When is it ok to expose children to live feeding ?

[adija1]

With this said, my daughter is 2 and fully understands that the snakes must eat, and knows what their food is called, knows what happens, has watched it, and enjoys it. She also has her own pet rats that we let her hold and interact with that she knows are not snake food.

As far as 3 being to early to be exposed to death in general, let alone 2, we lost our 4 month old son about 6 months ago and she was well aware that she lost her little brother. So I guess not exposing her to death at an early age went right out the window.

Do what you think is best for your child. I will say tho as a parent, there is no harm having your children live in the real world, because sooner or later they WILL find out that death exists, and that it can be extremely hard to deal with at times, but one day everyone and everything has their time.

Might as well grow up with it instead if having to adjust and cope later...


Sent From an Enclosure

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your son at such early age.
Thank you for your response.

[barbie.dragon]

I think as long as you explain the importance of all animals it doesn't matter too much. I was at a Petco and there was a guy with 2 kids. Maybe 4 and 6. They were looking at the mice and the dad joked "hey we should feed them to the snake! hahaha" and the kids were like "but won't it hurt the mice?" and the dad said "It doesn't matter, it's only a stupid mouse."

While I do not mind live feeding, I believe it's extremely important that people learn to RESPECT all living creatures, even if they're being fed off

[smalltimeballz]

My daughter was 3 when she first wanted a snake. She picked out what she wanted (bumblebee- my first snake in 13yrs and my first morph) and earned it by listening and being good for 6 months. The little bee preferred live and she had no problems feeding. She would even tell the mice goodbye. But then again, she's had an oscar in her room since she was 2 and she would help give him feeder fish....she would also help me pick out the pretty feeders to throw in the pond. And I never floated those because I needed them to be survivors because my pond is a minimum care pond that relies on a natural balance. She accepts the circle of life.

[Holtgards]

My niece is 5 and she went with us to pick out our boys food and watched him eat then she wanted to watch our girl eat as well. She is very intrigued and even wanted to feed them which we did not let her do. I think it depends on the child it is educational I know parents who take their kids to go pick out a cow to take to the butcher. I think earlier is better.

[anatess]

Okay, let me put it this way...

Tons of children grow up in farms. Farmers don't make a habit of preventing their children from roaming the farm where they might see a horse mount another horse (quite intense, I tell ya!), or the cat eat the rat or the dog rip up the chicken or the cow get butchered.

Since there's no law that prevents farmers from having children, then it is to be assumed that it's okay for children to be exposed to the cycle of life the day they are born.

Now, your children did not grow up on the farm. So, the question is not if it's okay for children to experience the cycle of life at age 3. Because, there's no reason why it would not be okay. The question is if YOUR child will be okay with it. And only YOU can answer that question... It's all on your parenting style. Children getting traumatized by the cycle is not a trait that they're born with. Children getting traumatilzed by the cycle is all about the environment/parenting they grow up in.

[FireStorm]

My niece is 4, she has seen our snakes eat, and will "help" decide which one gets which rat. She doesn't seem traumatized by it.

While my parents are not farmers, my grandparents were. I was exposed to things dying and things breeding at a pretty young age. The only TV I ever watched was national geographic or Discovery Channel (back when there were actual documentaries, but that's a topic for another thread). As long as I remember, I knew that some animals eat other animals, and everything dies eventually. I don't think I'm traumatized.

I don't think it is really an issue of age. I think it is more in how you approach the subject, and how sheltered the kid has been prior to this point.

[NH93]

Ya... that's a tough one.
When I was young, if I saw any animal die, I'd burst into tears. I personally think 3 is too young.

However, if you were lucky enough to see a snake eating in the wild, I think that might be different. I have seen this a few times in my life, including when I was somewhere around age 6 or 8.
I think it's different because the animal has caught it's prey itself, and is not being fed by a person - and thus thhere is nothing anyone can do, it is nature.

I personally don't feed live (can you tell?) so the best I can give you is my opinion from an animal-lover's stand point
I think you should wait to see if your child is interested in the feeding process first! Just because they are interested in the hobby does not mean they want to see a snake eat.
If your child shows interest and asks to watch, that might also be a different story.

I feel like offering to show something like a live feeding should not be done, unless a child is really interested and asking to see it many times.

[DooLittle]

I think you should wait to see if your child is interested in the feeding process first! Just because they are interested in the hobby does not mean they want to see a snake eat.

I think that if they are interested in the hobby, they need to understand all aspects of it. They need to be taught about the animal and its needs. It needs to eat. It needs to eat rodents. Sometimes they need to eat live ones. THIS IS NORMAL, THIS IS OK.

If you are going to have a pet, you need to know all the responsibilities that go with them. If your kid wants a dog you dont skip over the poop scooping duties because they might think its gross. Dogs poop, poop has to be scooped.

People need to stop sheltering all these mamby pamby kids. Give them some credit. Give them a chance. Empower them, don't hold them back.

[NH93]

I don't think you should force a child to see something they may not want to or be ready for. I was interested in animals and pets as a child, but like I said, if I saw something - anything - die, I would start crying, and I can still remember some traumatizing experiences. I would not subject anyone to that, adult or child.
At 3 years old a child should not have the responsibility to take care of animals, just because they are learning about it. It's like anything. Take it in steps, don't shove it down their throats.

Watching an animal die is not the same as scooping poop. Compare it all you want, it is not the same.
I agree that children should be empowered. So empower them to make a decision about what they want. And if they want to watch you feed live, then there you go. If they haven't shown interest, that's another story. There is no way to know what kind of adverse effects you can cause.
Yes, it may just be a little mouse or rat, and it may be a common thing in your household. And I doubt every little child who sees a live feeding will be bothered. But you never know, and I wouldn't want to be the reason my child grows up either afraid of snakes, upset at me, or worse - it does happen.

[DooLittle]

I don't think you should force a child to see something they may not want to or be ready for. I was interested in animals and pets as a child, but like I said, if I saw something - anything - die, I would start crying, and I can still remember some traumatizing experiences. I would not subject anyone to that, adult or child.
At 3 years old a child should not have the responsibility to take care of animals, just because they are learning about it. It's like anything. Take it in steps, don't shove it down their throats.

Watching an animal die is not the same as scooping poop. Compare it all you want, it is not the same.
I agree that children should be empowered. So empower them to make a decision about what they want. And if they want to watch you feed live, then there you go. If they haven't shown interest, that's another story. There is no way to know what kind of adverse effects you can cause.
Yes, it may just be a little mouse or rat, and it may be a common thing in your household. And I doubt every little child who sees a live feeding will be bothered. But you never know, and I wouldn't want to be the reason my child grows up either afraid of snakes, upset at me, or worse - it does happen.

And this is why some kids are mortified by things... they have been sheltered from them.

If they are interested in the hobby, they need to know about it. If they can't handle feeding or live feedings, then they aren't ready for snakes. Im not saying they are the sole care taker at that age, but they need to know about the animal.

This all goes back to how they are raised. Expose them to things.