Live vs Frozen Feeder Rodents
What do I feed my new reptile, live or Frozen?
Live Feeder Mice can be Dangerous. Mice, Live mice (or rats) do not often hesitate to fight for their lives against their mortal enemy, and they fight teeth first. Bites and scratches can occur anytime during the feeding process, from the initial constriction, the suffocating phase, and even right before the snake finds the head to begin consuming. And of course, where there are bites, there can be infection and a number of other, potentially worse problems. Feeding a snake pre-killed food is a simple way to avoid these problems. If a captive snake has always been fed live mice, it may take some time to acclimate to the switch, but most snakes respond well after coaxing, if needed.
The single biggest advantage live or fresh-killed rodents have over their frozen counterparts is simply that they are the freshest food source available. No proteins, vitamins or nutrients have been lost through time spent in the freezer. There seems to be a misconception on the part of frozen enthusiasts that there is no breakdown of these components in frozen, no doubt started by those who market frozen. Frozen mice are usually easy to come by and sold in our stores. If they are unavailable, freezing live feeder mice is a viable option, as well. |
