Swallowing rat while rat is alive..

[John1982]

I'm sure some of the royals sold in pet shops in the UK were at least started on live prey. From my limited understanding, the whole "it's illegal" standpoint folks take stems from their interpretation of the animal welfare act. Yes, protecting the animal from unnecessary pain and suffering is one of the "needs" listed under the act. Equally listed is the need for a suitable diet. If the snake doesn't feed on f/t, how long do you wait before you're breaking the law by withholding food that it would gladly accept? My personal interpretation(if I were living in the UK) would be that as soon as the animal started to look noticeably thinner, it would be time for live or assist. But then, can you even assist feed in the UK if you haven't attempted live food first? It seems that assisting would be causing unnecessary "suffering", again open to interpretation, if you hadn't at least attempted live first.. Folks need to remember that this law wasn't set to only protect the "prey", the "predator" is also subject. It's one big grey area and, to my knowledge, nobody has been successfully prosecuted for feeding live prey.

(2)For the purposes of this Act, an animal's needs shall be taken to include—
(a)its need for a suitable environment,
(b)its need for a suitable diet,
(c)its need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns,
(d)any need it has to be housed with, or apart from, other animals, and
(e)its need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/45/contents