost a full year to switch over to FT. She never lost weight, so it was a battle of will. I ended up winning, she underestimated my persistence and patience 🤣

[@Workof]

For people who have trouble switching to F/T heres some things I learned with a half blind bp: Ours only cares about the heat of the rat. Smell is secondary. We had cases were we heated the rat for a while and the temp gun showed it as being body temp but the core was still cool and he wouldnt take it. After Heating and turning and more heating he finally took it after the inside of the rat felt warm too. Conclusion: heat your food and dont be afraid to touch it with your hands to feel, heat guns dont always tell the whole truth

[@Rob_Thorsman]

The rat only needs to be 100.5 degrees F (rat body temp). That will likely not feel hot to your hands (which are 98.6 degrees).

[@pain002]

Did Alex adopt that madagascar boa? Seen it a lot lately in the vids

[@jackleitzel3196]

Maybe, he’s not on the site. Dumerils boas are my favorite species of snake. I can see why he would adopt him. They’re awesome.

[@DanielMartinez-bw3tf]

Where can I find his channel?

[@mtlimitless2265]

@@DanielMartinez-bw3tf go herping is his channel, and emerald scales is his company, it's an amazing site for adopting reptiles, most of which didn't have a good home in the first place.

[@somuchluv89]

Is that not the old snake rescued from the school?

[@DanielMartinez-bw3tf]

@@mtlimitless2265 sorry I forgot his name is Alex. I was talking about the guy who used make videos with him

[@hunterhicks6726]

Sick, I’ve been binging goherping vids all day.

[@meganschwartz3937]

my dad used to feed live till one of the mice bit his snake, the tail got infected, my dad spent tons of money to get it removed, and it still killed him.

[@pkobalt]

Apparently you can get various plumbing parts to empty CO2 cartridges and it isn't that much work. Afaik there hasn't been much if any research done on this, but those computer cleaning gas dusters release a heavier than air gas called R134 A, and in humans anyway it doesn't cause the same pain/panic reaction as CO2 does. Many people have accidentally killed themselves with them.

[@GoHerping]

I think i've heard of that, at least there's something similar some people use but I think it's expensive

[@sophialewis1182]

yay something to watch while I eat

[@crispypaintbrush1958]

You watching this what you eat? You are braver than I

[@sheogorath1524]

@@crispypaintbrush1958 watching this while i sip tea. used to watch surgeries on animals when i wanted to be a vet...

[@turtleduck3330]

same

[@prichelly220]

😬good😬luck😬

[@lifewithlaffy7931]

You are first my dude !

[@Anna_Aradia]

In Sweden we don’t have an option. Illegal to feed live here. But i’m sure some do anyway.

[@andreheise1170]

That basically means that you have an option. Isn't it fine that some dumb and egocentric people make laws they can't enforce? Really stable geniuses, haha.

[@Anna_Aradia]

@@andreheise1170 as Long as they don’t forbid owning certain species Im Happy.

[@franziskawild6981]

Is it legal to feed live if the snake refuses f/t and would die otherwise?

[@andreheise1170]

@@franziskawild6981 In many countries with such laws it is legal in this case. But this gets overlooked often. Don't know exactly about Sweden, but it is always good to look after what the law really says. People and media often tend to tell only the half part. Thanks for questioning.

[@franziskawild6981]

@@andreheise1170 that's why I asked. I'm from Germany and while it's generally illegal there are exceptions for when the snake would be harmed

[@brookiecookiecreations2265]

i breed mice for my snake, and I'd just like to say that I recommend Cervical dislocation rather than stunning if you want to euthanize your own mice(whether for fresh killed or to freeze). Stunning is still stressful on the mouse because you flip the mouse around in the air before it hits the table. with Cervical dislocation(if done correctly), there is no swinging, no pain on the tail, it's instant and it's much more likely to be successful. I tried stunning when i was first starting out, and i'll just say, it's really difficult to gauge how hard you need to hit to kill it, which leads to suffering on the mouse's part, and sadness for you as you watch it suffer because of you. with cervical dislocation, it's successful on the first try. another note, i do NOT recommend using any sort of CO2 method unless you have a well-made CO2 chamber with a professionally filled canister and gauge so you can control the amount of CO2 entering the chamber. if done incorrectly, the CO2 method can be extremely painful and scary for the mice. i'd only recommend a chamber for long term feeder breeders who plan on breeding a lot. also, i will say that although there isn't much of a nutritional improvement with fresh killed, my snake absolutely LOVES fresh killed! she became a much more active eater after i switched, which was nice to see.

[@jessi4894]

Hey Alex! I'm one of your more lurk-y viewers, I normally just pre-like and watch your videos, but not today. I have a lot (a whole lot) to weigh in on about feeding live, so here we go. I'm not a fan of live feedings. That's putting it mildly. I actually hate them with a passion. And while I do not think they should be banned, I think that they should be undertaken in a very serious and respectful manner, and used as a last resort when all other methods have failed. What I have noticed about the majority of KZbin and TikTok live feeders, is that they fit a profile. They are feeding live and on camera purely for the spectacle of it, and watching their animal's prey item die for entertainment. In a similar vein to dog fighting. Ok, maybe not dog fighting, that might be a tad hyperbolic. It is similar to a cock (ROOSTER) fight, but with a predetermined outcome (the reptile wins.) It is also for their audience who is seeking the same, along with all of the attention, clicks, views and money that it generates. These types put up the front of "iT's NaTuRaL, liKe FrOm NaTuRe! I'm keeping their instincts intact! It's enriching!" But in reality, all they and their viewers want to see is another animal get torn to shreds, bitten and suffocated to death with as much gore as possible. These same types are the kind who put two different fish together that are known to be aggressive and kill each other to see who wins, or will put a mouse in a piranha tank to watch it get bitten in half, add whole bags of goldfish to piranha or catfish tanks to see the carnage and bloodbath. If there are people gathered around watching the live feeding, attired in backwards baseball caps chanting "Dude! Bro! Dude! Bro!" like some kind of brain dead mantra, this is not for the animal's benefit, regardless of any garbage that they spew about "nature." I do not agree with much that Brian Barczyk says or does, but that is an essay for another day. What I DO strongly agree with him on is his stance that frozen/thawed is a more humane and safe way to feed your reptiles, and live feeding should only done in the case of a picky eater that would otherwise starve to death. Even in those cases, Brian does what he calls the choo-choo train method, and follows the live with a frozen thawed in order to get the picky eater used to the taste/texture/smell and to start to wean them off of live. Here are all my counterarguments to the "iT's NaTuRaL!" live feeders: 1. I know you're just doing this to see gore, and to have a kind of gore video that you can upload safely to KZbin/TikTok that your audience can enjoy the bloodshed of watching your big bad predator animal take down a helpless prey item. It's kind of a gross mentality, so just cut the crap and be honest about what you're doing, ok? 2. Cyanide is a naturally occuring substance found in bitter almonds and peach pits. It's natural, but you don't see anyone knocking back spoonfuls of cyanide with lunch. 3. There is nothing else natural about the way you keep reptiles in captivity, so why this? Think about it, in nature does a ball python live in a perfectly rectangular bin on a rack, or glass enclosure with two evenly spaced hides, a heat mat, with carefully regulated temperature and humidity, next to a water bowl with meals provided on a regular basis? No? They live in termite burrows and eat whatever goes by? Ok. So, out of all that unnaturalness you've suddenly got to go all natural on this one thing? 4. Our hypothetical ball python was hatched from an egg, from a clutch of eggs that was produced by two ball pythons who had been hatched in captivity. And so on, and so on. If you are a good reptile owner and your ball python never permanently escapes captivity and becomes loose in the wild, who cares if he loses his natural instincts for and killing prey? Isn't it a better trade to have a whole safe and healthy snake than one who has retained all of it's hunting instinct? 5. We've already discussed the unnaturally rectangular enclosure that our hypothetical ball python resides in. So, when we add a rat to this tight, enclosed space with corners, our hypothetical snake is at a disadvantage already. With no space to maneuver, our snake is an easy target for this rat to cause lacerations, scratches, potentially lose an eye, have any of those things become infected, or even smash it's nose into the glass. Why would you do this to your snake that you supposedly love? 6. It's just a rat/mouse/prey. So? Some people keep rats and mice as pets that they love. Just because it is prey dies not mean it is undeserving of empathy. The rat in this situation deserves as humane of a death as possible. Being snuffed out via carbon dioxide is much more humane than the poor little thing struggling for it's life in a fight that it cannot win, in terror before being mauled or crushed to death. 7. If potentially having our hypothetical snake injured is a form of enrichment, then maybe reconsider snake ownership. With all the dangers of feeding live, there are many other ways to provide enrichment. Let the snake explore new places outside the enclosure, like grass or dirt. Provide a variety of different hides, shapes, textures, tunnels, fake plants or logs. Provide branches to climb and explore. I have seen even ball pythons explore wide, gently sloping inclines. Get creative instead of endangering your pet. 8. Maybe they will be friends? And maybe I'll befriend the lobster I will consume for dinner. I'll call him Chewy. Honestly, this one was so damn stupid, I almost didn't respond. 9. To the person who said they just wanted to see the rat die: This is called sadism and psychopathy. Get help. Please. 10. In addition to causing external harm to our hypothetical snake, live rodents can carry parasites and disease. These rodents can carry all kinds of nasty things internally, not all breeders are quality and the rodents may have been raised en masse in squalid conditions. You never know for sure. At least freezing them will 100% kill anything they might have internally.

[@alexmockridge444]

If anyone is still interested one year later - feeding live is illegal in the uk, however a lot of people don’t know that animal establishments like rescues and zoos can receive special permission to live feed, and you can surrender an animal to them if you can’t get it to eat frozen.

[@SR2ify]

My daughter works in a reptile shop at the weekend and there are a couple of king snakes that won't eat unless fresh, so they have to hit them over the head with a screwdriver. Very quick apparently. The rest are frozen which they tell people is best

[@notsorry3631]

The first ball python we ever had, many many years ago, the only place we had to get rats was a tiny family owned pet store. Sometimes they had frozen, sometimes they didnt. So, we had to do live sometimes. I appreciate you not being militant about it. The same people who will tell you that you should never feed your animal frozen vegetables will tell you to never give your snake anything but frozen rats, lol.

[@snake4683]

After thawing the rat/mouse heat it up again right before feeding. It helps. After the snakes has constricted around the food shake the food a little that also helps!

[@FeatherBeautiful]

Very informative! And nice haircut 👍

[@zottelhuehs6375]

As far as I know: In Germany you are only allowed to feed live if the animal doesn't take pre killed and would otherwise starve. There are also strickt rules about who is allowed to kill feeder rodents and how they do it

[@felixadriensfavoritecousin]

What the heck I didn't even realize Stan was on that hide until you zoomed in 😂😂😂😂 I thought he was the hide lol

[@maddieg2829]

A friend of mines brother got a baby boa constrictor on a whim. No idea how to care for it. I tried to inform them that the snake would get huge one day, and if it was raised on live, it would be difficult to get the snake to take frozen in the future, and harder to come by live animals large enough to feed it once it reaches adult size. They didn't care, and fed the snake live anyway. As the snake got bigger and started being fed large mice and small rats, they decided it was too gory for them and are now trying to rehome the snake, which they haven't been able to do, because people don't want a large snake that eats live. So moral of the story: feed frozen if you can!

[@ragemutt5372]

This is how you end up with a boa eating your baby and/or dog/cat >:,/

[@wolfygrl24]

Years ago I had a female Red Tailed Boa, she was always fed live. At that time frozen wasn’t as common or easy to find. We never had any issues with her getting injured in any way. These days I would probably try to go with frozen but I no longer have any interest in keeping any snakes. I keep rats as pets, they’re extremely smart and friendly and social. I have recently read that frozen rodents are lower in water content than live and can contribute to snakes getting a bit dehydrated and can sometimes lead to impaction issues but I’m not sure how true or common that is.

[@DoodlingCami]

i love natural things lead is my favorite element on the periodic table to eat!

[@aryanalewis4558]

Super helpful. I've been watching you because I want to get a snake but know very little about their care and you've been awesome

[@hukmai]

I feed frozen for two reasons 1 I feed in a feeding box which takes "natural" out of the question the chances are far too great for fighting back 2 I don't want a pet rat. According to my co worker( adopted it) the rat has ptsd and died from stress 1 month later. Another occasion I had to euthanize the rat myself.. not the ideal case I would prefer live since it's a lot less overhead but I bought a pet not a wild animal to throw food at

[@fernkitten]

agreed! love the channel keep it up

[@caitiematthews5268]

I breed some live in my rattery for my brother in law for his snakes. There is a long list of rules that he needs to follow but I would rather him feed properly cared for live than animals kept in a tiny, dark bin their whole lives. Unless an animal will 100% take the rat and kill effectively I won’t give them over. And if the snake takes more then 30 seconds to strike he needs to thump them. I also don’t allow hard tongs and if one snake doesn’t eat it needs to be fed to the next even if it is too small. It’s all about ethical sourcing for me

[@Fallingleaves25]

In the case of the live-ban in England, typically if the animal is at risk of starving to death you can obtain permission to feed live, they are a little stingy from what I’ve heard but if the animal is starving and at risk of death they are able to get special approval

[@Fallingleaves25]

At least that is what an experienced animal keeper I spoke to there told me.

[@lilithlane8189]

I can't unsee your microphone now...

[@XenoDrobot]

I feed live because my ball python absolutely refuses anything other than a live rat. I prefer feeding live anyway since frozen/thawed just reeks & funks the room for hours. I keep an eye during the whole process & he properly strikes & wraps the rat.

[@achilleslopez6063]

Any small cheap freezers you can reccomend cause they won't allow me to store them in the freezer and i cant get one for the garage

[@Drideeuniverse]

OMG... OMG... OMG... ROSIE!!! She was the unofficial star of this video. She looks so good and healthy!!! We need more rosie!!

[@yousefmansouri1869]

That’s..not...that’s not Rosie.

[@treetheoak8313]

"The least cruel option is to wean them into a vegan option" Twitter comments on goherpings channel, probably.

[@jl.creature.design]

"my snake eats quorn nuggets and he's absolutely fine 😌 how dare you feed an animal what it would eat anyway in it's natural habitat😤"

[@secretreptoid]

If we could provide them a nutritionally complete vegan option they can digest and would eat, then yeah. One day maybe, science is wild. People sometimes try to give me shit for being a vegan with pet carnivores, but since going vegan I only get rescues/rehomes and snakes gotta eat, so what're you gonna do? Starving them to death wouldn't be very vegan either.

[@katneate6320]

@@secretreptoid I had this discussion with my vegan sister and we decided that the most 'vegan' option would be to euthanize the snake. If every life is equal then killing one snake would do less harm than killing 52 rodents per year for 20years. Obviously I'm not going to do that, but was an interesting discussion.

[@secretreptoid]

@@katneate6320 I don't believe that every life is equal though. Like, we don't value the life of a bug as much as we do the life of most other animals, and that isn't necessarioy wrong. Their capacity for suffering and their sentience/consciousness is less. That being said, rats are pretty high up in both those categories, so the thing you would have to consider would be the social impact of going around euthanising pet snakes, and the suffering that would bring to their owners. Plus it would make vegans look like psychos and hurt the cause, which turns people away and harms animals by having fewer vegans. Lots of variables

[@themotions5967]

@@katneate6320 but suggesting euthanasia Is inherently the most “vegan” option for a pet snake is by default assigning less value to the life of a obligate carnivore by its very nature. All animals being equal means that all animals have the right to survive and if part of their survival is inherently based upon eating other animals then how is euthanizing it for surviving as natural selection intended demonstrating that the snakes life is equal to the animals it consumes? Part of life is death much of the value a life has comes from death, and what we leave behind when we pass. Having empathy for all living things is good at a surface level, but your sisters ideology falls apart when considering these things, is she valuing life equally or is she just valuing life based on its quantity or even based upon stigmatization? Feeding a snake a mouse doesn’t devalue the life of the mouse, part of its species purpose in the natural balance is to occasionally be preyed upon. If anything the value of the mouse is paid in full as it cycled into the snake by proxy the larger food web. When Vegans have these kinds of hot takes it honestly disturbs me as a zoology major that has spent their entire lives in animal welfare, too many vegans and animal activist don’t take the time to research what conservationist mean when they say that all life is equal. We don’t mean that “we should treat every living thing as homogenous and exactly the same to a human life” it means that we we should acknowledge that the roles that these animals play in the natural order are just as if not more important as ours and should be held in equal regard and respect. You can’t answer moral questions like this with the same philosophy you use to answer questions of human equality, as human equality is based upon the fact that we all have the same wants and needs as a species and have the same role in the larger scheme of things while this is a conversion about the life value of a snake and a mouse which are different on a fundamental level and not comparable regarding the larger tiles they play. its not that one is more valued than another, they are just different. This is why I commonly say this method of thinking is often more harmful to animals than good (which is ironic as most of the people who have this view point are vegans or animal activist and make a public display of their claims for advocating for animals) The reason it can be so harmful is within the very fundamental differences of these animals and the role they play. Using human grade egalitarianism on these animals is essentially saying the snake is a murderer, which by definition murder is the act of killing out of aggression, while the snake is merely killing the mouse to sustain itself, the act may seem aggressive, but the intent is survival, therefore you can’t assign the snake killing a mousse to survive with the same morals you would assign to person killing another person. This means That feeding a mouse to a snake is not stripping. Any value from life or assigning a greater value to the snake, therefore killing the snake is abuse, so tell your sister she is advocating for abuse, let her read this comment, it’s important more people understand the moral complexity of this stuff so that animals don’t suffer because we are to caught up assuming we are helping to realize we are really just doing damage.

[@DymCreatives]

Literally was feeding my ball python frozen thawed as this vid posted

[@ActualCatfish]

I feed my boa freshly-killed rats because I breed and sell my own rats, due to it being more convenient in my area as opposed to buying them frozen. The only good place to buy rats/mice around here within a reasonable radius is a Petsmart that won't let you buy rats for feeding. It does suck having to kill the things myself, though.

[@Dehalove]

I see what you mean about the option being nice for picky snakes, but I think America generally takes advantage of forgiving systems through many people feeding live ‘just cuz’

[@malaykav]

I’ve been interested in getting a snake or lizard for years but keeping live bugs and rats has never been appealing to me. Thanks for the video!

[@michaelknightjr.6861]

Crickets are a pain, I switched my Bearded Dragon to canned insects. They keep all the juices and such. The freeze dried insects are no good from what I have heard.

[@malaykav]

@@michaelknightjr.6861 oh awesome. I didn’t know that was a thing.

[@michaelknightjr.6861]

@@malaykav Yeah Fulkers has them and ZooMed has them. ZooMed are the ones I prefer, they are called Can O' Crickets. They also have Grasshoppers, BSF Larva and a myriad of other insects.

[@malaykav]

@@michaelknightjr.6861 thank you honestly. I’m going to keep this in mind.

[@hannahsimpson313]

My cornsnake was killed during a feeding. He refused to eat FT and would only eat live. He was also a greedy pig, so he started swallowing the mouse before it was completely dead and it bit him inside his throat and he ended up bleeding out.

[@coldandlong5730]

I have a 6-month-old Kenyan sand boa and she was sold as on Frozen thawed but she didn't eat them for a month and so I finally tried live and she's been eating for a few months. I occasionally try Frozen thawed again and she has taken it a couple times but then just leaves it in her enclosure. She eats week old pinkie mice so there's not a real danger of the mouse hurting her, so I don't see a huge issue with feeding her live, but I would love for her to switch before her pray items get to a dangerous size.

[@DCHamer-tp8ut]

Your sheep t shirt cracking me up

[@pyroquill1989]

I’ve only been feeding my BP live because that’s what he ate before I took him home. I was afraid he wouldn’t accept frozen the first few weeks and starve, but now that he has a steady feeding schedule I’ll attempt moving him to frozen mice. The last time I tried frozen he only struck once and then let it be.

[@nataleecleveland1222]

I've always fed frozen. My BP was eating frozen when I bought her so I kept her on it.

[@twotonedfishing]

If I have to feed live which is pretty rare. Only usually if the store is out of frozen tbh. But I usually will just “prekill” it before. A snake getting bit and injured isn’t worth feeding them live.

[@AlienTheCat007]

I hate feeding live. Had to do it a few times because of a stubborn ball python I have. She was being fed live from her 1st home and I switched her to frozen. It was hard, and sometimes I feel like she still hasn't transitioned 100% even though I've had her for over a year now. I still have to do certain things to the frozen rats to get her to slam 'em down. They have to be the right temp, and I have to actually pretend like they are alive, or else she'll just turn her nose up at it or act scared. She also prefers mice, so I sometimes will have to scent a rat on top of heating it up just right to get her to take it. Aaaaaargh ball pythons are a pain!! All my other snakes eat F/T perfectly and it's so convenient. I absolutely hated pre-killing the live rats, it was horrible.

[@poagy]

My father once told me one of his friends that breeds reptiles had an incident where a mouse bit a snakes eye off and my jaw was on the ground.

[@poagy]

And i believe it is true, as someone who cares for rodents on the daily their teeth just get bigger and bigger so 😬

[@spiderj379]

I’m new to keeping snakes. Question: If I defrost a rat and a snake doesn’t eat it, can I refreeze the rat or do I have to throw it out?

[@pyroquill1989]

The safest choice would be just to throw it out. Bacteria could start growing on it, and I’ve read it also looses nutritional value the more you keep de-thawing and refreezing.

[@Rebelgirl-kv6bd]

When I bought my snake 🐍 she was eating only live, but I switched her right over to frozen thawed. It took a few feedings to get her totally switched, but it is worth it in my eyes.

[@Phorlakh]

One thing that bugs the hell out of me about the appeal to nature fallacy when it comes to feeding conscious prey to snakes, is that snakes are ambush predators. In the wild if they blow an attack both parties can escape. My friend in middle school had parents with an 8 ft boa that got sepsis and died from a botched feeding with an adult rat that went into fight mode. It was awful because the poor snake couldn't get away, and the owners were too chickensh*t to handle the angry rodent so the attack went on for hours. They thought they were being so smart by keeping a tank of breeder rats in their basement, but in the end all they had was a huge dead snake and two dozen aggressive inbred rats.

[@Phorlakh]

@Matt Konopelski I agree. My corn snake went through a period when I had to live feed but the memory of what happened to that poor boa made me really vigilant about the fact that tossing a prey animal in with a trapped predator means being ready to intervene if necessary. Sure, in nature snakes get hurt and die but keeping a reptile in a glass box in your living room is about as natural as a polyester suit. People love to use the nature excuse when they're too lazy to take proper care of their pet

[@benadrylgelllzzz5724]

When I was younger, my parents had a snake named Simon. They tried feeding him live mice and the first time the mouse bit Simon he decided “Nope, not trying that. Frozen mice or a I starve”.

[@pictur3scrazy]

Frozen is just too convenient for me to ever want to try live. I got my baby ball python when he was still on live and after he was left a week to settle in, little dude didn’t care what I was feeding him, only that he got to eat 😅 I definitely jumped and dropped the tongs the first time since I had no idea how fast he would be. I can understand feeding live though if your snake refuses, if you breed rats/mice for food, or even a large collection is probably easier to feed live. I can’t imagine how long and tedious it would be to thaw and warm up 50+ rats to feed at a time!

[@AriesSeason]

Unrelated but I like your shirt the colour suits you

[@Eneby00]

As a nutritionist, freezing meat is going to keep it the most 'fresh' since it doesn't lose any nutritional value. The 2nd best option to frozen is freeze dried but I cannot see anyone try to feed a snake a completely dehydrated rodent.

[@Chihyou]

I dunno my corn ate his rodents butt first. He didn't even try to constrict his food. Would just gobble it down while I was still holding it with the tongs... Bad candidate for live feeding. xD

[@holygrail6482]

Yeah my elementary school teacher from like 6 years ago had to have their snakes eye removed due to a rodent bite that got infected. She talked about it during class once, and I always felt bad for Sunny the corn snake after that :(

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Why did Mickey Mouse go to outer space? To find Pluto

[@eris9078]

God damn, I got a PETA ad on this video

[@themotions5967]

The fact that they still beg for money and get any never ceases to amaze me they had a more 90% kill rate on their animal shelters for healthy animals (not counting sick or elderly) for multiple years in a row, and they still call themselves animal rights activist

[@asrig3880]

I thought you wouldn't mention freshly killed (almost no one mentioned it) and I'm about to comment this : Ahem, may I interest you in what I do called *Feeding Freshly Killed*. It's great because you get -The Best- none of the worst of both worlds. Picky eaters will eat the mice (if they usually eat live immediately) and they wouldn't hurt your snake because the mice is... Dead. I kill by cervical dislocation by the way, not the most comfortable one but it's easy after you get used to it, instant death if done correctly, clean, and fresh.

[@rexana_rexana]

My snake is so shy, I think she'd hate a live mouse. She also gets tons of enrichment from digging around in the substrate, that's her workout. Also, unlike some people apparently, i'd hate hate HATE having to consistently watch a mouse get killed. I don't have that quote-unquote "dark side" and I'm proud of that, thank you very much.

[@yamanakash837]

Where I live you can choose to keep your mice alive for feeding or they kill it for you at the shop so then your snake can have a fresh kill without the fight to put the mouse down first.

[@Allinguts]

Well, when i was a snake breeder i used to breed my own rats and feeding 100+ snakes frozen was NOT EASY and it took forever. Its was way easier to feed live and faster. However, my big constrictors and my aggressive ball pythons where on fresh killed or frozen because the way they strike the rodent sometimes the head was left expose and it was bad for the snake, so my boas, Burmese python and blood python were on frozen (i had the gas chamber). In my opinion , the snake kills the rat way faster than the gas btw.

[@jennakfae]

So it's probably less cruel to feed them live. Interesting

[@Allinguts]

@@jennakfae not really, the constriction kills way faster than the gas. In my opinion, if people are not willing to feed live rats then don’t have snakes. Some snakes will only take live food so that’s something to considered.

[@squeeji4330]

I say frozen is better if possible. Live is cruel because they just are terrified for however long they’re there before they’re eaten. Not to mention a dead rodent won’t attack the reptile, i’ve had rats and they can be vicious and definitely kill a reptile. I really do think that live should only be fed if the animal completely refuses dead in every way.

[@midegola5623]

i feed frozen chicks and small rats to my tegu. where do you buy your frozen rodents? i also dont feed my tegu live because i dont want him to shake everything he puts in his mouth. seems to be working so far.

[@BoiTurtle]

I got my baby ball python a month ago and he completely rejected a frozen mouse as his first meal no matter what I tried, so the next day I went out and got a live one which he ate instantly. Like you said it sucks having to drive 20 miles just to get a live feeder mouse, so I'm planning to try a frozen mouse again as his next meal. Hope this goes well lol

[@secretreptoid]

Have you tried braining it or tearing the skin? My biggest girl sometimes isn't as keen on eating when approaching shed, but making sure the rat is thoroughly warmed and tearing the skin on the nose, leaving it overnight if needs be, has never failed me personally.

[@datgurl12121]

You can also try getting the scent of a live rodent on the frozen one. I've heard it works.

[@Rryan8065]

Finally, I video my dad needs to watch

[@crispypaintbrush1958]

Yep

[@GreenDayLuna_]

We feed our snakes live mice only because they literally can't eat frozen. One of our pythons got really constipated last time she ate frozen, so its our only option unfortunately. We also don't feed them rats because we keep pet rats and it just feels weird to us. (Plus my dog actually gets mad if he sees us feed with live rats since the pet rats are his little friends. He's kinda strange)

[@Analog_Refined]

My normal has always taken frozen rats, but my BEL only likes live adult mice. Sometimes she will take frozen mice. But currently working on getting her RI under control. And a de-wormer in my normal 😞.

[@Vulcano7965]

Fed my corn snake live mice like two or three times. Not as convenient to store (need to get it the day you feed it) and it depends whether or not the pet store even sell them. The only upside was that my snake had no issue attacking and eating them. But I have no problems now for my snake to eat the thawed mouse I present them. Although I might've trained them to see the fork I use to "animate" the dead mouse as the actual food ... somehow. It's very interested in it anyway^^

[@Vulcano7965]

And whenever my snake refuses to eat the forzen mouse (not hungry, maybe wrong size) my cats are always happy for a unusual treat ;)

[@originalritny]

Any advice on a ball that wont take frozen or live. He was previously on live by his previous owner but they said the ball never really ate or showed interest. I've tried both live and frozen but no interest. The only time it will take is with assist feeding a thawed mouse. And even then they wont always take. I've had the ball for 3 months and still struggling with feeding. Still with in the weight range but it's on the smaller side of that. I need advice from anyone whose experience a similar problem . Thank you!

[@aarw4907]

My baby boa was taking frozen for the first few months after she was born then just stopped eating. I had to switch to live because she won’t swallow the frozen. She’ll wrap around a thawed, heated frozen but never eat it. Live she’ll take every time

[@ragemutt5372]

Maybe you should try simulating the thrashing by shaking the mouse with your tongs as she coils, a boa especially should be on frozen/thawed. Wtf are you going to do when it gorws up, buy live rabbits? Those are almost exclusively sold as pets they will cost a fortune. And youd have to find RABBITS not bunnies eventually. Its a terrible idea to keep a boa on live.

[@hazeltownshend2355]

In the UK it is legal to live feed but by law it has to be a last resort. So if an animal is wild caught it won’t eat frozen rodents, you can live feed to maintain the animals welfare but not because you prefer the option. I think it’s a fair law but looking at the pros and cons I think there’s risks with everything. It just depends which ones you focus on.

[@franziskawild6981]

About live feeding being illegal: in Germany it generally is illegal because it would harm the feeder animal more than necessary but if your snake refuses to take f/t live feeding is legal as it's necessary to not have the snake suffer. So generally live feeding is illegal unless it is absolutely necessary

[@woomy2343]

Maybe fresh killed is the most effective too because you could breed the mice/rats and never have to spend money on more of them, and you don't have to deal with the thawing and heating process, AND you have access to the nest so you know how old each one is.

[@dalyo96]

But you have to deal with looking after rats/mice

[@woomy2343]

@@dalyo96 true, but if you're already taking care of reptiles, how bad could a few mice be

[@dalyo96]

@@woomy2343 completely different. Small mammals are a lot of work

[@erikalise2256]

Not only a lot of work cleaning but you'd still have to buy food for those rodents. Frozen saves space time and money. If you enjoy rodents as pets then that's a whole different story, but then you'd be killing and feeding them to your other pets so I feel like becoming invested in the rats/mice would be sad.

[@woomy2343]

@@erikalise2256 I know rodents are a lot of work. I'm fully aware that the requirements are different. My bad with inability to convey sarcasm through text.

[@girltarantula]

I’ve wanted snakes my whole life and I decided I’m always doing frozen. That was until i got a snake. I have 5 and none eat frozen because of course they don’t. I’m also a rat lover, my snake room was my rat room like 2 years ago. I LOVE rats. I just have to not think about it. I keep 2 failed feeders as pets so I don’t feel badly so there’s that. ._.

[@peripheralinkling]

I feed live to my ball pythons because they consistently refuse thawed rats. I have tried frozen and would prefer it because of the danger involved with live rats.

[@alicemilton8756]

I've found that in the summer a frozen mouse can be very refreshing

[@Rob_Thorsman]

Perhaps soaked in some iced tea or cool lemonade.

[@zachpulido5972]

My snake only eats live, but I've found that a quick hit to the head knocks the mouse out completely (or just kills it instantly). That way there is no resistance from the rodent and I've never had a problem with injuries.

[@jessiefranklin9318]

So pre killed?

[@apex2382e]

My albino chocolate leopard gecko has stuck shed on his claw and the tip is getting black what should I do?

[@rhionnelee4653]

I swear Alex knows when I’m about to go to bed and decides to upload at this point 😂😂

[@fabianzalan1274]

Same

[@alegitsky]

I have a corn snake (eats smaller rodents which I feel is less dangerous) that WILL NOT feed on F/T. I wish she would but since she won't, I have no choice and always supervise closely. Luckily my snake is pretty efficient at killing so I have never had an issue. It's all about how you do it, I think.

[@TheDundeeBiscuitLuvU]

I'm guessing the UK is one of the countries where you have heard about feeding live being against the law. This is technically true, but it is allowed if it's the only way to keep your animal alive. But live feeders are very difficult to come buy, so most people will actually try and get their snake eating f/t first unlike some live feeders in the US

[@sassyvelociraptor5625]

As someone who works with rodents on a daily basis, it only takes a second for those teeth to get you and even the little ones can draw blood