that nothing serious was going to happen. Then my female boa was bitten, the site became swollen almost immediately. I ended up having to take her to the vet...shots every day for a week does not make a happy boa. Granted that snakes are predators, but we have changed the odds by putting them in a closed environment with a live prey animal that will fight for its life. Just because you haven't had your snake bitten yet does not mean it can't happen. Ultimately it is our duty to care for our snakes to the best of our ability, which also equates to not putting them at risk if it can at all be helped. Feeding live isn't a requirement, it's a choice for most keepers. I will grant that there are a very few snakes that simply will not eat f/t or p/k prey, or situations such as mine where it can be dangerous because of a large constrictor that won't eat anything not moving (and believe me I've tried). The point is if you train the animal when it is small to eat p/k or f/t prey, there is no risk to the snake from an agressive prey animal or one that just gets lucky with a bite or kick during constriction, and no risk to a keeper trying to make dead prey 'dance' for a giant constrictor.

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