Craigslist Post

Read this the person says alot of snake owners use free to good home ads for snake food. Why do we always get such a bad name.http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pet/645285126.html

as sad as it is, i am sure there are those out there who would do such a thing.

personaly (long before i got into snakes) i was at some ones house who had many snakes when a kid from the neighbor hood come knocking on the door with a puppy in hand telling this person "here, mom said to give this to you to feed it to your snakes" and that is what happened to the poor puppy.:tears:

needless to say i didnt stick around once the cage was opened and the pup tossed in, never went back either!

those are the kind of people who give others a bad rep :mad:
those are the kind of people who keep the fear of these lovely creatures going.

We get that bad name because of the people who actually DO those things. Just think; if it weren't for the idiot who owns the Burmese python just for show who tries to feed by hand and looses an arm, or the hysterical ignorant person who calls the cops to report that his neighbor has a 'giant snake'(actually a 3' ball), the media would have no reason to pay attention to snake owners...or at least, they would have LESS reason.

There really are people out there who will get animals to torture, resell, or feed off to something(not always snakes) from 'free to good home' ads. It's sad...but true.

it just makes me soo sad that people could do that to an innocent creature

Jason and I just got a kitten a couple weeks ago from a 'free to good home' add on CL. Needless to say we decided not to mention the snakes when we picked Binka up.

ya that might have caused a problem

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Originally Posted by python.princess

Jason and I just got a kitten a couple weeks ago from a 'free to good home' add on CL. Needless to say we decided not to mention the snakes when we picked Binka up.

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Even knowing you would never do something like that they would have been skeptical I am sure. Probably a good idea ;)

Believe it or not, I've actually seen discussions here (a couple years ago) and on other forums on the morality of answering free kitten ads as a source of free food. So, it doesn't surprise me that the poster would put that. We get a bad name because there ARE people who will do that. :(

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Originally Posted by Dusty

as sad as it is, i am sure there are those out there who would do such a thing.

personaly (long before i got into snakes) i was at some ones house who had many snakes when a kid from the neighbor hood come knocking on the door with a puppy in hand telling this person "here, mom said to give this to you to feed it to your snakes" and that is what happened to the poor puppy.:tears:

needless to say i didnt stick around once the cage was opened and the pup tossed in, never went back either!

those are the kind of people who give others a bad rep :mad:
those are the kind of people who keep the fear of these lovely creatures going.

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That is the most awful story I have ever heard. I am glad you left and never went back. I guess the mom sent him over b/c he had a reputation for "disposing" of animals.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Believe it or not, I've actually seen discussions here (a couple years ago) and on other forums on the morality of answering free kitten ads as a source of free food. So, it doesn't surprise me that the poster would put that. We get a bad name because there ARE people who will do that. :(

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That is outrageous. I was just complaining about gas prices, but perhaps there is one good thing about it. The cost of gas to go pick up a free animal can be more than the purchase price of a feeder animal.

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.

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.

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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 it should be based on as close to what the animal eats naturally in the wild as possible.

as far as feeding it a pet vs an animal bred for food its all the same, does your pet rabbit know its a pet and the one you bought for your snake know it is food?

My thoughts on feeding dogs and cats to large snakes is that its your decision, we are the intelligent species here and in the end its up to you. It makes me laugh when people get so defensive over pet animals in the city yet does anyone know what happens to alot of cats and dogs on farms? hmmm lets just say most animals are not "put down" by a vet. The thing is most decent people dont go around telling everybody what goes on, its just life. I think being fed to a snake or whatever farmers do is better than letting it starve to death. so if your going to feed your snake some kittens that are going to starve or live a hellish life do it and dont go and post it on the internet or whatever.
just my opinion.

there is a fine line between what is acceptable and what isn't and it varies from person to person. Who in the world would try to feed there snakes sausages lawl

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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 the moral and ethical issue with Craig's List is how the person getting the free animal represents him or herself. If they pretend to provide a loving home for the pet and then do something other than that, whatever it may be, that is immoral and unethical. If the person shows up for a "free animal" ad and says, "I plan on using it to feed my burm," then he/she is being HONEST. Then it's up to the Craig's List ad person to decide what to do. Most ads, these days, simply say "not for snake food."

When I realized that I was severely allergic to my guinea pig in college, I listed it as free to a good home. One of the calls I got was from a guy with a burm. I was naive; and it didn't even occur to me that he could want it for snake food rather than a pet. But he never called me back - I was prepared to give it to him as a pet with the caging and all. The guy had a conscious. So he spoke well for the snake community for me. Wherever he is, I hope his snakes are all doing well.