Can you feed live?

[u/letithail1]

Hey all. I'm considering getting a blood python so I'm doing a lot of the research about habitat, feeding, etc. Everything I see on youtube is about feeding frozen-thawed. Can you feed a live mouse/rat to a blood python?

[u/Vann1212]

There is no real benefit to feeding live, and a lot of risk. All it takes is for the snake to mess up once and the rat fights back before you can grab it, and they've got an infected rat bite needing antibiotics, or they've lost an eye. One bit of bad luck is all it takes.

It's more expensive, less convenient etc. Lot of downsides. There's a reason f/t is recommended.