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This is NOT intended to start a debate/argument/anything of that sort. I am merely trying figure out why we get such a bad rap. I know a lot of people were forced into going to church as kids. I personally feel that this is where negativity towards snakes/owners thereof stems. You see, as small kids, some of us ( a bunch probably) were carted off to sunday school. I'm not just talking about snake owners, I'm talking about the scared public at large here. And in sunday school we were all taught about adam and eve ( atleast the christians were) and the garden of eden. In that story there was a serpent that coerced eve into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil ( IIRC, correct me please if I'm wrong,it was a long time ago). I personally feel that a lot of the negative feelings people have towards snakes starts right there. When your a kid (read 3-6 years old) and your being told the truth about the world and in this true story the serpent is evil, then a lot of people subconsciously link "serpent = evil". I am not a religious person, nor do I claim to be, so my facts might be skewed. please correct me if I am wrong. Like I said earlier, this is just an attempt to get to the root of the "snake=negativity" stigma. please delete this if it's remotely misconstrued as "trouble making".

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Originally Posted by kneepoles

This is NOT intended to start a debate/argument/anything of that sort. I am merely trying figure out why we get such a bad rap. I know a lot of people were forced into going to church as kids. I personally feel that this is where negativity towards snakes/owners thereof stems. You see, as small kids, some of us ( a bunch probably) were carted off to sunday school. I'm not just talking about snake owners, I'm talking about the scared public at large here. And in sunday school we were all taught about adam and eve ( atleast the christians were) and the garden of eden. In that story there was a serpent that coerced eve into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil ( IIRC, correct me please if I'm wrong,it was a long time ago). I personally feel that a lot of the negative feelings people have towards snakes starts right there. When your a kid (read 3-6 years old) and your being told the truth about the world and in this true story the serpent is evil, then a lot of people subconsciously link "serpent = evil". I am not a religious person, nor do I claim to be, so my facts might be skewed. please correct me if I am wrong. Like I said earlier, this is just an attempt to get to the root of the "snake=negativity" stigma. please delete this if it's remotely misconstrued as "trouble making".

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I said this because I cannot understand why the people who do use cats as food do not see the danger they are potentially putting their snakes in.

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

Another thing about cats is that they have sharp claws/teeth that WILL hurt your snake if they are able to fight back, which I would they they would do.

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So.... where do we as snake keepers draw the line concerning which animals are OK to feed and which ones are not?

Is it intelligence? Cuteness? Popularity? Nutrition? Danger aspect?

What are the guidelines when deciding what is appropriate to feed or eat and what is not???

Are these decisions solely based on compassion, survival, or empathy? I'm curious to know what some of you think...

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

I said this because I cannot understand why the people who do use cats as food do not see the danger they are potentially putting their snakes in.

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I understand that, and can respect it. Cats are naturally more equipped to fight off predators (sharp teeth/claws, cunning, very fast).
Personally I feed F/T rats, not only because Vlad will eat them, but because of the inherent danger of a bite in the fight for life. Also, it's closer to what he would eat if he were out in the wild.
When deciding what to feed, I would think people would look at possible dangers vs nutritional value. I know that animals don't have that handy label on the back that tells what's in them based on a 2000 calorie diet, so the only thing we (as keepers) can do is rely on studies conducted in the wild on what they eat. Then, compare the nutritional value of those prey items to what we have available, be it mice, rats, rabbits, or whatever. I ,personally, can't imagine "cuteness" being a deciding factor when it comes to food, and I'm sure snakes don't either.
I didn't mean to offend anyone with my previous post. I posted it as a more of a question to see if that could be an underlying reason(possibly one of many) why people (general public) have the negative feelings against snakes, weather they realize it or not.

For some people cuteness is a factor, right before I feed off my mice my heart gives a little twinge as I look at them for the last seconds of their lives. Its never stopped me from feeding them off but I felt extremely bad the first time i fed off a little helpless fuzzy.

One thing I get alot from people is that snakes are evil. I agree with your post. When I was a kid I was a huge reptile freak and always wanted a snake, yet my moms excuse for me not getting one was that " Snakes are evil" and she would refer to the serpent from Adam and eve. Of coarse this did not stop me, but it did hold up my passion for snakes for almost ten years.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

So.... where do we as snake keepers draw the line concerning which animals are OK to feed and which ones are not?

Is it intelligence? Cuteness? Popularity? Nutrition? Danger aspect?

What are the guidelines when deciding what is appropriate to feed or eat and what is not???

Are these decisions solely based on compassion, survival, or empathy? I'm curious to know what some of you think...

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I think that you draw the line at whats culturly accepted. So if your in China it would be ok for you to feed pups to snakes becuse they eat them. I my opinion it doesn't matter what animals you throw in, they have the same right to live as everyone else. But I wouldn't feed dogs to my snakes, but thats becuse I live in a part of the world where they are considered companions - not food.

how about these? they're not cute, and they're morally acceptable.
Although, I can't see a snake striking this because it recognizes it as food....
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/zoo...ptilediet.html

Yea... I would never feed my snakes processed food. I hardly like eating processed food myself anymore... why would I make my snakes eat that way?

It also seems a little fishy...It says feed only on at a time and yet the picture beside it clearly shows them offering three to a snake. The precents also include ash? It would be useless for us, I doubt that anyones ball python would be interested in it. It would also be hard to get them to breed:)

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

So.... where do we as snake keepers draw the line concerning which animals are OK to feed and which ones are not?

Is it intelligence? Cuteness? Popularity? Nutrition? Danger aspect?

What are the guidelines when deciding what is appropriate to feed or eat and what is not???

Are these decisions solely based on compassion, survival, or empathy? I'm curious to know what some of you think...

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Society and culture has a large part to play in it.

Personally anything that is, or was someones pet is inappropriate to feed a snake. An animal that is born for the purpose of becoming food is fair game. People breed rabbits for the sole purpose of being fed to other animals and some breed them as pets. The pets are pets and the food is food.

I know for a fact that there are people who breed cats to not only feed dogs, but to eat themselves. There are people who breed dogs to eat. Like I said it has much to do with the culture you live in.