Poll:Live or pre-killed?

hmm...according to the polls, nobody likes magical rats for their snakes, whata drag!

What is "shock frozen?" I've noticed that my last two batches of frozen pinks/fuzzies looked like they had been frozen only moments before- like they weren't complete blocks of ice yet. I buy from a snake store, not mail order.

Nanci

Originally Posted by Fenderplayer108

Please for the sake of your snake, and the sake of your pocket book when you need to rush to a vet because of something like this..
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Would you really want your snake to go through this?
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Just my 2 cents.
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Ryan,
Lifesong Photos

wait you know that snake is it dead if so i will feel very sad because i absolutely adore snakes.

Im new to owning snakes, but I have been on the computer for about three days straight now researching everything I can about Corn snakes and reading books that I bought. Frozen foods for snakes does lose nutrional value, but not at a rate that anyone should be concerned with. You can keep frozen mice or rats for a few months before they become worthless. Fresh killed or mice that have been knocked unconscience are a good option for snakes, but then again, who knows if the snake will feed that time or not. Right now, I feed Demeter pinkies because they cant injure my snake.

But anyway, I prefer live foods for my snake just because of the simple fact its better for her in my opinion. Unfortunatly, prey can cause injuries and so I will definatly knock the prey out or just feed her frozen thawed foods.

That is just my two cents.

Wayne
US Army
Fort Riley, KS

In the UK its actually against the law to feed live prey to your snake.

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/pets/herp-f...section-3.html
http://www.publications.parliament.u...52/4090727.htm
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/files/2005/w...738c589fef.pdf
Not illegal at all, if necessary for the welfare of thereptile and no intentional cruelty involved, and not in public

Originally Posted by nigel the corn snake

wait you know that snake is it dead if so i will feel very sad because i absolutely adore snakes.

Yes, I know that snake. It's a good friend of mine who got this snake in a rescue. It was very messed up when it was recieved. She payed almost 4,000.00 in vet bills. Now, the snake will only eat once a month, has large scars, and always has a swollen eye.

Originally Posted by diamondlil

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/pets/herp-f...section-3.html
http://www.publications.parliament.u...52/4090727.htm
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/files/2005/w...738c589fef.pdf
Not illegal at all, if necessary for the welfare of thereptile and no intentional cruelty involved, and not in public

Wow, I have been told for years by different people that it was. Really interesting links. Cheers

No worries, I had a snake I had to feed live to, and was threatened to be reported for it. So I did about 5 minutes reseach and found those links.

My comments on this are quick and simple but I thought I'd chime in since I'm in the 10% of people who do feed live (that's rounding).

I have fed live since mine was a hatchling. It is on six months now and feeds two live fuzzies every seven days no prob. The snake attacks immediately and constricts until the mouse is dead. I do watch the viv and make sure it dies just as Chibitamalove had said he does.

I do realize fuzzies are small and can't cause significant damage. Fine. Maybe as the prey increases yes I understand what could happen.
However, on that thought. Snakes are adaptive in captivity as well as in nature. If taught from the beginning to feed live and they kill effectively then I don't see a problem. I know friends that have had boa's and fed live for years with no repurcussions. Lucky? Maybe... but I believe it can be done so long as you don't start off with thawed or pre-killed.

Also, for those of you who say your passionate about mice. I don't have it in me to pick up mice from my pet store, come home, and slam them against a wall or suffocate them, or kill them in any way. Yes it may be easy, but that itself is cruel. At least when I feed the mice to the snake, I know that that is just the course of nature and the food chain itself in action.

My pet stores around here only sell live unless I'm lucky and petco has some pinkies that are frozen. But they do not have anything above the size of fuzzies that are frozen. So therefore what do I do when it comes time to feed larger prey? Those of us who feed live may not have many options and have our reasons for doing it this way. While this is a heated topic I think we all do need to respect how we each go about doing things. I feel like some people who have taken a very heavy stand almost talk down to those of us who feed live, and that isn't really too cool. Like I said I respect those who go about and started feeding off thawed, prekilled, etc. I just think those of us who do not, should not have to feel like we are ultimately hurting our snakes in the end. We all feel like we take very good care of our snakes and would never hurt them or put them in harms way.

My two cents...