Legitimate Reason Wanted

"Snakes do eat live in the wild" Snakes are also allowed to run away if their food turns on them. In captivity, they do not have that luxury.

"Slight possibility of injury if not supervised. " Slight? I know there aren't any statistics out there about how likely it is that your snake will be injured but even if there where, how likely would the chances have to be for you to care? 20%? 50%? To me, that's just wrong. It's very easy to feed snakes prekilled foods, most take it with no problem. I know that others absolutely will NOT take prekilled foods, though. Which is a shame but something that just happens, and there is no problem with feeding those kinds of snakes live.

But others take prekilled. And it's perfectly possible to feed prekilled foods, even if you breed/raise your own mice.

The way I see it is feed your snake who already takes prekilled foods live food and put it's LIFE in danger... or change your ways just a little bit and feed prekilled foods and your snake gets to eat safely. I think anyone who truly cares about their snake will feed prekilled foods. It sounds a little harsh, but it's true.

Many snakes constrict prekilled food, so stimulation isn't an issue. If you want your snake to get more stimulation or exercise, take it out and let it roam around a snake proof area or hold it. Simple as that. It's not like feeding live is the ONLY way to stimulate a reptile.

We do take our snakes out, pretty much every single day unless they are digesting their meals.
Saying I dont care about my snakes because I choose to feed them live is a bit harsh. No one can say one way or another how another person feels about their animals unless they are there in person and know that individual well. And I can say only one person on this forum has met me in person and it was only for a few minutes.

Well, you have to see it from my point of view. A person has an animal they know will take prekilled foods. They feed it live anyway, even though they KNOW it puts the life of their snake in danger... why would they do something like that? If they really cared about the safety of their pet, they wouldn't even take the unnecessary risk of feeding live. Is it because it's more convenient for the owner? Well that's pretty selfish. Is it because they get some kind of joy out of seeing it? That's pretty twisted. Is it because they just don't care? That shows that they aren't doing things that are in the SNAKES best interest.

I haven't read the entire thread, but here are my first thoughts....

A mouse attack isn't going to be OK just because you are watching. Substantial damage can be done faster than you can ever intercede.

I like Desertanimals post. Just because you are good at it doesn't mean you won't eventually obtain an injury.

Live mice also have a greater risk of carrying parasites. Which is a con big enough to deserve a spot on the list.

Why would you take those risks if you didn't have to?

Originally Posted by carol

Why would you take those risks if you didn't have to?

Because she gets a thrill out of watching the mouse die by her snake.

Love the Fatman

Personally we use frozen thawed mice because we can stock them in the freezer and they're ready on hand. It's convenient, a lot more so than if we had to run down to the pet store every week for some live ones. Also, f/t is more economical than live ones (go figure considering you don't have to feed a dead mouse). We aren't opposed to live feeding, just it's not how we choose to feed our snakes. Previously Daniel had other snakes that he did feed live to, and it got pricey. So this time when we decided to use f/t. That doesn't mean we will -never- use live mice. We recently got a few snakes in that we suspect have been fed life just by the way they attack the mouse when we give it to them. Also, if we have a snake that simply won't take f/t sure we'll figure give it live.

Brooke

Originally Posted by wyteboi

Also, if we have a snake that simply won't take f/t sure we'll figure give it live.

Brooke

we'll give it life.. is what that was supposed to be.

Originally Posted by Fatman608

Because she gets a thrill out of watching the mouse die by her snake.

Love the Fatman

Please stop the personal attacks. It is childish and getting old. Fast.

I started this thread to ask for personal information from others. And instead its turned into personal attacks against myself and how I care for my animals. Frankly the attitude of some people on these forums is very disappointing. I didnt start it to flame, I started it to find out peoples personal experiences.

Now I know for future reference asking questions to find out peoples personal experiences is pointless and the attitude of some is really making me wonder if I should bother becoming a contributing member to this forum or even keep coming. I mean seriously.

People can discuss what they want in this thread but im done with it. I learned a few things from people who answered honestly. And to those people thank you for understanding why I started this thread.

Stormy

Stormy, I hope you don't go. Personally, I am opposed to live feeding because I consider it too risky for MY snakes. I've been fanged by rats & mice & gerbils & hamsters & they can all inflict really bad bites that definitely get infected. Ugh. BUT I'm not going to flame you for feeding live as long as you are right there with the tongue depressor if it's needed. I am just worried about the wellbeing of the snakes. I said the same thing on the "perfect strike" thread -- as long as you are super, super careful, and you are aware of the risks, hey, it's your snake and I'm not going to flame you. You don't strike me as a sadist who enjoys watching mice suffer, and you're not ignorant now, if you ever were, of the risks of LEAVING a live rodent with your snake.