When feeding live...

I've noticed that several people mentioned feeding live. Someone even mentioned that they leave a live mouse in with their corn for days at a time. (!)

Please, if you insist on feeding live, do not ever leave them unattended. Here is an example of what happened to one Ball Python that was left alone with mice.

http://www.redtailboa.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=383

To those of you who find it 'thrilling' to feed live, I hope you realize the serious risks to which you are exposing your beloved pets... and all for your own joy. I don't believe I could sleep at night with that on my conscience.

OH MY GOD!!!!

take a good look people... if that doesn't make some people question their decision to feed live i don't know what will... remember that the snake in the pic is larger and more "powerful" than a corn... i think that is all i think i have to say... ---jim

How sad

I think that picture is just about the saddest thing I have ever seen. I sure hope that gets people to stop feeding live...

Poor snake. Believe me, I would never feed a live food to my snake. Not only can it be dangerous for the snake, it is also cruel to the animal, being eaten ALIVE. I feel sorry for that snake in the picture. He/she looks like he/she's in real pain. It's probably dead...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that is the worst thing i have ever seen! I FEED LIVE PREY! but im seriously thinking about changing... thats awful... and im a guy and i was feeling like sick and everything just looking at it! right now i feed pinkys and fuzzys... do i have to kill them? or are they not a worry yet? I dont like feeding f/t because my mom would kill me if she found some in the freezer! how should i go about killing the mice? whats the best way? Im seriously thinking about changing to dead mice instead of live... but ive never left a mouse in with my snake without my supervision! but any help would be really really apreciated!

Yeah, that's so sad...I think Wendy (Solaris16) sent me those pics before. Why would someone leave a live mouse in a tank with a snake for days? It's kind of common sense not to..and where was the owner while the mouse did all that damage?? I look at my snake (or his tank) at LEAST 2x a day...how long was the snake alone till the owner found it?? That was a LOT of damage....

Oh and KungfuRider, the snakes constrict their prey first and after they die then they swallow it. Except pinkies i think...

mice in the freezer

Corny,

I don't kill mice, I buy them from the pet store already frozen. If you're worried about your mom freaking out from finding them in the freezer, try wrapping them. Mine are in a sealed plastic bag, and then wrapped in newspaper. So all you see is the newspaper. You can also use foil instead of newspaper. Do you think your mom would still be upset about them being in the freezer like that?

Pinkies are definitely not a worry. They can't harm a snake at all yet. Fuzzies are a big bigger, but they're eyes are still closed, right? (I might be mixing up my info about the smaller mice since I only have large adult mice around now.) I think you're still pretty safe if the eyes are closed...

I'm glad Serp pointed this out! I do some volunteer work for animal control. A snake with similar injuries was brought to me.
I must add that I feed only live mice--I breed all my own and I have no problem. What every one needs to understand is that it's YOUR responsability to make sure this does not happen if your going to feed live! ----90% of my 42 snakes are hand fed. this means that the mices feet never touch the botton of the cage. I realize some mite be a litle squeemish for this, but it's alot better than the latter. The sad reality of this is that the pitures Serp posted doesn't even represent a fraction of abused snakes and other exotic pets. Some people don't mean for bad things to happen, they are just ignorant. That's the biggest benefit of forums like this."Thumbs Up" to RICH, our administrator.

I feel like finding the idiot who put the live prey in with that poor ball python and punching him into bloody submission.

I seriously connat put into words how sickened I am by jackass's that feed their snakes live prey, And worse leave that prey in there overnight.

The <i>only</i> prey that should be fed while alive IMO is pinky & fuzzy mice.

-Kev

Seen them before...
Think it's horrible...
Here's another link that would help some of you to make the right decision.
http://www.anapsid.org/ratbites.html

That is why I would always recommand people to feet f/t mice rather than live ones.........
poor thing

horrible!!!!

I tried a couple live mice when Cleo wasn't eating, and after seeing those pictures, I will NEVER try tht again, I will stick to the f/t. Thanks for posting them, it brings a lot of stuff into reality for those that insist on feeding live mice, even if that's all they've ever eaten, without problems, it could still happen when you least expect it to.