fed live.... :(

Well, i wanted to try to feed live just to get the jist of how apollo hunts.... it was the worst thing in the world... im not cut out for this whole feeding live thing... booo

i got a little fuzzy and condemned it to his death.... then, i took it home and threw it in there. it took Apollo like 5 seconds and he got the mouse (it squeaked and i cried a lot). so now, he's trying to swallow it and yeah...

help me out here guys. i just wanted to feed live once, and it sucked and i cried (mice are cute:(). i'll get used to killing them myself after a while, right?? whats the EASIEST way to do it that doesnt involve smacking their heads against a wall? i can't do that, they're too cute.

my parents suggest taking him back and getting my money back... i really dont wanna do that, but i dont know. all he ate was live before, and he pretty much wont eat f/t. :(

suggestions please :)

If you ask me, other than building a gas chamber, the whacking method is easiest and is pretty hard to mess up. You just put them in a bag of some sort, and whack them against a nice solid wall. They die instantly(in my experiences anyway).

And yes you get used to killing them. I already told you a bunch of times, the first time you whack a mouse, you might feel bad and stuff, but after that it's like "okay, feeding time, where's the smelly bugger? *whack*". :)

Killing mice is part of owning a snake I guess, so you probably should get over it now before you have a snake eating rats and you gotta kill them suckers. :shock:

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Originally Posted by Cody

And yes you get used to killing them. I already told you a bunch of times, the first time you whack a mouse, you might feel bad and stuff, but after that it's like "okay, feeding time, where's the smelly bugger? *whack*". :)

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This is so true. I used to think mice were cute. lol! They are smelly buggers alright.. rats are so much nicer. But still, killing them is so easy once you've done it. Though, I use a co2 chamber.

You said it was a fuzzy? Mice/rats 2 weeks old and younger can just be popped in the freezer if you need to kill them. Your snake may not eat it then though..

I need moral support also, I have been feeding live since the time Mosi was 2 months old and to big for pinkies. The petshop around here only sells frozen pinkies, and rats, and im afriad by the time they're on rats they wont take frozen any more. Cupid has had frozen before, so he takes, it, and mosi takes it, and the new snake takes it. So I think I am going to have to pre-kill, but until about 2 months ago, (mosi my RTB is 9 months old) I cried EVERY time I fed him. I just now am getting used to it. I mean what should i do, my parents wont kill the mouse, and if the petsohp wont I will have to. What shoudl I do to make it less emotional and fast?

if you give a fuzzy a VERY hard couple of flicks on the head it sould kill it.

well.... im sorta over it, lol. i just felt terrible. if i could kill it myself instead of hearing the little *squeak* as apollo tags him, it'd prolly be better. i actually had to get 2 sizes of mice because i didnt know which size to get for him, and i kept the bigger one. my friend made me keep him, anyways... his name is Herman. lol

i think i'm gona just do the wacking method, because theres NO way i'm feeding live again. i dont think its right in the first place cuz i dont wanna hurt my snake if a rat were to attack one day.

eh. :)

Geez! so sensitive! well i guess it was easy to kill my first mouse because i had a wierd friend with me that day(made it very easier) and then i attempted on breeding but te stench of the mice was killing me so i just fed them to her and when i did i was happy to get that burden off my shoulders!(kinda sounds krewl dont it?)

Not that cruel. We had bought two live mice for Pelota. I was to whack and freeze them, and only feed one later that night. I ended up whacking and freezing only the one, and keeping the other in a small rubbermaid storage container. Well, I hadn't thought of how messy these things are...I was changing the newspaper bedding once or twice a day. After about two days of that, I was having enough. By then, my sister had bought another mouse as a playmate for the first one, and they were supposed to be her pets. But she was too busy with her precious social life to take care of them. So yeah, after a few days of taking care of them, I had enough. It was so easy to kill them buggers...it might sound cruel to some, but pfft. Why let them suffer in a small container? They're better off in mousey heaven. I mean, geez...they're bred to be fed off. They're doomed from the start.

I had to feed live. I felt sad at first but watching it die I forgot all my feelings. Yes, I know I'm heartless.

well, i've never had to kill anything before or watch something get killed... plus, i'm alo going through withdrawls right now cuz my doctor/insurance company are havin probs with one of my dang perscriptions. so... i'm not feeling my usual self. it's more of a "walking on clouds" feeling, and i havent been able to drive tonight. so i'm all whacked up right now.

well see about next sunday, when i go get me another little fuzzy thats bred to die :)

p.s. what makes me feel better is that every mouse there is bred to die, and its not like feeder mice are taken care of really well. and.. i love my snake and i'd rather kill 10000 mice then give him away. :)

Yeah, thats what I kept tellign myself.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...321/herman.jpg

:roll: meet Herman. my friends new best friend. :roll:

Ohh dear lord......im sorry but that thing is kinda scary lookin.........Some rodents just creep me out, and mice are one of them.

Anywyas, yes it gets alot ALOT easier after you do it a couple of times, i had second thoughts and even thought about giving roxy away becuase i honestly couldent handle it, even after a LOOOONG time i would still dread feeding day when i would have to kill another rat/mouse.You just cant think about it.......i guess you could say during that time i got more in touch with the "colder" side of me, i just didnt think of it......just did it.


Ahhhhh life is great on F/T :D :D

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Originally Posted by Brandon.O

Ahhhhh life is great on F/T :D :D

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you're tellin me!!!! i practically WORSHIP Pandora now since she loooooves f/t. she is the best snake in the world, i swear.. and this is the last time i buy from some one who feeds live. this is too much of a hassle.

arrrrrrrrgh. :angered:

I really don't understand why people would want to keep mice as pets. The darn things stink to high heaven unless you change their bedding every single day. I do have a breeding pair though.. they are good at providing a constant supply of pinkies.

Rats on the other hand, make very nice pets.

I guess I'm heartless too. I like watching my snakes stalk and attack a live prey item (only unweaned mice/rats, nothing dangerous to the snake)

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Originally Posted by Super_Smash

she is the best snake in the world, i swear..

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Next to Pelota, right? :P

Yeah same here, feeding smaller less dangerous prey items can be pretty interesting to watch. its fun to see how snakes would stalk thier prey in the wild.

I just cant handle mice,they are just to creepy.

Mice are mean too. They are much more likely to bite than a rat. I've had several times when they ate their babies. They just left the skulls with the spine attached and a little bit of pink flesh. (sorry to gross anyone out too much)

Yeah and they arent like snakes, they really dont give you much of a warning before they decide to bite.

That reminds me, last time i was at this really crappy pet store in the mall and a rat stole newborn from the mother and started to eat it FROM THE BUTT FIRST the whole back half of the pinkie was missing and the baby was still squirming, it should have died a little bit after that but i was to disturbed, i had to get out of there.... :(

ehh...... its my friends, but she's forcing me to keep it at my house. i told her, if the thingever bites me, i'm feeding it to Pandora. it'll be a nice midweek snack... :)

edit: and yes Cody, right next to Pelota.

i have another question..... how good is the snakes sense of smell??? i mean, can i keep the mouse in the same room as my snakes?? or will they be able to tell?? i dont want Pandora ripping my finger off when i try to get her cuz she smells mouse... :)

If you touch the mouse. WASH YOUR HANDS. ahem. Personal experience, you don't wash your hands, you get bit. But if the mouse is just in the same room, shouldn't be a problem.

*you'll get bit by the snake that is.

My last post had the potential to be confusing.. lol.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

If you touch the mouse. WASH YOUR HANDS. ahem. Personal experience, you don't wash your hands, you get bit. But if the mouse is just in the same room, shouldn't be a problem.

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good good good. he is on the opposite side of the room as Apollo, and not that close to Pandora... my parents won't let me keep him anywhere else bcuz he stinks already and i just got him. cruddy friend Staci... :roll:

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Originally Posted by alexrls

cute mouse pic but he left you a little present on your hand

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yeah i noticed that too. :) i dont understand that about mice/hampsters. how can one animal have to go the bathroom SO much? i mean, every time i hold them they take a dump or pee all over my hand. i mean seriously.. once is enough!

i have that experience with frogs too. i love frogs and i always catch one and hold it if i see one hopping around. but it never fails, i always get peed on about 100 times. ugh.

i got what you meant, Shelby

Yeah.. though my rats have never pooped on me, they do pee. I hardly ever hold the mice, but I know they use us as toilets without a second thought.

My toad always pees on me.. lol I know what you're talking about. But for a toad, it's a defence mechanism, so they have an excuse.

I fed live (rather the snakes kill their food than me) until I thought about what a rat (not there yet) could do to my snakes. My husband prekills for his monitors and since he's not crazy about snakes, insists I do any prekilling for them. After telling him how mean he was, he showed me a not-so-violent way. I'll try to explain...

holding the mouse by the tail (not the very tip!!!) with your dominate hand (I'm a righty), place it on a flat surface and with your other hand hold it down with a hammer, stick, etc. behind it's head, pressing fimly with the hammer. Now quickly jerk its tail straight back. This breaks its neck. It's quick and (I gotta believe) relatively painless for the mouse, and no blood!

I must warn you, if you pull on the tip of its tail, the skin might pull off... and that is not pleasent at all.

:? Ah yes...then there is yours truly, the EyeLashViper. I enjoy feeding live although I must admit that for safetys sake I am endeavouring to get my herps onto F/T or pre-killed - but I have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about watching live rodents get taken down by my snakes. I figure, what is the sense of getting all emotional over what is pretty much just nature in the raw?? As I have said before, nature is cruel - look at the way lions pursue and kill their prey - they actually start eating while their prey is still alive and kicking. I kind of think if someone has problems with watching their snake eat live prey that they might be in the wrong hobby.

:roll: EyeLashViper

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Originally Posted by EyeLashViper

I kind of think if someone has problems with watching their snake eat live prey that they might be in the wrong hobby.

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not too much the wrong hobby... it's more of a i-like-animals-and-i've-never-seen-one-get-killed type of thing. i DO like animals, even rodents, and i cry even when birds fly into my windshield when im driving *cough*. i'm perfectly capable of actually feeding live if i wanted to continue it, and i'm sure i could get used to finding some way to kill the mouse.

so.... don't say i might be in the wrong hobby. cuz i'm not. thanks :)

and.... this was my first time feeding live. you can't expect me, a 17 yr old girl who thinks mice are "so adorable and fuzzy," to be like "hey, go apollo, snap its neck right in front of me!!" it takes getting used to.

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Originally Posted by Super_Smash

i cry even when birds fly into my windshield when im driving

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Wow. Can't say that's ever happened. lol

I still say, if you keep that mouse for any period of time, you'll most likely notice the cuteness miraculously going away.

It's not really hard for me to kill mice, because I have a personal hatred of them! When you live out in the sticks, mice will get into your hosue through any hole and they begin setting up shop. They make houses in the insides of your house's walls, and you can hear them scratching away all night right next to your bed. And banging on the wall does NOT shut them up; neither (I found out) does cussing and swearing about mice; it just gets your boyfriend aggrevated at one AM. :)
Luckily our cat takes care of most of the mice; this year we have not had any real annoyances, although a few months ago I stepped on a dead one when I got out of bed (double YUK.) And have you ever smelled a dead one when it's stuck in the inner walls of your house? You cannot get to the corpse in order to throw it in the trash, and you pretty much have to get used to the smell (which smells ten times worse than the most rancid smell you can imagine!)
((EDIT: please do not get the impression that I live in a disgusting, reeking house. This event only actually happened once, and it was out in the back mudroom so the house didn't really smell. But still...))

All that said, I actually breed mice! But I only have one mama mouse with her 7 weanlings, and I keep them in a relatively huge rubbermaid and clean it out weekly, so it never really smells that bad. And it's out in the back hall. But I just loathe mice. I don't take any joy in killing them, but a snake's gotta eat. :)

Yea, don't say im in the wrong hobby. I'm a kid and I hate watching things die, and your probably a grown man that likes to watch something die for some odd reason.

Ginevive, i can't say i've had any experience with mice living in my walls, lol... i'm sure thats frustrating! all i have to worry about is spiders and lady bugs.

haha and Shelby- i was driving one time with my friends Staci and Shawn, and suddenly i saw something flying at my window and BAM, a bird goes flying to the side of the road. so i was like "OMG OMG OMG, I HIT A BIRD, OMG" and my friend shawn was like "THAT'S SOOO COOL!!!" so we turned around to go see if the bird lived, and when we went back we saw another bird staring at it, as if saying "Billy!! Why'd you leave me, Billy?"

i cried. heh.... can't wait til the first time i hit my first racoon/rabbit/squirrel. i'll cry then too. i'm a sissy.. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

They make houses in the insides of your house's walls, and you can hear them scratching away all night right next to your bed. And banging on the wall does NOT shut them up

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*groan* I know how that is. And they really do smell.

I hope i never have to deal with that, i would have to move out if there were mice living in my walls, no matter how long of a time it is. :roll:

But i dont think i will ever have to deal with that, only thing i gotta worry about down here in New Mexico, is rattlesnakes......Gee how would ya like to have a few of those living in your walls . :lol: :?

Haha, there's a mouse living in our walls right now. He's in the walls of the closet in this room I'm in now. Every night at around midnight and on I'll hear the little bugger scratching and clawing and rummaging through the walls.
And last year there was one in my bedroom walls. So while I tried to sleep, all I could hear was scratching and scurrying around my head, since it HAD to be in the wall that my headboard is against. Seems every winter we get them coming into our house to get away from the cold.

Oh, and I agree...once you've had that mouse as a pet for a week or so, the cuteness and furry pet phase will wear off, and you'll dread having to clean up after it every day. I remember when I had two of them as pets last month...it didn't take long before the annoying buggers became mousicles. :)

unfortunately, these mice arent mine. they're my friends, and i'm housing them since her dad hates mice (and her cat would have mouse a la cart). but i told her she's going to clean their cages at LEAST 3 times a week.

oh yeah, she went out and got 2 more. Fancy mice this time... ooooo

Lightning, the fast little guy who's hard to catch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9.../lightning.jpg

Hippo, my favorite.. he's the cutest one :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...1321/hippo.jpg

here's where they're living
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...r1321/mice.jpg

So your friend wants to have mice, but can't keep them. So she keeps them at your house? No offense, but you're a sucker. :) If that is the case, then I would just tell your friend "hey if you can't keep them, whats the point in having them?".

i told her if it gets to be a problem, pandora will be eating them or she'll find some place to upt them. i am a sucker :)