# Feeders > General Feeders >  How do you feel when feeding mice, rats, etc.?

## CoolioTiffany

I want to see how people feel when feeding their snakes mice, rats, bunnies, ASFs, etc.

How do YOU feel when your feeding your snake a (F/T, PK, or live) mouse or a rat?  Personally, to me, I don't really feel anything.  I don't like rodents, I'm not scared or freaked out by them, I just don't like them.  I don't find them cute, I just see them as snake food when I'm just about to put it into the snake enclosure.

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## Oxylepy

In general I feed frozen, but when I feed live I don't feel bad at all. Although.... I do regret feeding rats.

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_CoolioTiffany_ (10-01-2009)

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## CoolioTiffany

> In general I feed frozen, but when I feed live I don't feel bad at all. Although.... I do regret feeding rats.


I feel the same way, but I really have no regret.  I understand what needs to be done when feeding live (had to feed live to my boa when she was a picky eater), so I don't have any regret because the snake needs to eat and that is what it eats in captivity.  I feed F/T to all of my snakes, and still I don't even mind.  All I do is take them out of the bag, drop them into hot water, and wait.  After they are finished thawing out, I just pick them up and feed them to the snakes.

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## pavlovk1025

I feel kinda bad when I feed ASFs now because I produce them, raise them, and while theyre fuzzies and hoppers Ill play with them... but a snake's gotta eat.

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_CoolioTiffany_ (10-01-2009),_Haydenphoto_ (03-10-2011)

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## CoolioTiffany

> I feel kinda bad when I feed ASFs now because I produce them, raise them, and while theyre fuzzies and hoppers Ill play with them... but a snake's gotta eat.


Yeah I see what you mean.  I think of a snake eating a rodent the same way we eat cows, pigs, and chickens.  So, when I think about that, I know a snake has got to stay healthy and that means eating what it needs to be eating, and we also need to stay healthy by eating meats too.  Though, we eat our meats in a more brutal way than a snake eats a rodent, IMO.

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## Hulihzack

I only feel bad about 2-3 week old rat pups.  They're painfully adorable  :Sad:

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_CoolioTiffany_ (10-01-2009),_Haydenphoto_ (03-10-2011),_Theartisticgemini_ (03-05-2010)

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## CoolioTiffany

> I only feel bad about 2-3 week old rat pups.  They're painfully adorable


Well, that I can see that it is sad, since I had to feed those to my Dumeril's boa.  I never really watched it happen, only a couple of times. 

I guess having a snake is a trade-off.  You feed off a little rat pup (loss) but with that you gain a healthy snake (benefit).

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## Kesslers Kreatures

It doesnt really bother me to feed my snakes. I mean it does suck when there happens to be a cute rat, Ill usually feed that one to my picky eaters so if it doesnt get eaten I can keep it a little longer or introduce it to my breeding colony if its a girl. Other than that I just think about it as a way of life.. Its all about the food chain. It's like asking me if I cry as I eat a cheeseburger...

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## Lolo76

> I only feel bad about 2-3 week old rat pups.  They're painfully adorable


I have to agree with that... and it's the reason I ended up with two pet rats (who now live with a friend), when they were rejected on the first go-round.  :Embarassed:  When mice are rejected, on the other hand, I'll just keep them until next feeding or offer them to my piggish snakes (Pedro & Toby). I also have to admit, it's one reason I primarily feed mice instead of rats - along with the fact that my second-biggest snake ONLY likes the mice. But yeah, rat pups are ridiculously cute... and the adults sure have personality, don't they??

Bottom line, however - I only care for a second, but forget about it when my snakes are happily eating.  :Good Job:

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## Lolo76

> Other than that I just think about it as a way of life.. Its all about the food chain. It's like asking me if I cry as I eat a cheeseburger...


LMAO... that's like the standard answer I give people, when they ask if I "feel bad" feeding my snakes rodents. I ask, do you feel bad eating meat or offering your cat/dog chicken? Just because it doesn't look like an animal, doesn't change the fact that it IS one.  :Razz: 

P.S. I voted for the middle option, even though I don't _really_ care... but that one pang of sympathy counts for something, I suppose.

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_Haydenphoto_ (03-10-2011),Vanchesterfield (07-27-2010)

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## J.Coils

i dont feel anything..granted i only feed my snakes f/t but i used to feed my monitor lizard live and that didn't bother me either..i asked my mom to pick me up some food for him once and she brought me a rat pup..ugh..i took it back to the store and got mice lol..i couldnt do it. later on down the line i actually ended up with two dumbo rats as pets  and they were great

but no..i feel nothing for the f/t mice i just want my snake to be happy and healthy

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## Miko

I feel like I should be sad because a lot of people would be, but I really don't feel sad at all. It's like I'm expected to be sad so it's almost like I want to be because of this, but in the end I really don't like mice/rats much.

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## john50

No feelings about it , I feed rabbits , rats, all types of rodents, I do prekill before I feed but just for the safety of my reptiles.

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## EchoPyrex

Just snake food, but that doesnt mean I am not grateful for having them and what they provide for my guys.

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## Jared2608

I've had to look after my friends snakes plenty times when he's been away, and they all eat live.  I've had to go and buy a mouse or rat from the pet store, and feed it to the snakes, and on one particularly fiesty rat, I had to stun it a bit, and it doesn't really bother me.  Having said that, I will be feeding F/T when I get my python, it just seems a little more fair on the rodent.

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## Pirate Huntress

It's hard when you love both animals. Over the past four years, I've had at least 30 pet rats. Most of my income went to the rats, but I was fine with it because it made me happy making them happy. Two of my girls had a litter.. And well, yea, that's the story.
Then I held a snake for the first time, and got hooked. xD I've gotten used to feeding f/t so I don't really mind it. Although, I never fed a rat to a snake, just mice. Oh not yet anyway.

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