I just put 3 pinkies in the freezer *cries*

Originally Posted by CornNoobie

Personally I dont think I would want to breed my own snake food. I felt bad enough buying my first lot of frozen pinkies for my new snake!! I think with the amount of frozen pinkies/furries/adult mice available at low cost, I think it is best to buy them. But all credit to the people that do successly breed and feed them.

I couldnt either, Id rather spend the extra money to buy them dead already.

they're just mice...

Originally Posted by Alien Zulu

they're just mice...

...just mice that can feel pain and fear. If we are "superior" beings, we need to ACT like superior beings.

People who abandon cats to go feral and starve say "they're just cats".
People who allow their kids to kick the family pet say "it's just a dog".

I am not a religious person, but I do believe there is an especially bad place reserved for people who knowingly disregard a creature's pain and fear and say "it's just a.....".

I doubt these pinkies felt anything at all, and as for the "they're just mice" goes, I make sure that my mice have good food and water, a wheel to run in, clean bedding and a good life. I treat them like I would any other living animal, with the exception of killing them for food. As far as that goes, I do it the most "humane" way, and by no means thinking that they're "just mice".

Originally Posted by JustineNYC

I couldnt either, Id rather spend the extra money to buy them dead already.

Im glad you said that, I was beginning to think i was the only one!!

I had to start breeding because you can't buy live pinks in this country. When I saw how fat and healthy my home-bred are in comparison to the ones I buy, it was no contest. Maybe it's just my local suppliers, but my peaches are bigger than their hoppers. If I had the room for more mice trios I wouldn't buy any ready-killed at all.

CornNoobie, trust me, you are not the only one!

And to clarify what I said before...I think there is a HUGE difference between someone who raises animals for food, treats them well, and euthanizes them in the most humaine painless stress-free way they know how....and someone who says "it's just a....".

One cares, one doesn't.

Originally Posted by starsevol

...just mice that can feel pain and fear. If we are "superior" beings, we need to ACT like superior beings.

People who abandon cats to go feral and starve say "they're just cats".
People who allow their kids to kick the family pet say "it's just a dog".

I am not a religious person, but I do believe there is an especially bad place reserved for people who knowingly disregard a creature's pain and fear and say "it's just a.....".

i'm not saying that any animal should be tortured or treated badly
but if you feel bad about killing a mouse then you are keeping the wrong animals

if you have reservations about killing an animal then don't do it and don't pay anyone else to do it for you
buying pre-killed is not an excuse
if you buy it then you are still responsible for that animal dying. it died so you could feed your snake whether you killed it yourself or not

this doesn't just go for snake food either
this also goes for the beef, chicken, seafood that you buy at the store
just because you didn't slaughter the chicken yourself doesn't mean that it didn't die so that you could consume it

also if you are keeping cats and dogs remember that their food is also made from a large amount of animal protein

even if you quit eating meat and become a vegetarian you will be killing a living thing for your own sustenance
there is no reason to feel bad about it that's the way the world works

Originally Posted by starsevol

CornNoobie, trust me, you are not the only one!

And to clarify what I said before...I think there is a HUGE difference between someone who raises animals for food, treats them well, and euthanizes them in the most humaine painless stress-free way they know how....and someone who says "it's just a....".

One cares, one doesn't.

i'd just like to clear up one thing here
someone can raise animals for food, treat them well, euthanize them in the most humane painless and stress free way and still consider it to be JUST A MOUSE.

Originally Posted by Alien Zulu

i'm not saying that any animal should be tortured or treated badly
but if you feel bad about killing a mouse then you are keeping the wrong animals

if you have reservations about killing an animal then don't do it and don't pay anyone else to do it for you
buying pre-killed is not an excuse
if you buy it then you are still responsible for that animal dying. it died so you could feed your snake whether you killed it yourself or not

Exactly, I feel it's better raising my own, because when I bought them at the pet store I never knew how they had been treated and cared for. To keep mice and kill them for food is to me better then buying them already dead, you need dead mice which ever way you choose. This way I at least know that they had a good life. When you buy frozen, you have no way of knowing how the mice was cared for, thereby possibly encouraging bad mice breeders. That to me is worse then keeping my own.

This does not mean that I don't feel anything when killing the mice, I do. But it's something I just have to do, and with time it will probably be easier.