How Not To Feed Your Snake (Graphic)!

What is pictured is cruel, and not even on the same page as a predator killing it's prey, unless you compare to a cat playing with a mouse, allowing that mouse to die a slow agonizing death (in which case the mouse may be considered a toy more than prey). This is more like putting 2 dogs in a ring and expecting them to fight.

When a predator kills in the manner it was meant to, there are mechanisms at play that help keep the prey from suffering too long before it dies. The prey may go unconscious, or adrenaline or other hormones may prevent it from feeling the pain until it does fall unconscious or dies. Not the case in a slow torturous death such as this where adrenaline would wear off before consciousness subsided or death overcame the snake.

Also, movement and even sound isn't a good way to judge consciousness or death. If you cut off a chicken's head, it is dead, but the body will continue to move, violently even, and it can make sound (sound is produced in the bird's lungs not throat like in mammals) even after death gas occurred. There is no consciousness, the heart may no longer beat, but the nerves still send signals that cause movement. Sounds can be produced simply be compressing the chest. I've seen and experienced this before when butchering chickens for consumption. The phrase "running like a chicken with its head cut off" is actually based in fact!

Wow. That's pretty graphic. Why I only feed live when I have to.
How tossing animals in a situation where one is dying for hours is even being compared to one where an animal quickly kills another is beyond me. Suffering can't be avoided, but it can be minimized, and leaving feeders alone long enough to eat a snake alive is not the way to do that...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fishdip

Yes every thing has a right to protect its self. So if you kill a human who was going to kill you then eat him its fair also.

---

Bad idea. Prions. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sorraia

What is pictured is cruel, and not even on the same page as a predator killing it's prey, unless you compare to a cat playing with a mouse, allowing that mouse to die a slow agonizing death (in which case the mouse may be considered a toy more than prey). This is more like putting 2 dogs in a ring and expecting them to fight.

When a predator kills in the manner it was meant to, there are mechanisms at play that help keep the prey from suffering too long before it dies. The prey may go unconscious, or adrenaline or other hormones may prevent it from feeling the pain until it does fall unconscious or dies. Not the case in a slow torturous death such as this where adrenaline would wear off before consciousness subsided or death overcame the snake.

Also, movement and even sound isn't a good way to judge consciousness or death. If you cut off a chicken's head, it is dead, but the body will continue to move, violently even, and it can make sound (sound is produced in the bird's lungs not throat like in mammals) even after death gas occurred. There is no consciousness, the heart may no longer beat, but the nerves still send signals that cause movement. Sounds can be produced simply be compressing the chest. I've seen and experienced this before when butchering chickens for consumption. The phrase "running like a chicken with its head cut off" is actually based in fact!

---

Look up the chicken that lived for like 9 months with no head. just because no head dose not change the fact it may still be living. Any facts to the minimal suffering? like articles?

That chicken didn't have the entire head cut off. The 'executioner' missed the brainstem, which controls basic cardiopulmonary functions and movement. It would have died within a day or two if some weirdo hadn't kept the wound from getting infected and tube-fed it grain :O

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DVirginiana

That chicken didn't have the entire head cut off. The 'executioner' missed the brainstem, which controls basic cardiopulmonary functions and movement. It would have died within a day or two if some weirdo hadn't kept the wound from getting infected and tube-fed it grain :O

---

This. A complete decapitation (which is what happened when I butchered chickens) would not result in a bird continuing to "live".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Awaiting Abyss

Its a mouse in the picture; not a rat.

I'm aware that the snake was the pet. My snake, mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, degus, ferrets, cats, and dogs are all my family... Even the mice that I use as feeders. I also wasn't commenting on the food chain.

---

Since the species is so important, I'm sorry. I was actually aware that it was a mouse when I first looked at it, but since I prefer not to look at this photo (I hope you can understand why) and everyone responding is calling it a rat, I just unconsciously called it a rat.

I'm still not sure why some people are saying this is acceptable and questioning why people are upset about the photo. Whether it was a snake, a rat, a mouse, a dog, a cat, or any other animal, the fact is the animal died a very slow, agonizing death and as such was subjected to animal abuse. I would be just as upset to see that mouse chewed open like this, no animal should have to go through this and especially not in captivity under the care of a person. Who is responsible for its care.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DVirginiana

Wow. That's pretty graphic. Why I only feed live when I have to.
How tossing animals in a situation where one is dying for hours is even being compared to one where an animal quickly kills another is beyond me. Suffering can't be avoided, but it can be minimized, and leaving feeders alone long enough to eat a snake alive is not the way to do that...



Bad idea. Prions. ;)

---

Prions are only found in the central nervous system, so as long as you stay away from the brain and spinal cord you should be fine. If you were to eat someone that is....>.> <.< >.>

Wouldn't brains taste good with fava beans and Chianti??

While you can feed live, you have a risk. If that snake doesn't hit and coil right then the mouse/rats teeth are right there for free access. Yea this doesn't always happen, but it's always a risk. I have fed live to some that won't take f/t and what I do when I feed live is I keep my tongs right next to me so that if the rat goes to bite I can stop it before it happens. I of course would never leave a live animal in with the snake unsupervised, so I put the rat in there if it's not going to hit within a few minutes then chances are it's not going to eat, so the rat goes back out.

I was snake sitting a friends baby pied and come feeding day I went to feed it f/t, which it didn't take so I tried live which it seemed interested in but no go. Now I don't know why(may be a dominance thing) but Luke was telling me that sometimes if his snakes won't eat right off the bat, he'll hold them above the rat and they'll take it then. So I did this and sure enough the pied struck and coiled the rat pup. Now what I failed to realize and looking back I should of known that it was going to hold on to my hand/fingers while it did this to prevent itself from falling.

So fast forwarding a minute or two, it nailed the rat and picked him up while coiling, but it coiled the rat and somehow the rats mouth ended up by my finger and it bit the crap out of me. Not that it hurt, but for a rat pup, I sure as hell wasn't expecting that.

With all this being said, I prefer f/t because I'd rather not run the risk if I don't have to, plus I don't have to provide care for the rat as well as food. Now if I had 100+ snakes this may be different. Plus I don't breed, so cost wise it's much cheaper to do f/t.

Jesus Christ... Relax

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stickyalvinroll

Jesus Christ... Relax

---

LOL, was this directed to me or somebody else?

I didn't read the entire thread because of the nature of the post so I'm not sure if you were talking to me or somebody else. If it was directed to me though I'm not mad or hyped up or anything. If not then carry on, lol.