Is live feeding really that bad?

[smokinreptile]

It's a preference but if you feed live just keep an eye on it tell your snake latches onto it if they don't latch onto it it can hurt them

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[Kittencaboodles]

I think it comes also from a place of how you see animals and 'nature' as i feel pet snakes are still more of a captive than a domestic pet. I don't mean that they dislike that captivity, they clearly thrive in it, but it isn't the same as an animal that has evolved beside us for thousands of years.

My feelings toward nature are that it 'just is'. there isn't love or cruelty there, there is life or death, and life that requires death. that isn't a cruelty, thats just the way of things. And at the end of the day the mouse is dead so your snake(s) can live whether you witnessed that death personally or not- don't pretend the butcher at the market just made those steaks out of thin air either

[Reinz]

Yup, that's why it's called the Food Chain.

It takes nature to feed nature.

[Ax01]

Yup, that's why it's called the Food Chain.

It takes nature to feed nature.

it's also called the circle of life.

[Jamiesniper]

I feed all mine frozen, if I had access to the amount and size of live feeders I need on a weekly basis I would feed live,

Saying that I did acquire a 600g live feeder, it took a few months but I did switch her over to frozen, now she smashes frozen every time. When I did switch her she didn't loose any significant weight.

I think it's all down to personal preference but as a previously said, every keeper should be willing to feed live if the health of the animal depends on it


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[gaitedappy]

I've fed my adult male both frozen and live. When I first got him he took a few f/t rats for me, but after a brief mite outbreak decided to no longer take the rats, so I tried a live mouse and he has been fantastic on live. My baby is also on live now because that is how she started. In my opinion, as long as one is being a responsible owner, both live and frozen are fine, and some snakes will prefer one method. Any good owner will do what is best for both them and their pet in the long run. On a side note, I've come to prefer live because the frozen rodents can carry mite eggs on them that will hatch after passing through the snake, though that is rare, I was just unlucky.

[DVirginiana]

Well I'm certainly not 'implying' anything and I do all those things you listed and more - I could say that you are implying that I don't do those things ...

To be honest , I don't know how else to explain why I could never feed LIVE .

I feel like this subject has already been hashed out on this thread a couple times, but here goes...

You could say you just don't have the stomach to watch an animal die and play an active role in its death. Which is totally fine; I know a lot of people who'd be vegetarian if they had to kill their own meat.

When you say you can't do it because you love all animals and leave it at that, with no sort of qualifiers, it does come across as implying that people who live feed must not love all animals. It's the basic structure of the English language; when you state that you cannot do A because of B, the implication is that anyone who DOES do A must not be constrained by B. So if that's not what you mean, you need to explain more.

Here's an example:
I feed live but I could NEVER do what SCWood was describing and breed my own because I get attached to animals.
That by itself makes it sound like I'm insulting SCWood and saying she doesn't/can't get attached to animals.
Now, to explain my statement more thoroughly:
To clarify, I am not saying that SCWood does not or cannot form attachments to animals; I am only saying that I cannot control my level of attachment when I'm around an animal, whereas she seems to be able to. In fact, breeding one's own feeders shows a commitment to their quality of life in excess of what I show by buying one from a pet store.

That's true though, I couldn't even return my pet mouse to the store after thirty seconds of interaction when I scooped him out of my BPs enclosure.

[IsmQui718]

I've fed my collection both live and F/T. There's pros and cons to both. There is so nothing wrong with feeding live if you're responsible about it. I do agree that prey items die quicker by constriction than by CO2.

I agree with Deborah wholeheartedly about feeding/watering and not stressing rodents prior to feeding.

Also, based on my experience, people often anthropomorphize animals a bit too much. I know it's not intentional, but it happens. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people try to turn their cats into vegetarians due to their own beliefs (I'm a licensed veterinary technician). There are times when I've gotten tongue lashings from vegetarians for eating meat!

It goes without saying that what works for one person may not work for the other. It's also important that we be respect other people's ideas.




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[Reinz]

A

..........

I can't tell you how many times I've seen people try to turn their cats into vegetarians due to their own beliefs (I'm a licensed veterinary technician). There are times when I've gotten tongue lashings from vegetarians for eating meat!

It goes without saying that what works for one person may not work for the other. It's also important that we be respect other people's ideas.

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One of my daughters and her husband are Vegans. They converted their dog because they felt it would be hypocritical of them if it ate meat.

Note:
Im not defending or judging vegans and vegetarians.

[Ax01]

i love this thread! it has it all - drama, sarcasm, pictures, gender misidentification, hair, a discussion about ice cream, i added a Lion King song, vegetarian/vegan pets, etc. etc. in between the banter, there's still worthwhile discussion on the merits of feeding live or f/t.

this thread has been a wild ride.

Edit: it also includes this really cool graphic made by Aercadia. lol