Is it ok if my bp eats a live mouse, live?

[Holbeird]

One of mine does have a very sexy set of spurs, at least that's what the ladys say...

No, he would cause a scene in the middle of his tub, something about a sexy set of spurs or something, and all of the other snakes would give him dirty looks.

You know snakes.. always causing problems.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Yes, I've actually had snakes refuse pre-killed, and take stunned. The breathing is enough to stimulate them to strike.
The dead rat Tango intimidates some snakes, I've had better results by placing the stunned rat in the tub and leaving it alone. Some snakes seem to prefer their dead rat moving a lot, while other find that frightening--dangling it from the tongs while holding it as still as possible seems to do the trick for them. The slight movement is enough to stimulate a strike, where a completely stationary rat on the cage floor doesn't.

[Anakiyas dad]

I can't beleive people are actually arguing about pain and suffering of a mouse. Seriously its a mouse! They are at the bottom of the food chain, don't get me wrong i care about animals too but you gotta draw the line somewhere. If you wanna argue with someone about pain and suffering ask an American soldier about having his legs or arms blown off because of some coward who thinks IED's area great way to fight a war! It's great that people have an opinion about some things but don't take it out on other people over such trivial stuff!

The only difference between a coward and a hero is what you do with the fear!
CPT.Jeff Streukker

[MeMe]

I think it's more respectful to the animal to do it yourself, rather than leave it for others to do.

Your whole post makes my head hurt...but I just don't get how it is any more respectful for you to do it as opposed to having somone lse do it.

Does the prey appreciate it more coming from the person who is feeding it off?

[jwarriner]

I don't believe in intentionally torturing anything but you can't argue with nature. Snakes eat live prey. People shouldn't project their sensitivity about animals onto their snakes and its eating habits.

[BallPythonsRule]

Woah!! What happened when I was gone?! lol 4 pages..

To tell you guys the truth, to me, I don't care about the mouse's feelings when it's getting eaten, it's a mouse, it was going to die any way. I started hitting a mouse with a book to "stunn" it so it wouldn't bite my snake. Too bad for the mouse is all I can say.
Now, let me get this cleared up.. the pet store didn't have rat pups, only pinkies which mean there were ONLY pinkies, no fuzzies too. I had no choice.. My snakes got to eat so at least I fed it. Next time I'll try to get something bigger.. maybe go to another pet store (which is a bad one but whatever)

[Anakiyas dad]

Yes i agree with you on that and people should understand they are snakes they have instincts and to take that away from them is taking away part of its predatorial mojo!!! And that is why I love them so much ! That killer instict like dinosaurs!!!

[Adam_Wysocki]

My method of stunning involves smacking the animal over the head. I prefer that to simply putting it in a bag or swinging it by the tail--the rodent doesn't have to experience the sensation of being violently swung around first, and the strike is much more precise, so there's less risk of breaking bones but leaving the animal conscious.

I also aim to hit it hard enough that it will never wake up--if not eaten, then it will slip into death, rather than waking. (Then it goes into the freezer for another try further down the road).

According to the American Association of Veterinarians June Guidlines on Euthanasia, when it comes to rodents, "stunning" done via a "smack over the head" is inhumane.

http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_we...euthanasia.pdf

Hope this helps.

-adam

[BallPythonsRule]

According to the American Association of Veterinarians June Guidlines on Euthanasia, when it comes to rodents, "stunning" done via a "smack over the head" is inhumane.

http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_we...euthanasia.pdf

Hope this helps.

-adam

Inhumane or not, it get's the job done.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

But stunning isn't done for the rodent--it's done to help protect the snake from a bite, and to help the snake get used to taking prey that isn't fleeing or moving violently. It's the snake's well-being that I'm concerned with first. If you want to help the rodent, then pre-kill it.

And if you want to do so you should do it humanely using a CO2 chamber, or you can simply let nature take it's course by feeding live, which we have already establish can be done safely.

Being a responsible snake owner also mean having for the feeders.