Live or Dead Feed? What do you do?

[Jack92]

Hey Guys, just been thinking lately about live vs dead food. I currently feed my Jungle/Diamond Python on Dead only as I'm new to Snakes. I've heard if you feed them live, there are chances of the Snake being injured? Also I've read if you feed them live, they can become more aggressive and bitey towards you? Or is that false as well?
Tell me how you guys do it, and tips etc are appreciated

Thanks

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Live feeding is severely frowned upon, unethical and inhumane.
It is highly likely that if a snake does not eat the prey the prey can attack, harm and potentially even kill the snake when they are both confined within a captive environment.
I know of no-one who uses live prey items for snakes and I would suggest that you can the idea for the sake of your animals, the prey items and the potential impact should the authorities become aware of such activity.

 

[Tempest404]

also last i checked isn't feeding live in aus illegal under the licensing except in certain circumstances?

 

[Varanoidea]

There are chances of any animal being injured attacking another, don't do it. Dangerous and unethical. There are no benefits to feeding live unless you are a sadist. Not to mention it's illegal.

 

[andynic07]

It is not illegal. It is however as mentioned unethical and inhumane and should not be done unless completely necessary.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Guys,
Its not illegal, it is severely frowned upon and would be very difficult to prove the necessity of such an act if the authorities were ever alerted to such behaviour.

 

[Jack92]

Well I'm glad I've been feeding it Dead Fuzzies then I'll stick with Dead, he seems to be doing fine with them, I was just curious thats all Better safe than sorry

 

[muzza72]

Ha ha Jack! prepare to be crucified by the Nazi's on this forum for even mentioning feeding live rats etc to your python. But yeah they are right, feeding live rodents etc to your python is pretty cruel and pointless. Sure it happens in nature but we simply don't need to do it. There is a good chance your snake will cop a bite which can get infected. My pythons strike harder and faster on fresh killed rodents than thawed frozen rodents but i don't think any food live or dead makes them more aggressive in the long term. Most pythons are psycho at feed time. If you do feed them fresh killed rodents you should worm your rats and pythons every 6 months or so. Panacure is a great wormer but it won't get rid of all types of worms. Thawed, frozen food is probably the safest as long as you thaw the rat out as quickly as possible by putting it in a sealed bag and submerging it in hot water. You will need to put something on top of the rat so it doesn't float and make sure the rat isn't too hot for the python. If you are feeding your pythons during winter make sure they have access to heat at one end of the enclosure day and night for digestion. Hope this helps mate and please don't feed your pythons anything live. It's not cool. Cheers!

 

[Tempest404]

ok i stand corrected (i've been lied to) but in a whole you wouldn't feed a kid a live kangaroo or cow

 

[zicarus]

I asked the same thing the other day to someone at a store as i wasn't sure if it was done once in a blue moon to sorta keep the snakes instincts and i was told by them " first its illegal in AU and classed as inhumane not for the rodent or what ever it may be but for the snake as it can cause injury. and when i asked this that was when we were researching the woma, now they tend to crush their prey against things, Ive seen a lot of vids on youtube mainly from the USA and in a lot they seem to get a real kick out of it i don't mean to offend at all and Im not saying all are like that. I think dead is better because the snake is taking it from your hand i know its going to take a while to get use to it launching at what Im feeding it that's if u ever do lol.

 

[BrownHash]

I believe the legalities vary from state to state. However, for what purpose would you feed your snake live food?

 

[muzza72]

Now that I would like to see :shock: It would have to be a huge kid or a tiny cow

 

[Jack92]

Well I wasn't intending on annoying anyone, as I stated I've fed him Dead the whole time. I've just seen a lot of videos on Youtube, even then I thought it was cruel and worried for the Snakes. I was just curious thats all, seeing as all of you are more experienced than I am in this field.

 

[Jack92]

Zicarus, I'm a novice as well and I'm still learning Getting a Snake has been the best thing I've done
Thanks for the tip

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Well I wasn't intending on annoying anyone, as I stated I've fed him Dead the whole time. I've just seen a lot of videos on Youtube, even then I thought it was cruel and worried for the Snakes. I was just curious thats all, seeing as all of you are more experienced than I am in this field.

No one was annoyed by your question as far as I can tell. However comments from Muzza of Nazi's and crucifixion could be seen as being a little out of order and not really necessary by some members.

 

[Ramsayi]

Ha ha Jack! prepare to be crucified by the Nazi's on this forum for even mentioning feeding live rats etc to your python.

So the majority of people who think live feeding is totally unnecessary,cruel,dangerous etc and voice that opinion on threads such as this one are Nazi's?

Taking that one step further people who feed live are sadistic bogan morons who have no idea and should not be keeping any living animal as a pet.

 

[Jack92]

I don't want arguments, I was just asking for peoples opinion on this. I've always thought live is cruel to the mice and dangerous to the Snake.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Ha ha Jack! prepare to be crucified by the Nazi's on this forum for even mentioning feeding live rats etc to your python. But yeah they are right, feeding live rodents etc to your python is pretty cruel and pointless. Sure it happens in nature but we simply don't need to do it. There is a good chance your snake will cop a bite which can get infected. My pythons strike harder and faster on fresh killed rodents than thawed frozen rodents but i don't think any food live or dead makes them more aggressive in the long term. Most pythons are psycho at feed time. If you do feed them fresh killed rodents you should worm your rats and pythons every 6 months or so. Panacure is a great wormer but it won't get rid of all types of worms. Thawed, frozen food is probably the safest as long as you thaw the rat out as quickly as possible by putting it in a sealed bag and submerging it in hot water. You will need to put something on top of the rat so it doesn't float and make sure the rat isn't too hot for the python. If you are feeding your pythons during winter make sure they have access to heat at one end of the enclosure day and night for digestion. Hope this helps mate and please don't feed your pythons anything live. It's not cool. Cheers!

The reason captive snakes are at a great disadvantage when fed live rodents is that in the wild, they set themselves up in an ambush position and wait for unsuspecting prey to come by - they have the (very big) advantage of surprise, before the prey is aware of them and can become defensive. In a small enclosure, the already agitated rodent is alarmed and alert to threat as soon as it is placed in there, so can anticipate its fate and prepare to fight.

Snakes fed domestic rodents, thawed, fresh-killed or even live, do not need worming, as rats & mice bred for feed and fed a commercial diet won't be exposed to worm eggs, so can't pass the parasites onto snakes. The use of chemical treatments on captive bred snakes fed commercially bred rodents, as a "precaution," is pointless and may cause harm. None of these worming compounds can be used completely without risk.

Jamie

 

[Rob]

Ha ha Jack! prepare to be crucified by the Nazi's on this forum for even mentioning feeding live rats etc to your python.

Before making any future posts like this, please read: http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/community-41/reflections-oegooda-forum-member-203569/

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As for the OP's question, I think it has been answered sufficiently, so this one is now locked. I would however like to draw everyone's attention to Rule 15:

General Site Rule 15. No member may make a post, thread or visitor message that encourages others to break any law, is morally/ethically questionable or promotes illegal activity (for example, keeping without a licence, illegally taking animals from the wild, smuggling, wiring your own cages, feeding live rodents or freezing live rodents)