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Dead vs. Live Feeders Question

Bharmonika

Bharmonika

Corn Crazy!!!
As a hatchling I fed my snake frozen pinkies and then as he got older I found it more convenient to feed him a live mouse once a week rather than go through the hassle of having to thaw out the mouse. I know this sounds weird, but handling dead mice freaks me out way more than handling a live mouse. I put it in a rubbermaid container and then place my snake in the container with the mouse and it is all over in about 5 minutes. The question I have for you guys is do you find that snakes that eat live prey are more agressive than those that eat prey that is already dead? Do you feed your snake dead mice for humanitarian reasons? I am just curious about which you think is better and why.
Thanks for your replies,:wavey:
 
A live mouse or rat can bite and do serious damage to a snake. That's the reason most people either feed frozen or "stun" the mouse.
 
ghosthousecorns said:
A live mouse or rat can bite and do serious damage to a snake. That's the reason most people either feed frozen or "stun" the mouse.
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Or fresh killed. I find that's very easy. That way, you don't have to keep the mice in your freezer, and you get most of the benefits of feeding f/t!
 
I almost always feed fresh killed because i also hate defrosting mice or keeping them in the freezer (hey wheres the ice cream, right behind the bag of dead rats...lol). Agression isn't too big a deal with smaller snakes but when dealing with the giants (burms, retics, rocks and condas) it is extremly important to feed dead because you don't want them to associate movement with dinner and if you do it from hatchling by the time they are adults and possibly lethal in an attack they usually have a less agressive feeding response. I would reccomend killing the prey right before you put it in there, you might have to dance it around in front of him the first few times but its better than having a scarred up snake or vet bills for an infection from a bite.
 
Thanks. I totally didn't think about the damage to the snake. I guess because he is so quick, I have only seen a mice be able to bite a couple of times and he squeezed it so fast that it lasted only about 3 seconds before the mouse was unable to move. I will try a F/T kill next time to see how he does. danny819, I am totally with you on the dead rats in front of the ice cream LOL!!! Thanks! :)
 
Bharmonika said:
I have only seen a mice be able to bite a couple of times
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But those couple of times - if your snake gets a bad grip - could be right into the head or eyes of your snake.

Yeah, it is 'faster' and 'easier' to feed live - and if they don't eat you can just keep the rodent alive until next time... but it's also riskier.
 
Ssthisto said:
But those couple of times - if your snake gets a bad grip - could be right into the head or eyes of your snake.

Yeah, it is 'faster' and 'easier' to feed live - and if they don't eat you can just keep the rodent alive until next time... but it's also riskier.
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That's another reason I prefer fresh-killed. Even if they don't eat, you can always pop it in the freezer and save it until next week. Most f/t rodents don't re-freeze very well.
 
Sorry I meant to say that I would try feeding him fresh killed next time. I don't really care for the smell of a thawed dead mouse, but I will do what is best for my snake.
 
Bharmonika said:
Thanks. I totally didn't think about the damage to the snake. I guess because he is so quick, I have only seen a mice be able to bite a couple of times and he squeezed it so fast that it lasted only about 3 seconds before the mouse was unable to move. I will try a F/T kill next time to see how he does. danny819, I am totally with you on the dead rats in front of the ice cream LOL!!! Thanks! :)
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Are you stating in this sentence that a mouse has bitten your snake before? Or am I misunderstanding the statement?
 
I don't know for sure. There have been a couple of times where it appeared as if the mouse had either bitten the snake or tried to bite it. The snake wrapped around it so fast though that I wasn't sure if it ever got a good grip on the snake. Either way, I did examine the snake to see if there were any bite marks or any damage and I didn't see any.
 
Bharmonika said:
I don't know for sure. There have been a couple of times where it appeared as if the mouse had either bitten the snake or tried to bite it. The snake wrapped around it so fast though that I wasn't sure if it ever got a good grip on the snake. Either way, I did examine the snake to see if there were any bite marks or any damage and I didn't see any.
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Not trying to sound rude or mean, but why in the world after seeing some thing like that would you feed it a live mouse again? If you feel like you need to do what is best for your snake, then after observing what might have been biting, you should have just went back to using frozen mice. Tolerating the smell and touch of thawing mice is a small price to pay for the safety of your snake. Not sure how you were thawing your mouse, but it only takes about 5 minutes if you use good hot tap water, for one mouse. If handling it bothers you, use a pair of tongs to get it out and pat it dry with a paper towel. If you don't like mice next to the food in the freezer, then just go once a week and buy a frozen mouse from the pet store. I have many snakes, and all of them eat frozen, even the boas. If I get a snake that has been feeding on live I try every thing possible to convert it to frozen. Just the idea of a possible bite scares me.

To answer your initial question, I think for cornsnakes live versus frozen makes no difference as far as aggression. Every snake is different and you may have a calm snake all the time then again you may not.
 
bekers71 said:
Not trying to sound rude or mean, but why in the world after seeing some thing like that would you feed it a live mouse again? If you feel like you need to do what is best for your snake, then after observing what might have been biting, you should have just went back to using frozen mice. Tolerating the smell of thawing mice is a small price to pay for the safety of your snake. Not sure how you were thawing your mouse, but it only takes about 5 minutes if you use good hot tap water, for one mouse. If you don't like mice next to the food in the freezer, then just go once a week and buy a frozen mouse from the pet store. I have many snakes, and all of them eat frozen, even the boas. If I get a snake that has been feeding on live I try every thing possible to convert it to frozen. Just the idea of a possible bite scares me.

To answer your initial question, I think for cornsnakes live versus frozen makes no difference as far as aggression. Every snake is different and you may have a calm snake all the time then again you may not.
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For the better part of two years, I fed live. My young'ns still get live. I have a large Dumerils boa who prefers live, but is starting to get used to the idea of fresh killed. I've seen bites. The snake always took care of the problem. I will also like to mention that when I do feed live, I ALWAYS monitor very closely what's going on. I did have an issue one time where a mouse was biting one of my rat snakes while wrapped. I reached in with a pair of tongs, and stuck them between the mouses teeth, and pried it open. I kept it that way until it was dead. A few hours after feeding, I pulled out my boy and looked him over. He was no worse for wear, save for one tiny bite mark. Over the next few months, I kept an eye on that spot. It never developed an infection, or anything. The only behavioral change was his extra soaking. If done right, live feeding can benefit the snake. Snakes who are fed live usually have a much better muscle structure than one fed f/t who doesn't even constrict. That's why when I feed fresh killed, I always use the tongs to "fight" with them, and MAKE them wrap. In my personal opinion, live is better for the snake, but fresh killed is more convenient for me (I can toss it in there and not worry about it fighting back).
 
RobbiesCornField said:
For the better part of two years, I fed live. My young'ns still get live. I have a large Dumerils boa who prefers live, but is starting to get used to the idea of fresh killed. I've seen bites. The snake always took care of the problem. I will also like to mention that when I do feed live, I ALWAYS monitor very closely what's going on. I did have an issue one time where a mouse was biting one of my rat snakes while wrapped. I reached in with a pair of tongs, and stuck them between the mouses teeth, and pried it open. I kept it that way until it was dead. A few hours after feeding, I pulled out my boy and looked him over. He was no worse for wear, save for one tiny bite mark. Over the next few months, I kept an eye on that spot. It never developed an infection, or anything. The only behavioral change was his extra soaking. If done right, live feeding can benefit the snake. Snakes who are fed live usually have a much better muscle structure than one fed f/t who doesn't even constrict. That's why when I feed fresh killed, I always use the tongs to "fight" with them, and MAKE them wrap. In my personal opinion, live is better for the snake, but fresh killed is more convenient for me (I can toss it in there and not worry about it fighting back).
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The argument of feeding live vs f/t is a long drawn out one. But in the case of the OP, f/t was what was being fed to begin with and there were no problems with it. So IMO if it aint broke dont fix it. If one can see possible injury such as the OP stated, then why chance it?
 
I feed strictly frozen. I respect that some people feed live or feed freshly killed... but I personally can't do it. I really love animals and I have kept pet mice before. The reason I couldn't bring myself to get a snake sooner was the fact that I had a problem even looking at frozen mice. (I'm a sissy, I cry if I see a dead cat or squirrel on the road... no lie. =_= )
I used to breed pet mice and hamsters and rats, and I lost a lot of little ones a long the way, and it always hurt. I can't get past that point, which is why I can only feed frozen.

But again, I say that I respect all of you who feed live or freshly killed. That's your choice. :)
 
Hey I agree with all the above stuff and am gona add a few more pros and cons in here to think about:)

1. Fresh killed Is easy but it all depends on how you are when killing the mouse...It can really get to you sometimes:(

2. You don't like the smell of thawing mice...what about that pungent smell of keeping live mice :(

3.When and if you can't get a hold of a live mouse (freshly killed of coarse) it can be hard to get your snake to eat ft.

4.Freezing mice helps to kill eternal parasites that can be transferred to your snake:)

5. It is really easy to put your frozen mice in a old hamburger box in the freezer or even a brown paper bag..know will know but you:)

Ok..ok I guess I am sounding pretty biased here...lol. You got to do what you feel comfortable with:) I think mice are cute and unfortunately every time I keep a breeding pair I always end up doing the aw you have really cute spots, ears, nose heck I end up with so many hold backs that my snakes look at me crossed eyed.
 
I feed my snake boiling hot pinkies, she loves them! She is such a pig though, she'll take live, she'll take thawed, she'll take about anything. When I first got her I fed her a live pinky and she downed it, it was pretty cool to watch, I did it about 2 more times before I realized it just wasnt convenient, and too expensive. So, once a month, I go to the pet store and buy 8 pinks. I'm perfectly okay of holding a dead and hot mouse that stinks to high heaven, because to think about it, I have to deal with much more stinkier stuff that a dead mouse. (Fish poo, Snake poo, Dog poo, etc.)
 
I breed all my own mice but still feed my snakes f/t or stunned mice now apart from my ball python who has live as she is a nightmare even with long tongs she tends to go for my hand rather than the mouse, I have in the past fed my corn live but I dont like to as I dont like watching the poor mouse run round knowing whats going to happen to him, I used to get the mouse and just let my partner watch until it was dead.
 
As some of you might know, I am a huge frozen/thawed fan. If not for frozen mice, I never would have gotten my first snake. I have had mice as pets before, and I currently keep rats, which I love beyond all reason.

I HATE it when people feed live to a snake that will easily take thawed. I know some snakes want live only, but they are few and far between. I just want the mouse dealt with as humanely as possible, because I'm a sucker for anything small and helpless and capable of feeling pain and fear. I have no problem with fresh-killed, as long as it is quick for the mouse. At one time in my life, I had no problem with the idea of banning ALL reptiles, because frozen was not widely available and the few reptile keepers that I had met were the type that only had a snake so they could watch a small animal suffer and die once a week. They got a sick thrill from it.
I'm glad keepers like that are in the minority, but I do think they give the rest of us a bad name. I'm also glad I grew up and changed my views :)

I've said this before about live feeding, but here I go again :)

Pet dogs are not expected to kill their food, they eat from cans and bags.
Pet cats are not expected to kill their food, they eat from cans and bags.
I don't kill my own food (except veggies I grow myself).
If you have a snake as a PET, it should not have to kill it's own food.
And if you try to prattle on to me about how a snake killing its food is "natural", consider this....
It is "natural" for most snakes to die before they reach a year old.
It is "natural" for a dog to die of distemper or heartworm.
It is "natural" for a cat to die of rabies.
It is "natural" for an old or injured carnavore to slowly starve to death.

Our PETS deserve better than "natural".
 
When feeding pre killed u can gas them and then give them to the snake right away correct? the c02 doesnt have any ill affect?
 
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