How is it that..

[Ginevive]

..I am a red-blooded carnivore, who also breeds rats for my snakes.. and my best friend on the planet is a vegetarian keeper of small fuzzy animals who gets upset about hearing that my snakes eat rats?
Do any of you have similar friendships? It is just weird.. I don't feed snakes in front of her, but she goes get a little upset seeing my breeder rats and knowing that the babies are snake-bound...

[Reptile_Man]

i dont breed anything but i have been told alot that i am cruel for keepin snakes as pets and that im cruel for feeding them mice even though they are f/t.
i also cant tell my neice that i feed my corn pinkies as she calls them jelly babies and thinks theyr cute,she thinks i feed it bits of raw chicken.

[adi]

all my friends that are girls think im mean for feeding him mice.

[jknudson]

..I am a red-blooded carnivore, who also breeds rats for my snakes.. and my best friend on the planet is a vegetarian keeper of small fuzzy animals who gets upset about hearing that my snakes eat rats?
Do any of you have similar friendships? It is just weird.. I don't feed snakes in front of her, but she goes get a little upset seeing my breeder rats and knowing that the babies are snake-bound...

I've been bickered at by a customer at the pet shop I used to work at...I was in to buy rats...and she was there to buy a pet rat. Well she asked why I wanted them...I said that they were for my snakes...

I was looking at the Pink Eye White rats (what were sold as feeders) so she suddenly decided she wanted to buy all of the pink eyed white rats before me for pets (to save them)...I just told her...well my snakes have to eat, and they don't care whether the rats are cute, different colors etc, so there is really no point in trying to buy all of the "feeder rats" as either way I was going home with as many rats I needed.

She told me I was a horrible person for feeding them rats, so I told her either they are going to eat rats or going to die of starvation... and asked her if she would want any living creature to die of starvation, or rather "sacrifice" 52 rats per year. Also I added with how prolific rats are that feeding one a week wouldn't make a large impact to the rat population. She frowned, turned around and left the store without any rats... Rat Lady 0- Jason 1

Its not like she would give up food to save a plant...plants have feelings too..so she better not eat any more salad...LMAO. Some people.

-Jason

[Ginevive]

lol, how hysterical. So, snakes, lions, wolves.. they're all evil for eating meat? I am glad that you beat her at her game.
My friend is fine about it basically, as long as she doesn't have to see it.. her husband is getting a BP soon and she does not mind it even in her own house.. but oh well.

[adi]

^^^lol to that one. i have a similiar story. there was this employee at the infamous petco that was getting me a mouse. and shes like "do you need a cage for it too?" im like no its a feeder. all oif a sudden she goes crazy and shes like well i have a lot of pet mice and i love them and im not going to let your snake eat this one! so i was telling her in a calm voice, "well then thats fine.......may i speak to your manager?" in the end i got the mouse

[tweets_4611]

Haha, one of my friends just pretends that Kasi and I don't feed our snakes mice. I think she actually watched one time, but she just doesn't like to think about it. She also has random moments where she just really, really doesn't like the snakes, so we just don't take them out around here much hehe As for the pet stores, the worst I've run into was that there were a few with a little bit of color on them (they have a large cage of usually just the white, pink eyed feeders) and the woman told me straight out that she wouldn't sell me any of the colored ones. hehe I wasn't going to ask for on b/c they are kinda cute, but it was funny...

[jglass38]

I've been bickered at by a customer at the furniture store I used to work at...

Are you sure it wasn't because the when she tried to put her purchase together, she realized all the instructions were in Swedish?


My mother is a vegetarian and animal activist and is disgusted (her words) that I breed rats to feed to my snakes. She was ok when I just bought them frozen. On the upside, I have insured that she will never visit my house again!

[gibbrishclown]

Nag ate the cutest little black mouse yesterday (f/t but the local store had colors)... I'm just glad that both snakes eat f/t and I hopefully won't have to personally kill anything... just cook it

[wolfy-hound]

Some people don't mind if we buy frozen rats, thaw them out and feed them. So.. it's okay to use killed animals.. as long as WE don't kill them? That's the same as people who say they couldn't ever kill a cow, look how cute they are! Then they eat a burger. It's hypocrisy. It's just part of nature that some animals are carnivores. If they have a pet cat or dog, you can also point out that they also cause animals to be killed for food. Just because the dead animals have been reduced to dry kibble in no way relieves their responsibilty for those animals losing their lives to become food. A mouse being fed to a snake is simply a more direct honest relationship in the prey/predetor dynamics.
In REAL LIFE. I have several friends that think it's cruel, or disgusting, but they accept the fact that I'll be feeding rats to my snakes. "The snake needs to eat too" is usually the comment. But they don't want to watch(frankly it's a little disturbing to me when someone "wants" to watch and gets gleeful over it) and some don't want to see the snakes, or hold them.
As long as the other people are respectful of my right to have differing opinions, then we get along just fine. I don't start telling them about the cute fuzzy rat that nuzzled my hand before I offered it to a snake... and they don't ask. I usually buy my rodents somewhere that sells them at a normal rate for feeders, and I don't offer up the knowledge that they will be snake food, or breeders to make snake food unless directly asked. I however.. NEVER lie if directly asked either.
I've had that store manager that refused to sell me four white rats after he directly asked me "These won't be feeders will they?" And I said "Yes. For my ball pythons" Once he said no to me purchasing them, I said well thanks anyway. And then I left. It's his store. Personally I think they should have signage stating that the rodetns will not be sold as food, but it's his right to not sell me his rats too. I've heard from multiple herpers how they berate or yell and in general pitch a fit about not being sold a feeder. Well, tough. It's not your rat until you buy it. I'm sure most of us would refuse to sell someone one of our ball pythons to be used as a feeder to a cobra too. Gotta think about it from both angles.
There are times when I go "Aww... dang but you're cute" when looking at a feeder. Sometimes if it's a female, it does indeed get a reprieve to be used as a breeder instead. But it still doesn't bug me to go ahead and toss them in either.
One sister had two rats she got from me as pets. She has OFFERED unasked.. to breed them to produce babies for me to use as feeders. She's quite the carnivore herself, and understands the food chain.
I've killed cows, goats, chickens, deer, turkey, etc etc... to eat. I raised some of those from babies in order to kill them and eat them. I've had beloved pet chickens, and killed others for food. To me it's part of life. I feel I'm a better person for respecting where my food comes from. Too many people are too removed from the food chain now. They won't kill an animal, but they will buy beef. To me that's a little sad, and I feel it doesn't show as much respect to that dumb cow that died to provide the food. There are exceptions, of people that simply don't want to think about it so closely, but DO respect the animal they are eating. I think herpers are closer to the food chain, and therefor better people for it.
Sorry so longwinded. It's one of those days.
Wolfy