Most captive ball pythons accept common rats and mice, and some eat birds, such as chicken and quail. Some keepers feed their ball pythons multimammate mice, which ball pythons would naturally feed on in the wild. Feeder animals are typically sold frozen and thawed by owners to feed to their pythons. Another option for feeding ball pythons is with live food, where the prey is purchased alive and is either killed by the owner and immediately offered to the snake, or set loose and allowed to be 'hunted' by the snake. Live feeding is rarely used in some areas, such as the United Kingdom, where, while not expressly prohibited, is considered a legal due to animal welfare laws which prohibit the suffering of vertebrates. It is generally not recommended to allow the snake to 'hunt' its food as the prey's defensive instinct can cause the prey to fight back, causing injury, and even death to the snake. Younger ball pythons may eat as often as every 5 days, but as they mature, ball pythons tend to wait longer between meals, ranging between 7 and 14 days as adults. A ball python will typically not eat when it is shedding.