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Live Feed Option
- Thread starter asymons
- Start date
alan
Guest
No, never a rat. I fed my snake small rats, but I fed her live at the time.
If you take the mouse by the base of the tail and put it on a piece of newspaper (not paper towel, they can grab that) it will sort of try to walk away putting it in position. Use something hard to press against the back of it's skull to hold it forward (Wade said screwdriver once and I've used one since that, it has a handle), pull back and up on the tail. You can feel the break. Do it all quickly, don't hesitate, for Stewart's sake.
I've seen reference to using hemostats but it wasn't explained and I didn't understand what they meant.
If you take the mouse by the base of the tail and put it on a piece of newspaper (not paper towel, they can grab that) it will sort of try to walk away putting it in position. Use something hard to press against the back of it's skull to hold it forward (Wade said screwdriver once and I've used one since that, it has a handle), pull back and up on the tail. You can feel the break. Do it all quickly, don't hesitate, for Stewart's sake.
I've seen reference to using hemostats but it wasn't explained and I didn't understand what they meant.
I am curious as to why some people would own snakes who eat mice / rats and then have mice / rats as pets?
Then to be sensitive about the snake eating mice / rats.
It contradicts itself greatly and seems like it would be very painful to feed the snakes anytime it is feeding time.
It sort of seems like owning guns but being against people owning guns etc.
Shed some light on this for me.
Then to be sensitive about the snake eating mice / rats.
It contradicts itself greatly and seems like it would be very painful to feed the snakes anytime it is feeding time.
It sort of seems like owning guns but being against people owning guns etc.
Shed some light on this for me.
Chip
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒ&
I can only speak for myself, but I grew up rurally. We had a small farm. I had "my" pet pig that my sister and I LOVED, yet my Dad slaughtered hogs. I saw it. We released every blacksnake, cornsnake, or racer we saw in the road to our barn or field; yet he killed every copperhead in our yard. I don't follow that these days, I even move timber rattlers on my property to a nearby spot. But even as an adult snake breeder, I would pick a mouse out of my breeder colony that was unique or that I felt "sorry for" and use it as a breeder. I honestly have more compassion for a rat than any snake on a gut level. They are a higher animal. I suppose people like me are a minority example. But everyone with a dog or cat feeds them food (and probably themselves) that come from other living beings. Snakes, like dogs and cats; are designed to eat animals! I have no issue with keeping them knowing that. I try to make any feeder rodents I have live good lives while they are living. And as I've said before, I HATE killing them or even feeding them off alive.
v_various
secretly normal
You misunderstand, he isn't sensitive to snakes eating mice, he's sensitive to animal cruelty. The difference is a quick death (co2 chamber or what have you) to one fillied with pain and suffering (being wacked a bunch of times and having their tail degloved).
asymons, in your first post you only mentioned "Holding them by their tails" which CAN be a recipe for disaster, and much different than picking them up by the base of their tails. If you hold them by their tails, degloving can happen and I've heard enough rat/mouse re-hab stories that I know it happens, it sucks, and I would never tell anyone it was OK.
Chip
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒ&
I honestly think everyone here who is passionate about our animals enough to keep them, breed them, and invest time on forums about them... cares about animals, and is sensitive to animal cruelty. You are pointing to a difference that was an admitted horrible mistake that a member told about to illustrate just that.
v_various
secretly normal
....
I think you missed something, breakneck asked a question because they thought someone was sensitive to snakes eating mice, when that wasn't the case at all. So rather than ignore the question I answered it, I didn't want him/her thinking it was the snake eating mice thing that got people upset, because that's just silly. It was the horrible way the mouse died, accident or not.
starsevol
Cohabbing is cruelty...
That's just it! I'm not upset that snakes eat mice and rats, it is what they are designed for. But it is VERY important to me that the food source is respected and not put through any uneccessary suffering.
I also don't keep anything that eats rats, myself. I have nothing against mice, but a socialized rat is alot more like a dog than any mouse is!
I'm a huge fan of the CO2 chamber.
Cervical dislocation is also fine with me, when done properly death is instant.
I HATE live feeding if the snake is fine with thawed or prekilled.
And I think that smashing ANY living thing into a hard surface is cruel.
I also don't keep anything that eats rats, myself. I have nothing against mice, but a socialized rat is alot more like a dog than any mouse is!
I'm a huge fan of the CO2 chamber.
Cervical dislocation is also fine with me, when done properly death is instant.
I HATE live feeding if the snake is fine with thawed or prekilled.
And I think that smashing ANY living thing into a hard surface is cruel.
anendeloflorien
Rat Eradicator :D
Wow didn't mean to start such a storm here. I was simply replying to the person who said that she'd heard of a gerbil being "degloved". Look what happened to that rat was absolutely horrible. Not that it makes any difference to the people who want to label me a "monster" but I was literally sick to my stomach when I saw what the snake had done to him without killing him. I acted quickly and I did it in the wrong way I admit that. I would NEVER intentionally cause pain to any animal. I felt so badly about what happened to that rat that I gave him a proper burial (even though I just purchased him as a feeder) just like I would with any of my pet rats.
I only have that one BP that refuses f/t or PK and I'm trying extremely hard to wean her off of live but I feed her live because I have to and she is already producing follices so I would like to have her be at a breeding weight. Again sorry for the controversy. My snakes always come first to me but that does not mean that I am going to make cruel practices common-place around here. If it makes anyone feel better I am working on a CO2 chamber I just have to find the right valve to hook up the PB tank so I can control the levels.
I only have that one BP that refuses f/t or PK and I'm trying extremely hard to wean her off of live but I feed her live because I have to and she is already producing follices so I would like to have her be at a breeding weight. Again sorry for the controversy. My snakes always come first to me but that does not mean that I am going to make cruel practices common-place around here. If it makes anyone feel better I am working on a CO2 chamber I just have to find the right valve to hook up the PB tank so I can control the levels.
RicardoCruz005
New member
I pre-stun my mice. One good whack against the side of the cage, or a sound smack on the noggin is all it takes. Somehow I don't think frozen/thawed mice are as nutritious for the snake, and somehow, I don't think they enjoy eating old stale meat. It probably tastes like crap to them, lol.
as a new member, posting in this thread seems a little risky but here i go...
I have always bred my own mice/rats/gerbils etc when I can and would kill and then freeze them the day before use. This ment my snakes didnt get fussy for fresh meat but also meant that my killed prey didnt spend months in the freezer like the commercial gunk does.
I have used both cervical dislocation and the 'whacking' method (known as the bog swing round here) and have found that actually, whacking (if done swiftly and quickly) never fails. I've never had a mouse deglove its tail, it just doesnt happen. Gerbils are another matter and they *must* be neck broken in order to do it cleanly.
Obviously in the UK, live feeding is practically illegal and so it rarely happens. Live feeding has too many associated risks and is too unnatural in a captive environment for me to want to do it. The mouse doesnt have the same fighting chance to get away, nor does the snake should the mouse attack and christ, mouse, rat, hamster and gerbil bites can HURT!!
I had a coastal carpet python that would only live feed and the bites that she had on occasions suffered from her prey were horrific. I hated the idea of live feeding as I can kill quicker than she can but what do you do when your snake is going to die if not fed what she wants?
I hope to never life feed again. I do however advocate the use of fresh kills for the fussy individuals and bar that coastal, I've never had a snake that wouldnt eat fresh kills if it wouldnt eat defrost.
All feeders were well bred (from decent, large show stock... I love genetics!) and gut loaded before dispatch just like you do with crickets for insectivorous species.
Every one will always disagree on this and it will always be a moot point but my personal opinion is that if the snake doesnt *need* live food which lets face it, most dont then it should be fed pre-killed.
Having worked in a vets a seen and heard of incidences involving snakes fed live prey and as a reptile keeper having seen some horror stories, it's just too risky and too slow a death for the mouse for me to belive that live is the way to go. If its nessesary, go for it. If its not... Well... need I say more.
Kat
I have always bred my own mice/rats/gerbils etc when I can and would kill and then freeze them the day before use. This ment my snakes didnt get fussy for fresh meat but also meant that my killed prey didnt spend months in the freezer like the commercial gunk does.
I have used both cervical dislocation and the 'whacking' method (known as the bog swing round here) and have found that actually, whacking (if done swiftly and quickly) never fails. I've never had a mouse deglove its tail, it just doesnt happen. Gerbils are another matter and they *must* be neck broken in order to do it cleanly.
Obviously in the UK, live feeding is practically illegal and so it rarely happens. Live feeding has too many associated risks and is too unnatural in a captive environment for me to want to do it. The mouse doesnt have the same fighting chance to get away, nor does the snake should the mouse attack and christ, mouse, rat, hamster and gerbil bites can HURT!!
I had a coastal carpet python that would only live feed and the bites that she had on occasions suffered from her prey were horrific. I hated the idea of live feeding as I can kill quicker than she can but what do you do when your snake is going to die if not fed what she wants?
I hope to never life feed again. I do however advocate the use of fresh kills for the fussy individuals and bar that coastal, I've never had a snake that wouldnt eat fresh kills if it wouldnt eat defrost.
All feeders were well bred (from decent, large show stock... I love genetics!) and gut loaded before dispatch just like you do with crickets for insectivorous species.
Every one will always disagree on this and it will always be a moot point but my personal opinion is that if the snake doesnt *need* live food which lets face it, most dont then it should be fed pre-killed.
Having worked in a vets a seen and heard of incidences involving snakes fed live prey and as a reptile keeper having seen some horror stories, it's just too risky and too slow a death for the mouse for me to belive that live is the way to go. If its nessesary, go for it. If its not... Well... need I say more.
Kat
Id just like to add that having used C02 chambers and having seen there use by many other people, they will never be as quick and humane as a death by experienced human hand. The animal can always feel the oxygen level lowering and even after they are unconcious, the body goes into shock and you can see this by the way that they gasp, kick and panic even when they had apparently 'fallen asleep' seconds or minutes before hand. Death by asphyxiation (which is what C02 chambers do) must be a horrific way to die. Smack me on the head or break my neck any day over that!
Kat
Kat