Humanity

Ok so it's not really a BIG problem because I do it anyway, but I'm feeling a bit inhumane feeding the live mice to my BP. The problem is I've tried millions of times to feed him frozen (obviously thawed first) and he will only take live mice. It's hard dropping a shaking nervous mouse into there...are there any tricks that you guys have to feel better about it?

By the way, I've been doing it a year already and I feel this way on and off.

No....I just try to like all my snakes more than I do the feeders. Yea there will be one or two that will get your heart but for the most part their just food.

It's part of ownership... It sucks. But it comes with the territory. Wish I could offer you better advice... Have you looked up trying pre-killed using a CO2 chamber?

Well, the way that I came to terms with this is by reminding myself of the following:

If you keep the feeders comfortable and well fed before offering them, they're getting a better quality of life than they would in the wild for the short time they live... They don't really get to know suffering.

In the wild the same thing would happen - it's the natural order and who are we to violate it. The snake needs it for survival... We don't often feel bad when we eat a steak or a hamburger, but that's because we don't need to see the animal being killed. Feeding our snakes is a humbling experience, it forces us to recognize the brutality of nature, but it's just that - nature.

Another thing that seems to help is not playing with the feeders and naming them... That's going to be my issue for sure!

you think it's hard feeding them live mice, try having to kill one because your BP refused a meal this week... Cervical Dislocation, while easy, turns my stomach...

I used to not even look at the feeders. I just go to the store and ask for one and they hand it to me in a box. When I got home I would just open the lid and dump it in. I never laid eyes on it till it was in with the snake.

Now I pre-kill them with CO2. I dump the mouse into a ziplock bag. I have a little CO2 tank that I used to use for paintball. I stick the hose in the bag and turn on the air. The mouse is asleep within about 15 seconds. Then I dangle it in front of the snake and she doesn't know the difference.

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Originally Posted by CntrlF8

you think it's hard feeding them live mice, try having to kill one because your BP refused a meal this week... Cervical Dislocation, while easy, turns my stomach...

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:eek:

have you tried really making sure the mouse was warm? get a holt of some tongs and wiggle it around like it is alive. i had to do that with crowley. i think he likes live more sometimes, dead other. its weird. but he has never refused anything with me. he's let mice get cold before, and eat them after.

i would just try loosly holding the warm mouse and dancing it around slowly etc like a real mouse would..

I just buy them at the store, they go straight into a box, dumped straight into his tank. It's getting better now that he's bigger, the mice are put down REALLY quickly by him. I think it was feeding him two today that bothered me. When I went to take one out, they both curled up together and were shaking. It sucks, but I love my snake and he means more to me than a meal once a week. Oh well, thanks for the advice guys

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Originally Posted by Snape

I just buy them at the store, they go straight into a box, dumped straight into his tank. It's getting better now that he's bigger, the mice are put down REALLY quickly by him. I think it was feeding him two today that bothered me. When I went to take one out, they both curled up together and were shaking. It sucks, but I love my snake and he means more to me than a meal once a week. Oh well, thanks for the advice guys

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oh god i know that kills me. but i'll put a live one on the end of a tank without the snake, prehaps a bit of food sometimes. usually the seem to act like they have no idea death lurks under the plastic flowerpot

they hardest part is when the snake strikes and misses... multiple times, then the mouse knows what's going on and the start doing the nervous/scared tail shake. I always feel bad, but most of my snakes are on f/t anyway, it's just sometimes the Candoia need a bit of a kickstart.

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Originally Posted by GirDance

Well, the way that I came to terms with this is by reminding myself of the following:

If you keep the feeders comfortable and well fed before offering them, they're getting a better quality of life than they would in the wild for the short time they live... They don't really get to know suffering.

In the wild the same thing would happen - it's the natural order and who are we to violate it. The snake needs it for survival... We don't often feel bad when we eat a steak or a hamburger, but that's because we don't need to see the animal being killed. Feeding our snakes is a humbling experience, it forces us to recognize the brutality of nature, but it's just that - nature.

Another thing that seems to help is not playing with the feeders and naming them... That's going to be my issue for sure!

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Excellent post! Pretty much covers how I feel about the whole live feeding issue.

Well that's one thing I'm glad about, my BP strikes and catches first try every time and usually kills them quickly.

On a happy note, after a year of owning him, I decided to up him to two mice a week and he took both of them happily and quickly!

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Excellent post! Pretty much covers how I feel about the whole live feeding issue.

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Thanks Jo, I've had a lot of time to consider that one!