Jan 06 2009
To Feed Live Mice, or Not to Feed Live Mice…
Most snake owners will find themselves faced with the all important question at some point: should they feed their reptile live prey or already dead prey? If you have gotten your snake from a previous owner who only fed frozen mice or live mice, the choice could be made for you. Ball Pythons are notoriously picky eaters, and if they were raised on live prey they may refuse to eat anything else. Choosing what to feed based on price may not always help, as live mice from a pet store can cost about the same or even a little less than frozen mice from the same place. If you are purchasing from a company that deals in feeder mice, you may find the price difference a little more helpful, as oftentimes dead rodents are quite a bit cheaper then the live ones.
Some people have no problem with the idea of their pet snake killing another animal that has been handed directly to them, while other snake owners can’t stomach the idea of being an accessory to any animal’s demise. It can be a brutal and sometimes messy experience when a snake kills its prey, and it isn’t surprising that some people just can’t handle it. In many cases the choice to feed frozen mice over live mice comes down to the personal preference of the owner of the snake. If a person can’t handle watching their snake kill prey every few weeks, going the frozen route is a much better option.
At my house it is frozen all the way. When it was just me and my Ball Python, Eva, I was a live feeder. She only eats every three weeks so it was not too expensive or difficult to procure her a live mouse when necessary. But now that I have a whole herpetarium in my house, with 16 snakes all needing to be fed on a regular basis, live mice are not the most cost effective option. My partner and I choose to buy frozen rodents in bulk, and in several different sizes, to meet the needs of all of our animals. Feeding frozen mice also cuts down on the risk of any of our snakes getting injured. The larger the prey animal, or the smaller the snake, the more chance there is that a struggling rodent could scratch or bite your reptile. By feeding our snakes mice and rats that are already dead, we take this possibility out of the equation.
