Quote Originally Posted by zina10 View Post
To the ones that say its better to sell them super cheap or give them away, that is by far not a guarantee of a better live then a quick death and being fed off.

Again, I couldn't let my babies go as feeders or feed them off myself.

But, when the market is over flooded and you DO need feeder snakes, what is the logical thing to do? We also need feeder frogs and lizards, not to even mention the rodents. There are many people that adore their frogs and lizards.

In this hobby you have to be realistic. You decided to bring that animal to your house, you are responsible for it, it only has YOU to look after its needs. If it eats frogs or needs them for scenting until it can be converted, well, you better get over yourself and do whatever is needed. If it needs to eat other snakes, well, that is what you have to do. You can always try F/T first, this way someone else had to do the "deed". But sometimes you have to feed live. If nothing more, until you can begin the process to switch them over.

Some people like Kingsnakes. Some people own venomous snakes that feed on other snakes. What about the rare and gorgeous Eastern Indigo. Sure, some can be switched to rodents, but some cannot. Or not right away.

I much rather an animal went to good use such as that, then in the trash or neglected, dying a slow death of starvation and neglect. Because many will end up just that way. Sure, more expensive morphs and animals also end up neglected. But fact remains, the cheaper animals are often viewed as "throw away" pets. So selling and giving away those cheap normals does in no way guarantee them a good life. There are worse things then a quick death.

So again, I would try my best to find a good home. I would make sure to give setup instructions (or even sell a set, animal and setup, at cost) and be picky. But it is completely unrealistic to expect bigger breeders to do just that. They may as well pack up. It is also unfair to say that those bigger breeders should simply not exist if they cannot be bothered to find good homes and be extremely picky for each and every normal they produce. We simply wouldn't have a lot of breeders left. Without them we would still be having mostly sickly imports to choose from, with all the problems alongside.

Many normals are more beautiful then some morphs, in my opinion. Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Its not that they are viewed as non worthy. There are simply to many of them still, they are sold cheap and in some cases can't even be given away. That is the downside of the market explosion.
I had a reticulated python breeder tell me that he wished he could get the shelters dogs and cats that were going to be put down and let him kill them in a way that is humane and safe for his snakes to eat. I say why not? They are going to die anyway. Would be practical and efficient use of a doomed animal. Not sure I could do it myself though but you do have some good points.