When is it ok to expose children to live feeding ?

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Originally Posted by NH93

I don't think you should force a child to see something they may not want to or be ready for. I was interested in animals and pets as a child, but like I said, if I saw something - anything - die, I would start crying, and I can still remember some traumatizing experiences. I would not subject anyone to that, adult or child.
At 3 years old a child should not have the responsibility to take care of animals, just because they are learning about it. It's like anything. Take it in steps, don't shove it down their throats.

Watching an animal die is not the same as scooping poop. Compare it all you want, it is not the same.
I agree that children should be empowered. So empower them to make a decision about what they want. And if they want to watch you feed live, then there you go. If they haven't shown interest, that's another story. There is no way to know what kind of adverse effects you can cause.
Yes, it may just be a little mouse or rat, and it may be a common thing in your household. And I doubt every little child who sees a live feeding will be bothered. But you never know, and I wouldn't want to be the reason my child grows up either afraid of snakes, upset at me, or worse - it does happen.

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Why shelter a child from something that is absolutely an inevitability in all of our lives? Every human, and every animal will at one point die. It is not avoidable. So why not have them brought up with this reality, so they can form, during their developmental stages of life, a way to recognize, know, and deal with death?


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Just to clarify, I didn't mean to portray a sheltering hyperventilating style of parenting at all. If the kid is curious about it we would have to have that talk before I exposed them to the actual event to make sure they understood. We would go over step by step exactly what would happen and then and only then would I feed live with them in the room. I also would never force the event or force them to deal with my animals at all. I'd also re-emphasize that this is a case by case subject for sure. I think the biggest thing with exposing kids to death is how its done. Some kids are very traumatized by witnessing live feeding as a youngster in school and they grow up to hate snakes. This is usually due to a non-empathetic non caring teacher who simply throws the classes pet hamster in with the snake. To the OP, if your son is asking questions and wants to experience the whole thing. Again I'd go through exactly what happens and have the death talk. Explain it for what it is, simply the cycle of all life and then allow him to watch if he is ready. I do appreciate you asking the community for their opinions on the matter instead of just jumping into it. That really shows that you care for your sons mental wellbeing in this matter.

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Originally Posted by DooLittle

And this is why some kids are mortified by things... they have been sheltered from them.

If they are interested in the hobby, they need to know about it. If they can't handle feeding or live feedings, then they aren't ready for snakes. Im not saying they are the sole care taker at that age, but they need to know about the animal.

This all goes back to how they are raised. Expose them to things.

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No, kids are mortified of things because they are forcefully exposed to things that they don't want to experience. This is just as true for any age of human, the difference is force i.e. the difference between rape and sex. One is quite traumatizing, the other is quite enjoyful :gj:. So back to the topic, just make sure your kid is interested in it, wants to know more, and fully understands what live feeding is before showing them.

Im not saying take Timmy and make him stand in front of the tub while he cries his eyes out. There is a proper way to go about it. But I am saying if they are interested in snakes, they need to understand about them.

I have a 4 yr old daughter who I recently introduced the feeding process too. She needed a lot of the circle of life talk over the course of about 4 months in order to understand the reason why these furry pets/rats where being killed by the snake. The best way to introduce them IMO is to observe the snake feeding on Frozen thawed first then move into the live protion after they seem fine with the frozen feeding. a lot of reinforcement was necessary in my childs case. She needed to know that rats are the snakes food and that they would die without them. this got me 80% of the way there to live feedings, the other 20% was accomplished through talking and frozen feedings.

Well that's my experience hope your's goes as well as mine did.

I also think that kids need to understand the food chain to understand WHY the snake must eat the rat/mouse/rabbit/pig/etc. explain that the snake has to eat the animal to survive, just as the coyote must eat the snake, and the mountain lion must eat the coyote, etc etc.

Explain to your child that animals cannot go to the grocery store and buy food, like us humans do, and that life as a wild animal is actually pretty tough, and meals can be few and far between.

Once your child understands WHY, they can accept the death of the animal much more easily.

Death can be a very touchy subject, but it is inevitable. The sooner they understand why, the sooner they can deal with the reality of it.

As I have said, sometimes children don't have a choice and are exposed to death, especially like in my families case, without someone forcing it upon them. My 2 year old daughter was forced, not by us, to realize that her only little brother in the whole wide world had died. She had to watch as I tried to revive him, and had to watch me fail in my attempts. She doesn't ask where he is anymore, but she looks at pictures of him and makes comments about her "guy" being in heaven and him no longer being here anymore.

Kids, even at a very early age, can understand death far greater than we ever give them credit for.


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both my parents are veterinarians. for as long as i can remember (since i was 3 or 4) i rode around with my father on farm calls. i saw stillbirths, large animals breeding, animals being put down, gory surgeries, and my dads arm up to his shoulder in cows' and horses' asses. i turned out great. :gj: lol

but really.. none of that "scarred" me. at a young age, shelter him from drugs, domestic violence, swearing, porn.. that kind of stuff. but i think he'll be fine learning about and witnessing mother nature.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGeek

i turned out great. :gj: lol

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Debatable, I liked creepin better... :D