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Frozen/Thawed vs live feeder rodents

N

N@te

New member
id like to hear some opinions on this subject.i personally feed my corn live for a variety of reasons..and i know every one is entilted to thier own opinion.
 
I used to feed live and then one of my snakes got bit pretty bad and I moved to all frozen/thawed. I also was given a ball python because he was "very mean", turned out he is blind and I dont know if its cause of mouse/rat bites or what but I dont want to risk any more injury to any of my snakes, and that is why I feed pre killed rodents.
 
I feed prekilled... I don't want an injury to my animal and I think humans kill the rodents quicker and less painfully than the animals do most of the time. I also think the nutritional value is pretty identical... I really have no reason to feed live.
 
LOL

Well I like to hear your ""variety of reason"" .


:-offtopic
I must be the time of the season.
 
I also used to feed live when I got my first corn snake, king, and ball.
My reasoning behind it was, "It's what they'd have in the wild and I want to keep them as naturally as possible!"
Eventually though, I couldn't stand hearing the mice screaming, I got bitten really bad by a mouse, and I came to the realization that there is nothing natural about holding a live mouse over a snake's face, or keeping a snake in a cage. Now, I know many people, including myself at one time, used to logic of them eating live in the wild to justify feeding live in captivity- but one must remember that there is nothing natural about keeping a snake in a box. Even a well decorated viv is still a box. Frozen thawed is also a whole lot cheaper, and I always have mice on hand, I don't have to worry about a snow storm, or car trouble, or work on feeding days. Plus, my snakes are at no risk to being bitten by a rodent. I also have a ball python and boa, and I don't want to have to buy a live rat or rabbit every two weeks, and the amount of damage that those animals could inflict are just not worth the risk. I'd like to add that my snakes eat f/t just fine and still constrict their food, it's no different than feeding live, but a heck of a lot safer for everyone involved and cheaper. I would like to add that I've never had an issue switching any snake to f/t from live before either.
 
I feed frozen/thawed. A bite from a 50 cent mouse is not worth an injury to a $60 snake.
 
One of the disadvantages to feeding strictly frozen is that frozen feeders tend to lose valuable vitamins/minerals from being frozen.apparently they make injectable vitamin c to put in the thawed feeders..i knew a former herp vet that had to stich up a ballpythons back from skin splitting open from vitamin c deficiency from a snake that was given strictly frozen mice appartenly.
 
I would suspect that the deficiency was either an autoimmune disorder of the snake, or the rodents were not fed a proper diet, as vitamin C is only found in plant materials.
 
My views here....
I am a softhearted idiot. And I like all animals. I feed my crew f/t because otherwise I just couldn't do anything else. But there ARE alot of advantages to f/t too!! No chance of a snake being bitten, no parasite transfer, more economical, much easier to buy in bulk and have them onhand instead of running to a pet shop every week (in the pouring rain, heat, snow etc when what you really want to do after work is go home, eat dinner and throw on some pjs and watch tv....)

I believe that f/t is just as nutricious as live too. And if you disagree with me on that you can always prekill the rodent before feeding. I still believe that it is more humane to do that than allow the snake to do it and risk a bite.

As far as excercise goes, handling your pet give them more excercise than a few seconds of mouse-killing anyway!
 
Many, many snakes have been raised cradle to the grave on f/t, some corns living up to 25 years- far longer than the average life span- so I really would suspect that the deficiency is due to another cause.
 
N@te said:
One of the disadvantages to feeding strictly frozen is that frozen feeders tend to lose valuable vitamins/minerals from being frozen.apparently they make injectable vitamin c to put in the thawed feeders..i knew a former herp vet that had to stich up a ballpythons back from skin splitting open from vitamin c deficiency from a snake that was given strictly frozen mice appartenly.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I had not heard of this.
Not saying I don't believe you, but I have not heard of this.
I have been keeping snakes since 1995, and have been a member here since 2005.
Not that that means I am an expert, I am not!! But I have always fed f/t and have never once had an issue with it. My oldest snake is 16 years old and he is doing really really well.
 
AliCat37 said:
Many, many snakes have been raised cradle to the grave on f/t, some corns living up to 25 years- far longer than the average life span- so I really would suspect that the deficiency is due to another cause.
Click to expand...

I am sorry Nate, but I have to agree with Ali...
 
My 23 year old has eaten nothing but defrosted mice all his life. No signs of any kind of vitamin deficiency there.

For info, vitamin C is produced endogenously (i.e. is not derived from food sources) in reptiles, so a deficiency wouldn't be linked to what they were eating.
 
well i dont let my snake eat live mice for exercise...its just less of an hassal for me i dont like the idea of haveing frozen mice in my freezer.and a few of the times when i fed my snake frozen he refused to eat it.he never refused a live one so i most likely dont have to worry about him not eating.and i always take precautions when he eats....most of the times when snakes get badly injured from a mouse/rat its when the owner leaves the snake alone with the food when the snake refuses to eat..
 
So... nothing to do with the vitamin C content then? Just the standard reasons. Search the forums for the standard replies.
 
I think it is really funny that people don't like the idea of mice in their freezer when most freezers have chickens, pigs, cows and sheep in them already!!
 
bitsy said:
So... nothing to do with the vitamin C content then? Just the standard reasons. Search the forums for the standard replies.
Click to expand...

well to be honest as i said i heard this story from my vet...i dont know how accurate he is but hes some one who would know.if frozen mice had the same nutrition as a live one what would be the point of people buying injection of vitamin c for frozen mice feeders..
 
N@te said:
well to be honest as i said i heard this story from my vet...i dont know how accurate he is but hes some one who would know.if frozen mice had the same nutrition as a live one what would be the point of people buying injection of vitamin c for frozen mice feeders..
Click to expand...

Honestly Nate, I have never heard of those vitamin C injections....and I have kept snakes for a long long time.
But if you are convinced that live is better, you really should consider pre killing. Much more humane for the mouse (they can feel pain too), and safer for the snake. Even though most bites happen when the keeper leaves the mouse in the cage, a bite CAN happen, and a snake can lose an eye in seconds, before you can do anything.
 
I only feed my corns F/T. In my opinion, there are just too many risks to feeding live. I have seen many pictures and heard many horror stories about snakes being eaten alive by mice, and even under supervision one small bite could lead to a very bad infection, weakened immune system, or both. Not to mention that live mice can sometimes harbor parasites that freezing would otherwise kill. I also agree with starsevol about handling being enough being enough exercise for snakes. You can even simulate live feeding by dangling the mouse around with forceps or tongs.
 
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