Controversial Topics: Live Feeding vs Frozen Thawed

Okay, there are so many topics in the reptile community that can cause WW3's in the facebook groups. Usually, on these topics the opinions are usually split right down the middle of people who think only one approach is right and the other is wrong or bad practise. 

Feeding is one of those subjects. I have my own pretty harsh opinions on this topic, but to be fair I'm going to cover the pro's and con's of both sides to make it a fair argument. Also, whatever my opinion is, I do want to say that as a keeper only you know what is best for your individual snake. Every snake has it's own personality and preferences, some are picky eaters and some aren't bothered what it is, if they can eat it they're gonna. Do whatever you think is the best for your snake, regardless of my personal opinions on the topic. 

Live Feeding 

So, this is the main controversial point in this argument. The other doesn't really spark much of a debate on its own, but feeding live can spark a huge war on online reptile groups everywhere. Mostly, because a LOT of people disagree with feeding live most of the time, but then there are keepers who ONLY feed live for their own reasons. First, I'm gonna start off with the pro's of feeding live. 

PRO's

• It's arguably the most natural way of feeding your snake. As much as the idea of keeping a snake in captivity can be natural, we usually strive as keepers to create an environment for our snakes that replicates an environment that would encourage their natural behaviour as much as possible. Of course, in the wild, a snake would only ever eat live prey. They wouldn't go for a prey that was already dead, because they hunt using their ability to sense thermal radiation, and a dead prey would be a cold prey.
• People also claim that feeding live promotes a more natural hunting behaviour as it gives the snake a chance to stalk their prey on their own, therefore, creating a more natural feeding response. 
• Live prey or freshly killed prey have more nutrients than a frozen/thawed prey. Frozen prey can lose some nutrients as they're stored, so yes, live prey is technically the most nutritionally valuable to your snake than frozen. 
• Some snakes only eat live. Snakes are little individuals, they have their own preferences, and some snakes, especially ball pythons who are notorious for being picky eaters and going on hunger strikes, will ONLY eat live prey. So, regardless of my own opinions on this subject, I totally get that if the only way your snake will eat is if it's live - of course you should feed live. Wild caught snakes are also known for only eating live, and are very difficult to switch over to frozen/thawed or pre-killed. 

CONS

You'll probably guess my stance on this debate from this section. 

• The only con I can think of for live feeding is this. It's dangerous for the snake. Live prey can fight back, it can attack your snake back, and if you think this isn't gonna be a big deal, think again. The teeth of a rat, rabbit, guinea pig or even a mouse can chew through wood in no time, and a snake is definitely not as tough as wood. Snake skin is very fragile, and a live prey can inflict serious injuries on a snake before the snake manages to kill it or strike at it. To me, this is all the reason I need not to feed live, but of course, I understand that some keepers have no choice because their snake will only eat live. Some will argue that you can avoid injuries with live feeding if you are responsible, which means a keeper will never leave their snake alone with live prey and they will be standing by until their snake successfully kills the prey with their feeding tongs in hand ready to stop of block any bites from the prey.

Frozen Thawed 

I think by now you probably realise that I choose to feed f/t, and that I'm for this option in the debate. But here are the pro's and cons of this option. 

PRO'S

• It's just more ethical. It's ethical on both sides, it's safer for the snake as a dead rat can't bite your snake, and it's more ethical for the prey. As ethical as it can be, but it's more ethical to give them a quick, less painful death and then feed them to the snake than to drop them in and have them die slower and cause them psychological stress. It's just kinder in my opinion for the prey and the snake. 
• More effective. It's cheaper to buy a pack of 10 frozen rats than it would be to buy 10 live rats from a pet shop or a breeder. A lot of keepers who feed live also run breeding projects for their feeders, and this would cost more in the setups for keeping the prey, the food to feed the prey, the husbandry upkeep etc. It's just cheaper to buy a pack of frozen prey and bang it in the freezer until it's dinnertime for you snake, especially if you have a lot of snakes, it's cheaper and it's just easier. 
• Cleaner. I have a friend who feeds live and she shares feeding videos on her instagram sometimes, and many I've found that due to the snake missing the first strike but still connecting with the bite, it ends up with blood everywhere, entrails from the prey hanging out and getting all over the enclosure that she has to clean and disinfect later. I've found through feeding f/t that I never have to deal with this issue unless the prey explodes due to heating it in water that's too hot. I normally am left with zero mess when I feed f/t to Sylvester, which is great for me because I'm not really excited about cleaning up rat guts. 

CONS

This may be my own bias, but I honestly can't think of any cons of feeding f/t if your snake will eat it, if there are any, please tell me in the comments. 

Lets just do the conclusion, it's no shock at this point that I am all for feeding f/t over live, because I just think it's a no brainer. If you can do something in a safe way that is more ethical for both parties that gives you the same exact result, why wouldn't you pick the safer option? 

I've been in many arguments about this in the groups, and most keepers who exclusively feed live only for all of their snakes use the argument of "it's more natural, it gives my snake an opportunity to hunt" - How is the other method any different? For your snake to take a frozen rat, you need to prepare it by thawing it completely, then heating it until it's warm to the touch and then you offer it by moving it with feeding tons in front of the snake. All of these things trick the snake into thinking that the prey is alive, because from their point of views they are sensing the heat with their thermal pits and it's moving = they think it's alive. So their feeding response is going to be the exact same as if you fed live. So I don't understand that argument. 

Overall, I think if your snake will eat f/t no problem and you still choose to feed live, in my personal opinion, you're taking an unnecessary risk and I just ask myself why. But, again, you do you as a keeper, you do what you think is best for your animals.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings, ranting and raving about probably one of THE most controversial topics in the reptile community. If you want to discuss this in the comments, please just remember to keep it nice and breezy, we don't need a world war over rodents. Bye!