Quote Originally Posted by Pythonfriend View Post
oh, by the way....

i am fine with feeding frozen thawed, live, or pre-killed.

im not fine with hurting the rat, and then feeding it while it is hurt but still more or less alive. im also not fine with pre-traumatizing the rat. that crosses the line for me. either let the snake hunt and kill the food animal, or use a humane method to kill it. otherwise, treat the rat or mouse well. snakes do what they do because its their nature. we can be more fair. so either the snake kills it, or we kill it HUMANELY. so, please, no smashing or sock-spinning.

methods that are often used and considered humane are cervical dislocation (a defined method of quickly breaking the neck), or gas, most people say CO2 and i can accept that its alright when done properly, i would go for nitrous oxide (laughing gas, causes loss of consciousness, often used on humans for sugery and to introduce anesthesia) followed by nitrogen.

but when its alive, treat the food rhodent well. if the snake doesnt kill it, give it food and water. and please no bone breaking and sock swinging. humans are not supposed to hurt animals that way, unless they are nihilists when it comes to this issue. a snake does what it does, and when we are in charge, a human does what a human does. and treating rhodents badly should not be part of it. mice and rats are intelligent, people keep them as pets, that needs to be respected.
The idea of gassing/hurting the feeders was never an option for me. That's why I chose to live feed mice, because I thought there was a lesser chance of harm being done to my snake.



-Amber