As hatchlings, I offer appropriately sized fuzzy mice. As the snake grows I adjust rodent size to accommodate their needs. Pit’s are known to be garbage disposals in that, they will eat anything and everything and a lot of it. I only feed mice and rats but I know other breeders that like to switch things up with chick legs, quail eggs, etc. 

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How Often?

As a standard I recommend feeding at least once a week. Especially for babies and Pits that aren't adults yet. As adults- if they are being used for breeding it is smart to make sure your females have good weight for egg production. Most males will tend to go off food during breeding season so don't panic about that. Also be sure that the rodent is the right sized meal for your animal, not too big, not too small. 

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Live or Frozen Thawed?

I currently feed live/pre-killed rodents to my collection. I have easy access to rodents which makes that possible for me. Feeding frozen thawed is a great option though and luckily most pits are not picky about live vs frozen thawed. As a note to this, I do switch snakes over to frozen thawed when a customer requests it. Usually the pits will switch over quickly, thank goodness the majority of them aren’t as picky about their food as I am!

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Mice vs Rats

I feed mice until my pits are close to 2 years old. I generally do not start them on rats until they can take a small rat. Occasionally I will throw in rat pups with the yearlings when I have extras and what not but only after they can take a small rat do I switch them over more exclusively to rats. Other breeders will feed rats from the start or switch them over sooner. I do recommend feeding rats to adults to help them maintain their body weight unless you are able to feed multiple mice in a feeding. As adults, I feed medium sized rats or a few adult mice if they are only mouse eaters. As far as the act of actually feeding them goes, I tong feed everything that takes a hopper mouse or bigger. For the babies I just drop the fuzzy mouse in and check the next day. When I switch over to f/t I make sure that the rodent is completely thawed using warm water and then I set the rodent in the cage and check the next day. Once they figure out that it is food they start tong feeding the f/t shortly after.