Posted by:
DominaEve
at Wed Mar 9 12:43:16 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by DominaEve ]
James ~
I don't think it's a matter of who's right and who's wrong, but a matter of preference and patience.
I have never heard an argument for the humanity of the prey on this issue. Doesn't make sense. It dies within a few minutes either way. They are bred to be food. And f/t by the way die of hypothermia ... they are frozen to death. In other words, they get cold, go to sleep, and die.
The biggest and most convincing arguments that I have heard regarding f/t involve safety issues. If people don't want to sit and watch their animals for a half hour to an hour, it is possible that the prey can do harm to the snake. This is more so true as the snakes grows and receives larger prey such as rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, etc. Even when you are vigilantly watching you cannot always prevent a struggle. I have see rabbits gouge out the eye of a python. It wasn't pretty and there was no time to stop it. It just happened.
I know some people like to have their snakes retain an "aggressiveness," but I for one do not. Feeding live does in fact preserve a strong hunter’s instinct. I cannot have an aggressive snake when I dance and interact with audiences. This aggressive tendency is very undesirable in public situations. I also have two small children that handle my snakes and docility is important to me when they are interacting.
What works for one person may not work for another. It took me 3 months to get my BP to eat f/t. He was a real pill about it. Now we are transitioning from mice to rats and are having issues as well. But I am wiling to be patient to get the results I desire.
Best of luck in your decision making.
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~ Noel ~
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RE: F/T vs P/K vs Live - DominaEve, Wed Mar 9 12:43:16 2005