Captured escapee"s

There have been a few threads that talk about escaped feeders. Didn't want to hijack anyones thread, but did want to share my thoughts on this subject. Something to think about if you haven't yet.

I would NEVER feed a captured escappee off, or put it back in with the rest of the colony. It would be killed and disposed of immediately... NOT fed off.

This is why:

1. There is no telling what insect / rodent poisons it has come across while free. I know I spray the interior for bugs, and there is no telling what rodent poisons the previous house owners may have used.

2. The insects and stuff they might have eaten while loose (here likely roaches). If they find and eat a roach in this house, that roach is almost certainly poisoned and dying. That can't be good.

3. Parasites. Why would you want to take even the smallest risk of exposing one of your snakes, or your colony?

Anyways thanks for looking. Just wanted to share these thoughts. For a group that is so pro-quaranteen with their snakes.... Why in the world would you take such big risks with a captured escapee?


Mike

i agree completely

Agreed.

I don't produce my own feeder's (yet) but that would have never even crossed my mind... good lookin out

Great points mike, i feel the same way! Anyway i thought your cages were escape proof, i would never guess one could escape:rolleyes:

I Co2 any escaped rodent unless I was the reason ( Like I drop it or something) it escaped and got it back in a certain reason of time.

On a side note, anyone else find asfs in REALLY weird places? I found one in my roach colonys ten gallon tank, once in a tub full of water crystals ( Unless it jumped I cannot see how it got into that one...) and my all time favorite once I go to scoop out a tubs worth of pine and a asf buried under somewhere withen jumps out at me.

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Originally Posted by juddb

Great points mike, i feel the same way! Anyway i thought your cages were escape proof, i would never guess one could escape:rolleyes:

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They are escape proof... Human Error!!! Playing with the rodents when drinking!

I agree mostly, really depends on how, when they escaped. A lot of factors could play in the roll of putting them back or culling them off.

I was one that fed off an escapee, but he was out less than 4 hours and we don't spray for anything here. I actually had to keep him a week because it wasn't feeding day yet. He got some extra special goodies because I had to house him alone. Hopefully I never have another get out, but will remember warnings, thanks Mike.

I had 3 escape. I caught 2 right away but couldn't find the other one. I finally found him 2 months later tryin to get into my dog's treats. He pulled another hudini (sp) act with the box he was in while I was making a tank for him (a matter of 2-3 min!) Then found him two days later tryin to get the treats again. I was tryin to keep him as a pet but he refused to eat or drink and died. I guess he prefered the diet of spiders and dog food.

Great point, not to mention, small insects like crickets can be infested with some crazy internal parasites like coccidia that could be passed on when eaten; and not to mention most wild mice/rats have pests (worms, fleas etc) too!

I never thought of this...

I have one that escaped that I reintroduced. He was only gone for a few days and I had no poison out...

All seems going good.. but you can bet I wont do it again!

Mike

wow, you opened my eyes too, never thought of these risks either, the 2ASFs I lost were the only 2 housed together and I put them back in with each other, its been a few days and they seem fine so far, no poisons in my house also

thanks for the info, very good point

I don't have (usually) a problem catching my rats (haven't had one loose in the house yet) but asf's they are the best escape artists I have ever met. Even the babies JUMP. Rats look before they jump, not asf's they just JUMP and they can jump very high!!!! I sware they are made out of flubber. I have only recaptured 1 (alive) and we gave it to a woman who wanted a trio of asf's as pets (I TOLD her they don't make good pets but she wouldn't listen) so I gave her the escapee free. Usually I find them dead thanks to my dog, (yes my dog catches more asf's than my cats do) but he doesn't eat them. I toss them for just the same reasons you gave. We don't spray but we do have ant poison out.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

They are escape proof... Human Error!!! Playing with the rodents when drinking!

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Finally I am not the only one that does this!

And any soft furreds that I have ever lost are almost instantaneously eaten by my cats as they hit the ground so never had this issue either.

My cats are kinda weird and are way nice to regular rats though, so this thread should be posted in all the feeder forums cuz i never thought about them finding something bad while out for any certain time

That's a great thought. Thanks, hon. When I start breeding I'll definitely keep that at the forefront of my mind.

Sorry, sounds like baloney to me. If I recapture some escapees I generally feed them off unless they were caught in a snap trap and they've been dead for a while. There is such a thing as being too paranoid about what your snakes eat. Who's to say you don't have bugs running across your rodent cages at night pooping on their food or flies that get in and get eaten or wild house mice that sniff around your rodent racks. Why throw away perfectly good food that probably has absolutely nothing wrong with it just because it had a day or two of freedom? If you're that worried maybe you should start irradiating your rodents to make sure all the bacteria is gone too.

LOL, Mark I think you are nuts. Let me ask you something. If you catch a wild mouse or rat in your house, would you just toss him in with one of your $500 dollar snakes?

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

LOL, Mark I think you are nuts. Let me ask you something. If you catch a wild mouse or rat in your house, would you just toss him in with one of your $500 dollar snakes?

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A wild one? No... Although in all likelihood it probably wouldn't do any harm... But one that's gone AWOL for a couple of days? I've got no problems with it. These animals are not so tender and delicate, they probably have some of the strongest digestive juices in the animal kingdom which is why they get along so well eating carrion and diseased creatures in the wild. When you think of it, eating healthy clean rodents in the prime of their lives is unnatural. These guys were designed by nature to pick off the stragglers and the weak. So to me, throwing away perfectly good food is wasteful and unnecessary.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

A wild one? No... Although in all likelihood it probably wouldn't do any harm... But one that's gone AWOL for a couple of days? I've got no problems with it. These animals are not so tender and delicate, they probably have some of the strongest digestive juices in the animal kingdom which is why they get along so well eating carrion and diseased creatures in the wild. When you think of it, eating healthy clean rodents in the prime of their lives is unnatural. These guys were designed by nature to pick off the stragglers and the weak. So to me, throwing away perfectly good food is wasteful and unnecessary.

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You are absolutey right, I am sure in the wild Ball Pythons eat plenty of diseased, paristite infested, weak animals. Exactly why the snakes themselves are so full of parasites and other crap... One of the main contributing factors as to why captive bred reptiles that are properly kept as pets live on average considerably longer then wild.

So you said you would not feed a wild rodent you find. Why wouldn't you?

Playing with the rodents when drinking!

guess this should be a lesson to all of us," friends don't let there friends play with rodents when drinking".

this message brought to you by the save a rodent foundation.

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Originally Posted by twh

playing with the rodents when drinking!

Guess this should be a lesson to all of us," friends don't let there friends play with rodents when drinking".

This message brought to you by the save a rodent foundation.

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lol!!!

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

So you said you would not feed a wild rodent you find. Why wouldn't you?

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Because they're wild rodents and that would just be icky. And I don't really need to catch wild rodents to feed my snakes. But a captive bred and born rodent that's escaped from its cage in my house and later caught in my house? Why not? Why kill an animal needlessly and just throw it in the trash? It's a waste of a life. I just think you're going overboard in your quest to keep your snakes safe.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Because they're wild rodents and that would just be icky. And I don't really need to catch wild rodents to feed my snakes. But a captive bred and born rodent that's escaped from its cage in my house and later caught in my house? Why not? Why kill an animal needlessly and just throw it in the trash? It's a waste of a life. I just think you're going overboard in your quest to keep your snakes safe.

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LOL, we are getting close. Why would you consider wild rodents "icky?"

Anyways, obviously not everyone will agree with my thoughts on this. :8: I just wanted to throw them out there. This is a subject that many have never even considered. A basic chemistry class would show that a loose rodent in the house will come across some common household items that are WAY nastier then what they can even come across in the wild.

Bottom line for me, it is a rodent that cost you pennies to make. Why risk such an expensive investent (aka a faily member... aka snake) on a rodent that has likely been in contact with unknown and known household chemicals?


Mike

Read this part over again...

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Why kill an animal needlessly and just throw it in the trash? It's a waste of a life.

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It's not a pest that has come in from outside and chewed holes through my walls and invaded my house that has been living on parasite infested trash and rat poisons for it's entire life. It's an animal that I've raised myself for the purposes of feeding to my snakes. Sure, it's possible that in the few days it's been free it could have ingested something injurious that would put my snake at risk, it's also possible that I could win the lottery tomorrow and I'd be able to retire to my own private island in the south seas. I think both have about an equal chance of happening.

To me, it's just not worth being that overly cautious. If I started to think that way it would drive me insane.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Sure, it's possible that in the few days it's been free it could have ingested something injurious that would put my snake at risk, it's also possible that I could win the lottery tomorrow and I'd be able to retire to my own private island in the south seas.

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Well, I guess you are a betting man that is willing to take chances that I am not willing to take. I am a blackjack dealer though for my own personal garage casino in my free time... Let me know when you want to come over and play!


:peace:

Mike

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

Well, I guess you are a betting man that is willing to take chances that I am not willing to take. I am a blackjack dealer though for my own personal garage casino in my free time... Let me know when you want to come over and play!


:peace:

Mike

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I have to agree with Mike here.. I wouldnt risk any of my snakes with that either. Now maybe if it got out somehow and I caught it right away.. But heres my recent story. I said in another post I have 6 escapees right now.. I have caught four of them. two of those were placed in a tub on their own food, bedding and water.. Til I could take care of them. the next morning they were dead anyhow. What did they get into? God only knows. there is no rat poison in my house. but they could get into cupboards or anything else and who knows what their little paws will decide they want to pick up. I have no explaination for the death of the two. but right when the other two were caught those were immediately disposed of.. And the other two will be done the same with. You never know. and me holding the first two tells you that. Theres so much in a normal house that could be a poison its not worth it. Not for that little bit of pennies I loose. I rather loose pennies than thousands and a pet as well.