All species of snakes are carnivores (meat eaters). Most experts agree that captive snakes should be fed humanely killed prey. Feeding live prey may cause severe bite wounds, trauma, secondary infections, and even death to your snake. For this reason, you should not leave live prey in your snakes habitat for an extended period of time. If your snake is hungry, it will eat the prey in a fairly short period of time. The exception to the rule is feeding pinkies, which have no teeth, to young snakes. You can also feed your snakes freshly killed prey. If your snake will not feed on dead prey, one may attempt adequately stunning and incapacitating the prey. This may result in acceptance of the prey while still reducing potential injury to your snake.

Owners should be careful when feeding their snake and avoid direct contact after feeding for approximately 24 hours. Snakes tend to be aggressive following feeding and may strike at owners. Another stressful period for snakes occurs during shedding. Most snakes will not feed during this time.

The frequency of feeding varies with the size and age of the snake. Most newly purchased small snakes are fed once weekly. Selection of prey size is determined by the circumference of the snake. Snakes are able to dislocate their jaws to accommodate prey larger than the size of their head. Another indicator of when to feed may be the presence of feces from the previous feeding.

Consult your veterinarian regarding specific feeding recommendations for your snake.