Feeding off normal ball pythons...

[lunasjy]

A buddy of mine was talking about feeding off any normals he produced to his other snakes. He only has a corn snake, a few boas, bloods and ball pythons... I am not sure if any one of these would actually eat another snake willingly, but that is besides the point. I have mixed feelings about this. I kind of understand since normals are very hard to sell here, to the point people give them away for free and lose money feeding ball pythons that wont bring in any cash. But deep down, it doesn't seem right. I know we feed mice and rats and what not, but to purposely kill something because it doesn't make you money, seems a bit harsh.

So what are your opinions on this? Would you do it?

[PitOnTheProwl]

None of those would eat another snake (normally).
The two BELs that I lost last year went to a friends MBK.
I am not one to really like to force feed either but I will try once.
This past year I had a couple that just wouldn't eat on their own.
Off to his kings they went.

I don't care if its a normal or a morph, I would rather see it used as a feeder than to just die and go in the trash.
I will admit it was a bit different to see than watching a normal rodent feeding.
Would I feed off a healthy snake that is booming on it own? No.

[OhhWatALoser]

I've never had a problem selling normals for 10-20 bucks, seems silly, you could buy a lot more food for the value of the normal. If you really have that much of a problem selling normals, I don't know how well you will do selling morphs in the same market. If thats your only option though, might as well feed another animal..

[bks2100]

I've heard of people feeding hatchlings to pac man frogs, but they were always snakes that died on their own or were going to die (bad kinks, etc).

As to the morality I don't think there's a problem with it. I bet a lot of people do but it might be just because we like snakes. It's probably the same as all the people that think we're monsters for feeding mice and rats to our snakes.

I'd be more surprised if someone was feeding morphs or female normals off, just because those still have value and enough demand to be able to get rid of them, even if it's for next to nothing. But I can just see the males being so hard to sell that you might feed them off if something can eat it.

[lunasjy]

I don't know how hard it is to sell normals... I haven't yet had the opportunity. I could see if it was one that was dead or dying, but a healthy baby ball python, I am not too sure. I know there are breeders here that say normals are hard to sell, but they sell eventually, even if it is at a loss.

[jclaiborne]

If the animal is completely healthy and just not making him income (money being the motivator to kill them off) I see an issue with it, especially as Pit pointed out the snakes you listed don't normally feed on snakes. I know people that feed snakes that passed or didn't make it to others that would normally feed on them (cobras for example), but that is a little different.

[Caspian]

Personally, I don't see a problem feeding a snake that just didn't make it, not due to illness but either defects or an unexplained failure to thrive, to another snake - if that snake would normally eat another. I've no doubt that if I put my little tiny female Kingsnake in with my male, she'd be a meal in no time at all. That said, I would never put her in there alive, and if she died, I'd want an autopsy to find out more about what's wrong with her rather than feed her to Tsoss. But feeding off healthy snakes just because they aren't a desirable mutation? Eh... I can sort of see where it is reasonable, rather than have them end up where they'll probably die slowly of neglect, and yet I still don't like it.

[rlditmars]

I believe that breeding these animals comes with a responsibility. I've seen it mentioned on many threads to someone new who may be contemplating breeding for the first time, that they should consider they will have to feed and care for whatever animals they produce for some time until they can find a Buyer. I too agree with the philosophy. I think if someone is just feeding off normal to reduce their feed expenditures or relieve some of their work load, they should seriously reconsider the hobby.

Regarding the difficulty of selling Normals, I have never had any trouble moving Normal hatchlings. They don't fetch a high dollar figure but they are easily salable.

That being said, I do not take issue with someone feeding a snake to another that is known to eat snakes as part of their normal diet in the wild. The food chain does not start or stop at rodents. I also think if someone has an agreement to sell normal off as feeders to a breeder of kings or indigos, etc., that it is business and a matter of supply and demand. If they are raised to be feeders it's no different then chickens. I am just not comfortable with the scenario the OP has described, as it seems lazy, cheap, and irresponsible. Just my $0.02.

[Slim]

I have no issue with feeding Normals, or any BP for that matter, to snakes that naturally eat other snakes as part of their wild diet.

Having said that, I do not believe I would spend much time speaking about it on the best known ball python forum on the interwebs. By the same token, I wouldn't talk much about feeding off rodents on a fancy rat forum.

[T_Sauer]

I see on both sides of the fence on this one ... To save myself a lot of typing, I agree verbatim with what rlditmars said .... Do you have anybody give you rat feeders for your snakes for free??? .... I know I most certainly do not .... So if someone were to supply normals to someone who has a snake eating snake ... I would not expect them to go without a fee