I agree that feeding snakes mice which were rasied / bred by you can be healthier - you can feed the mice a good diet plus vitamin supplements as well. I was not producing enough mice to keep my adult green rats as well fed as I like, so I was happy when they started taking freshly killed mice and then f/t. My adult green rats have high metabolisms and quickly digest both live and f/t prey. They (especially large females) can take a large amount of food, and the quickness with which they digest reminds me a lot of the Asian beauty snakes. Mine are all fairly active and kept in large tubs or large cages, and do not have problems with obesity. I do give them freshly killed mice (which have been fed a healthy diet) as often as possible as well. Another reason I was happy that they finally switched to dead mice is because live rodents can be very dangerous to snakes. My big Santa Rita female was bitten badly a couple years ago - it healed well, but she has a substantial scar...
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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

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