Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i had him for like a few years but he dint as much as bitten anyone. only hiss when he's not pleased. but one day he just totally turned against anyone that would go close to him. he would open his mouth any his & strike...

can anyone tell me what prompt this behavior change? he's always been ok & tame. the only change in his husbandary & life recently is the change. usually he eats dead prey because he does not know how to kill. then slowly, he learned & he's taking live rats now. dis that prompt him to be aggresive?

would you switch him TO live? Anyhow, in tegu's feeding live is a sure way to have a vicious lizard. Not sure with snakes though. You may want to switch him back to dead. FT is the best because freezing kills a lot of germs. It may not be as entertaining but it is safer for the snake.
-----
"Because life is preciouse...and god and the bible..."

hmm. a herpertologist once told me to feed live, because according to him, feeding frozen would make him have some difiecency of some sort. i forgot what. Feeding frozen as in like feeding frozen for like 5 years or such..also, as i mentioned he was a rescued snake. he was very thin when i got him. now that he's back to a normal blood's sizze, i think i shall put him back to pre killed...i fed him a dead rat a while ago, he snapped it up & constrict it...

also another question: does all blood owners feed their blood pre killed?

Never heard anything like that. The only thing that I can think of is if you were going to release him back into the wild it might make him afraid of moving prey or worse make him not recognize the smell of live prey as the smell of food. I do not currently keep any species other than Ball Python but the consensus among snake keepers in general is that feeding dead is better because it decreases the likely hood of injury to the snake. Even in a snake as powerfull and with as strong of a feeding response as a Blood there is the potential for a rat or rabbit to inflict serious or even life threatening injuries. Also, with frozen prey there is less likelyhood of the prey item transmitting an infection or internal parasite to the snake. You will find those that disagree, but as a reformed live feeder I have to say that I have had less problems since I switched and the one snake I have that I have not gotten to switch is currently giving me the most trouble.
-----
"It's insane this guys taint"