Rant: Feeding Live to Reptiles

[Boyd]

well I hear this line all the time so sorry if I am a bit tired of it. I had a teen age girl at the pet shop refuse to sell me mice or rats because I asked for a reptile feeder. I got her boss on the phone and they sold me the animals. She thought she'd be cute and pre kill them for me, so I made her dump them and give me live ones like I asked for. My python will not eat it if it didn't kill it. It'll let it sit in the tank and rot.

Sorry, I said it earlier and I'll say it again.. the lady she's selling the mice to may have used heartless comments, but honestly, us live feeders don't care if those mice lived a long and happy life. Once they go into the tank with Fel, they have exactly 30 seconds to live. If I feed 2 or 3 at the same time the last one may have as much as an hour.

Sorry if folks think it's sick, but half the fun of having a large snake and live feeding is watching nature in action. All this touchy feeley stuff about mice and rats is besides the point. PS, I've kept mice in their own seperate bins with food and bedding, because sometimes during a shed, my snake will quit eating for as much as 3 weeks at a time. I do not feed him to the point where he's full for a couple of weeks, but I like to watch it on fridays when I go to the feed store.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Quote:
Your view on rodents amuses me in how far it differs from mine. I won't tell you how little I care about captive reptiles.

I myself have spent over $1000.00 on cancer treatment for my pet rat. So I guess I care a lot more about how long and happy of a life a rodent has.

 

[EweSheep]

Well if you do not like feeding mice to reptiles live, then do not sell mice to any reptile owners. Sell them to the laboratory and they can do some tests on them, you probably would make better money on them and they do treat and care mice as in feeding, watering and bedding wise but to the 'tests" well, I can leave it up to your imagination. If you can not handle that, then feeder mice or raising mice for consumption would not be the way for you and better off getting exotic rare mice that is so different than the mice out there.

I do not have a problem with people feeding live rats/mice to reptile owners, dead or alive. They bought it and it is up to them how they want to treat them in feeding them.

 

[A1 Steak Sauce]

Quote:
Bingo! I've typed and deleted so many replies to this it's ridiculous. Between what EweSheep and Boyd said, you have a really nice and condensed version of my opinion lol.

Hey EweSheep, even as a reptile owner, I don't think I would like to eat a mouse/rat dead or alive!

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I hate it when any one live feeds to reptiles.
yes its done in the wild, but when the reptile lives in your home, its not really wild.
Its actually very rare for a snake not to eat frozen/thawed mice.
I wont sell live mice to anyone for feeding and the only ones I sell for feeding are pinkies.

 

[EweSheep]

Well like the lions, you can not take the innate wild traits out of the snake so it is up to the snake's perferance in how he would want to finish off his prey.

Seeing a live prey might "excite" their senses (and appetite) for food. The mice is there for a purpose, either way, he is the snake's dinner. Sometimes we can "humanize" the mice too much and it would not benefit the mice, snake or ourselves.

Let the snake make their choices in how, when, where they want to eat the mice.

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

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Come and try to feed Fluffy a frozen/thawed mouse.

If she'd eat frozen/thawed I'd feed them to her. But she won't, so I don't- and that's that.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
Your view on rodents amuses me in how far it differs from mine. I won't tell you how little I care about captive reptiles.

I myself have spent over $1000.00 on cancer treatment for my pet rat. So I guess I care a lot more about how long and happy of a life a rodent has.

dont get me wrong, a pet rat is to be loved and cared for. A reptile feeder is food for Fel. Just like some rabbits get names. Those are the mama's. All the babies have the same name.. food.

eta - if somebody doesn't want to sell me live mice or rats, that's ok, theres plenty out there who will

But a retail store refusing to sell is against that store's policy, and I am not about to listen to some drivel from a kid more than half my age. It was pretty easy to convey to the owner that all their rodent sales would dry up if they allowed this employee to dictate policy. Needless to say, she doesn't.

 

[EweSheep]

Boyd!

Well if I could, send you some sewer rats out here that comes in all colors besides grey! Must be those rejects from pet homes that could no longer care for them. Nasty little buggers.

Now if phythons can live under a chicken coop, the rats would be in a good surprise! "Make my day!" (Clint Eastwood)

 

[A1 Steak Sauce]

Quote:
It's rare, huh? Someone forgot to tell every snake I've owned in all my days that they're supposed to eat dead, cold things. Done in your home or not, that doesn't mean the snake thinks, "Oh, well I'm not in the wild anymore, I better change my ways and eat mousicles now." I mean really. Sure, respect the life, but my stars.