English peeps

[little twiglet]

where do i get live pinkies in the london area??

[Neil]

Hey, I think (if you have to use live prey at all) that it would probably be easier for you to start a mouse colony of your own to supply your snakes with food (unless you've only got very few snakes). If you've got enough animals, this can work out a lot cheaper than buying food. However, I think that f/t mice are the best by far.
I'm not sure about shops in London but I'm sure there are loads because London has everything. Try doing a search on Google or similar. All I know of is a good on-line shop that sells frozen mice at good prices. ( www.livefood.co.uk )
Neil

[pauljordanuk]

Nope.... I dont think you'll find any as its illegal to feed live food to snakes in the UK ......

[Neil]

Is it? That's odd (not that I agree with feeding live prey).

[Kel]

The Vivarium in Walthamstow might be able to help - they advertise live mice:

http://www.thevivarium.co.uk/foodfrme.htm

I believe that feeding live per se is legal in the UK, but "causing an animal undue distress" is the phrase which is open to interpretation.

Most herpers seem to have interpreted this as preventing them from leaving a live prey animal in an enclosure with a snake that doesn't want to eat it immediately (mouse is stressed, afraid and has nowhere to run). However, doing this would also be undesirable for a keeper as a live mouse can harm a snake if left unsupervised for any amount of time. Quite how the RSPCA would interpret the phrase if a case was ever brought to court, is another matter !

Cheers
Kel

[pauljordanuk]

I've heard it many times that its illegal to feed live prey to snakes in the UK. Have a look at this link (section 8)........

http://www.lansdown-vets.co.uk/pdf/snakes.pdf

[snakemanone]

Hi all.


Icant understand why you would want to feed live food to your snake/s, if its freshness you want why not buy or breed and when its feeding time just take one out of the tank slam its head on a hard surface and feed, its still warm and you cant get fresher.


Ilive in the uk but north of you(northants)......




...........................STEVE

[Rachel]

This is gonna start a whole new debate on live vrs frozen! Anyway just to add my pennys worth...it is illegal to feed live so if you ever were to try you would have to start your own colony. I think pet shops would become a bit suss if you went back every month to buy mice!! At the end of the day its easier, cleaner and safer to feed f/t.

[kris (UK)]

tis illegal to feed live in the uk. I looked it up a bit ago. Although a lot of people still do feed live, i dont. Try looking at some pet shops. You may be suprised. . . . even though some pet shops that dont sell reptiles may even sell frozen mice . . . .

other than that there are LOADS of web sites you can order off and buy in bulk, and its loads cheaper than buying each mice seperatley, eg: 35p each . . .


KRIS

[reaper]

if you want to feed live food for some reason why not think about breeding your own mice of just buy frozen mice you can get in bulk via the net so dont think there is a need to feed live mice apart from trying to get hatchling to feed.

[pipatic]

legaly there no prob feeding live,to snakes providing there's water ,food for the rodent.
personaly i dont ,i use defrost, but thats what they wud eat in the wild LIVE



nice to hear from uk er's

[little twiglet]

Thankyou for all of your advice on frozen food and that whole thing of illegal feeding of live prey!
Very Interesting!!
But after my bad news today i wont be feeding live prey because he wont be able to see them!! :(
Thankyou for all your advice
Kind Regards Zoe

[kris (UK)]

i just think people have different opinions about feeding live or f/t mice . . .

KRIS

[Kel]

Don't worry Zoe - your question just started a lively and useful exchange of opinions. Not a problem at all. All the posts are interesting.

he wont be able to see them

Sorry to hear you've had bad news. Do I take it from the above quote that your little fella's blind ?

Kel

[Katie]

Yes Zoe, sorry to hear about your little guy being blind in one eye. That's too bad. But don't worry, even if he can't SEE the mice he can certainly smell them and snakes can't see all that well anyhow. It shouldn't affect his eating at all, after all, he has been eating up till now right? And he's been blind for awhile... he should be just fine.

[Rachel]

pipatic: not that I want to start a debate but seeing as you had to bold the fact that snakes eat live in the wild i thought I emphasise the fact that we are keeping the in captivity not the wild! There is alot more to it than simply saying they eat live in the wild so its ok.

[pipatic]

well your right we do keep them in captivaty,(sorry spelling)
but there is nothing wrong we feeding live,providing you can have a staple suply through the rest of the snakes life,HOWEVER iI DONT FEED LIVE BECAUSE ITS EASIER TO FEED DEFROST,NOW THEN YOU HAVE THE CHOICE to feed live or dead
its no use getting upset because poor m or rat is being fed live or dead some snakes have to in order to keep them alive untill they can be got on to dead,

[Rachel]

Thats not my point at all! I'm not against live feeding because I feel sorry for the mice/rat/whatever...simply because I have seen the damage it can cause. When you are feeding live in an enclosed space its not fair on either animal...the rat/mouse etc can seriuosly injure your snake. Thats my problem with feeding live...and please dont get annoyed with me saying that. As I said I dont want to start a whole new debate on this!

[pipatic]

well sorry i thought u was ,for reasons i mention ,but yes there is a danger from both sides,thats prob the other reason i dont fedd live lol
me angry never lol:D

[little twiglet]

the little guy is doing great with only one eye it dosn't seem to bother him