Do you keep snakes and Pet rats?

[FlowRock]

I own two pet rats, 3 snakes and around twenty mice by now, but I am thinking about starting a rat (feeder) project in the moment. My rats were my first pets in my new flat after my ex left me, before that I have been a proud cat daddy. The two ratties gave me a lot of fun and love. But then I rembered my old childhood desire to own snakes, a desire I was not able to give in, because my ex and my mom were snakephobiacs. So I got my snakes now. When I was a child my mom would have never allowed me to own mice (but I really really wanted this), because they stink. But now (for feeding issues) I started a mice breeding project, that works and even though I like every single fuzzybutt I breed, I do not hesitate to give it to my most loved pets. I guess it will be the same with rats.

[spygirl]

I keep both pet snakes and pet ASF's. I just started my ASF breeding project and they were supposed to be just a food source, but I ended up getting attached to a couple of the girls.

I had a pet mouse in high school named Shadow who lived for four years. She would chill in a sock on my desk and we would share plain almonds. She was my little buddy. The day she died, I was crying so hard that I couldn't dig her grave myself, so my little brother did it for me.

It was after her death that I started to get into snakes. It never once bothered me that I was feeding the same species of a beloved pet to a new beloved pet. I come from a family that tries to sustain itself over buying. Meaning we have gardens, raise chickens, hunt, etc. Everything has it's place, circle of life and everything else that goes with it. Our dogs earn their keep by doing some sort of work. Even my shih tzu has her place by being worth her weight in gold in being a demo dog for my dog training sessions.

So I suppose it was in the way I was raised. Death never really bothered me. I respect it, but I don't fear it or am disturbed by it. So my short answer is yes, I keep both pet snakes and pet ASF's.

[Starbaby]

Great thread. Its been interesting reading the posts in here, since this dilemma is the main reason I don't own a snake and probably never will. As much as I'm fascinated by them and would love to have one, I can't do it. Especially since the recent death of my hamster whom I only had for 8 months..I cried so much you would've thought my mama died!

[truthsdeceit]

Wow. Lots of people have responded.
I just wanted to say that you can use my posts on you site if you like.

And to make clear that I do keep pet rats and pet snakes. and voted accordingly.
I don't think I made it clear that they are PETS in my first post. I have 2 male rats who run loose and come for treats. And only one breeder female who is also spoiled despite her less than friendly disposition. If I was just breeding for feeders my males would have to go. Their oversized setup takes up too much space and having two males to one female is definitely the wrong ratio for breeding en-masse. So yeah, the rats and the snakes are both pets. But if I had to choose I'd go with the snakes, I think that's why it's no big crisis when I have to feed off rats. Though I doubt my boy rats will ever see the inside of a snake.

The boys:




And my girls

[MarkS]

I raise both snakes and rats, but I don't consider the rats to be pets. More like livestock.

[MarkS]

Oops, I tried to edit my post but it took too long. What I meant to say was that I don't currently keep pet rats. However in the past I have kept rats that I considered to be pets and had snakes at the same time. It's really not that unusual and I never thought there was anything odd about it. When my Dad was a kid growing up on a farm, he had a pet pig named Orville. Orville would come when you called, would follow you around like a dog and loved to be petted and scratched behind the ears. At the same time, they raised hogs on the farm for slaughter. It's really not that unheard of, pets are pets and food is food. I'm sure a lot of people who grew up on farms could tell you the same type of story.

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

I dislike rodents strongly, and I have no problem feeding them to snakes. I feel bad for those who struggle here, though.

[littleindiangirl]

Thanks for the replies everyone! It's nice to read through them all.

[OFRD_GRL]

Snakes, pet mouse.

Feed pinky mice/fuzzies & rats/asf.....

I have no problem differentiating between the pet & the feeders. The feeders are there for just that and bought with the intent for feeding to the snakes. And are definitely not named... other than maybe steak or dinner or something funny like that.

The pet is housed completely differently and gets hugs and kisses from everyone in the house. And is named.

[LaFilleClochette]

we keep both and also feed rats ( and mice) we feed frozen tho we did one time get live and had to euthenize them because we dont have the room to keep them alive- that was the hardest thing for me to do because i love all sorts of animals and they were so cute! from now on the ones we feed are gonna be thawed....no more live to dead....