Has anyone ever given thought to this? An anology might be like breastfeeding vs. feeding newborns a formula. It's interesting, isn't it? (When I say live prey, I mean in the early stages, bc we all know thawed prey at any age is ideal for a snake's health, as long as it's fresh.)

Any comments, or insights?

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"Spread Reptile Awareness!"

"You know you have faith when you realize that thoughts are things; what you feel, you attract; and what you imagine, you become."
-Joseph Murphy, Phd

Good Poll Todd-

My vote was for no difference.

I'm thinking that as long as the nutrients are there for healthy growth, the snake will accept whatever it is used to, be it F/t or F/k OR live.

After all a baby human baby that was never breast fed still grows the same as a bottle fed. the human really doesn't realize that bottle feeding effected them until later in life when they go to therapy. Then, suddenly it effected everything.

I don't think snakes will react the same later in life.

Just my HO of course.

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Regards,
Dominick
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"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

Hello,

I chose to post my vote as no. I don’t believe that a diet of live will help a captive snake acclimate any better to captive life.

However, I do believe that feeding live prey to neonates is beneficial to nurture a feeding response. The natural instinct to kill to survive enhances the chance of them taking the prey. Getting a snake to begin life on f/t or p/k can be stressful on owners as well as the snake. In that sense, I would say yes. Feeding live, in the beginning, could prove to be beneficial.

The nutritional content found in p/k, f/t, or live, in my opinion, will have little effect on the snakes health and acclimation.

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I vote no. The breastfeeding vs formula analogy is not really valid in that it refers to a psychological benefit. There is no mother snake anywhere feeding its young anything.

Whether the prey is live, P/K or F/T the nutrients are still the same, assuming your F/T haven't been laying around the bottom of a freezer somewhere for 5-10 years. There is even evidence to suggest that snakes raised on P/K or F/T are less aggressive.

As Rich pointed out feeding live to neonates may be necessary to get them feeding but in the long run it makes no difference.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

All great posts! Psychologically, I think you're right, Merlin. Yet, I also believe, in regards to what Rich said, that it could be considered that a snake "thrives" or "acclimates better" when eliciting a good feeding response from a live rodent, for example. But thriving and acclimation could become a mere argument over semantics. Nevertheless, sometimes it's necessary to start out our kids on live even when we dont want to, bc it does, in fact, help them to begin feeding.

__________________
"Spread Reptile Awareness!"

"You know you have faith when you realize that thoughts are things; what you feel, you attract; and what you imagine, you become."
-Joseph Murphy, Phd

I voted yes. I feed live initially when my snakes are young to instill a good feeding response in them and acclimate them to feeding outside their enclosure in a feeding box. As they age, I move them over to fk or ft. Like moving a child from the breast to a cup.

i voted no reasoning along with merlin regarding the psychological aspect. Toliken was reared and we have been feeding f/t til last night(he had his first f/k, and seemed to rather enjoy it)

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Ken
" The United States Marine Corps......sure we are a department of the Navy,,,,,,we're the MENS department "

Rich,
I agree! Neos are more prone to start feeding if presented with live. I think it is easier to ween them onto f/t and a heck of a lot less stressful than trying to start them on f/t or even pre-killed. Emeralds especially, being ambush hunters that don't actively seek out prey, would be a nightmare to try and start on anything but live. I would imagine that Green Tree Python hatchlings, which from what I've seen are considerably smaller than neonate emeralds, would be even more difficult to start on anything but live.
Dogboa