Snake vs. Mouse

feed pre-killed or f/t

I do feed him prekilled or frozen rodents. In fact I do most of the time. However, it is better for the animal if some of their instinctive hunting abilities can be applied in captivity. Since mice are small and their bites are insignifigant, feeding live should be no problem.

Nice Snake...good meal....What kind of bedding is that? Do you like it? Please tell me

agoudi,
its not just the bite that can harm the snake, its the claws as well, be careful that it doesnt blind ur snake one day!



Thanks,
Ben

It's cypress mulch. It works very very well and not only is it inexpensive and nice looking, it is very odor absorbant as well. As with all wood type substrate however, some little bugs come with the wood and tend to live and multiply in the water dish. This issue is easily solved with prevent a mite or an equivalent. Very good stuff!

To Ben:
I've never heard of a mouse's claws being of any harm to a snake, but I suppose if they get it in just the right place they could harm an eye. This is why I am always there watching my snakes when they eat live so I can intervene and stop the mouse from doing anything to the snake. Thanks for the comment!

Very nice snake, even mice can inflict a decent bite so it is good that you watch them. When he/she gets bigger you should consider feeding frozen/prekilled. Man I want one of those things!!!!! How old?

He is just about 1yr at 3'8"

a mouse cant do harm to a snake huh? well lets see about that http://www.homestead.com/koalaskritters/livefeeding.html there are some pics in there that shows what a mouse did to a ball python



Thanks,
Ben

well afterall doesnt a snake kill its own prey in the wild. i still pre kill mine, but its not being inhumane not do so. i believe that pic of the ball python was a result of leaving a mouse with a snake that wouldnt eat it. obvious neglect by the owner.

I agree with Dookie, those pictures obviously resulted from neglect. If you watch your snake when it feeds, then feeding live is OK since you can stop anything like this from happening. The injuries in the photo were obviously inflicted over an extended period of time, and if an owner could have intervened the python could have easily been saved. Everyone considering having a snake should look at that photo to stress the importance of observing your snake when it eats live.
Thanks, Chris

yes. i usually feed f/t, but occasionally the local pet stores dont have anything frozen and i have to buy live. sometimes i dont feel like smacking the live mice against the wall so ill feed live. the animals are under VERY close supervision and the second i see anything bad starting to go down, im waiting with the feeding tongs ready to crush some skull.

Yeah, usually what I do is f/t. But if I dont have them frozen then I go out and buy a few critters and then humanly kill them, but I'm not in that position alot cause I go to the MD shows as much as I can go and I buy a good amount there. But I never had any problems with feeding live. I just watch it very closly. Sometimes feeding live is the only way to get a new snake to feed, just look at my boa lol. And now he eats anything u put in front of him.

those pics are sick dude. I would weep for days if that happened to my snake.

Agoudi:
Isn't amazing how one "innocent" photo can cause such a heated debate.?

I have 2 snakes and I have fed live, dead and f/t. I enjoyed watching my snakes eat live prey. However, I had an incident with my King snake. He bitten in the eye during his strike (he WAS hungry and their exposure was less than a few minutes.) It wasn't until the mouse was dead that I even noticed the blood from my snake's eye. luckily it was only a very minor bit (could have even been a scratch). I was watching but it happened so fast I didn't even see it. I am happy to report that all is well (except for the mouse). :)

I say: Do what you feel, just be careful and aware of the consequences.

Feeding snakes live can be pretty entertaining. Today I was feeding one of the little ball pythons a mouse, and the python struck and missed, but got a firm clamp on the mouse's tail. She wrapped around the mouse, but it wiggled out of her grip and got away... except she still had it gripped by the tail! This happened a few times and eventually I just broke the mouse's neck and let her do the rest.

I know what can happen to a snake that's been bit in the wrong place, it can be pretty bad. Snakes are tough though and can take most everything a mouse can give them in the wrapping/feeding process. Like was said before, snakes DO feed on live prey in the wild, so it is not unhealthy or unnatural to offer live prey. It just involves some additional risks that can be prepared for and prevented. Thanks 4 the comments.

Chris

That's exactly how I feel. I feed my snakes live.
I made a comment on the Cages forum that it seems like the majority of the people on this site think that they are the only ones in the world that know how to look after a snake. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I know more than anyone else, I certainly do not.
But, I do feel that the decisions you make with regards to feeding YOUR snake, or what cage it's in, or whether or not it's in with another snake.. whatever it is, is up to YOU. You bought the snake, it's your pet, whether or not it gets bitten by a mouse has no effect on anyone else here but the owner.