Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have always felt that it was unnatural to feed pre-killed prey to a constrictor and therefore never have, nor considered it. Till now. So I was hoping someone can provide some insight into this practice for me: 1) Does feeding prekilled to a retic actually decrease its strong feeding response? Or is its strong feeding response simply innate and therefore there's nothing one can do to decrease it.
2) Would the transfer from live jumbo rats to frozen rabbits be okay or would I need to have the transition earlier in it's life, say after one year?
Any other suggestions, insight would be great!
-Neil

If the animals realise that they only are offered f/t or pk food they MAY lose there attack responce yes. My large tiger female has totaly forgoten about biting and constricting and mainly focuses on swallowing. This is common in my collection, but not somthing that all retics learn. Note that we start our animals on young F/T Rabits...

Also some retics dont switch prey items very easily it may take quiet a bit of time, it is easier to start a retic on rabbits than switch them to rabbits...

Best of luck, Shaun D

EOM

I have noticed a drop in aggressiveness of the feeding response in some of my collection. However, the main reason I feed prekilled or frozen thawed is the safety of the snake itself. I had a female borneo blood come within 1/8 inch of losing her eye to a med rat that I thought was stunned.

-----
1.4 Columbians
2.7 Kenyans
1.0 Borneo Blood
0.0.2 Blue Tounged Skinks
3 Dogs
3 Cats
1 Ferret
1 Wife