Pet Store[good<>bad]

[CyberGhost]

I was at my local pet store the other day and this frantic lady come in with a BP it was under 3ft but not sure of the age. the lady sais" I have this snake that hast eaten in over a year and I dont want it anymore so yall can have it." So she leaves it there we all gather around to examine it. Finally we decide to try and feed it. This is where it gets iffy the store feeds live, but they hold the tails of the mice/rats with thongs and dangle it in front of the snake until they stryke. Well we did this and the snake ate abotu six of them with no problems. So my question is, is the pet shop wrong in the way they feed? I know its not right to fee dlive but the way they do it seems to be kinda safe. I've also tried feeding liek this once or twice works well. But I just wanted everyones opnion on the subject. I dont think I will feed like that anymore i do not want to take the chance of the animal falling and hurting my snakes. I have seen the pix and that is just horrible.

[yankeefoxtrot]

Hmm, it is a lot more safe then just tossing one in the cage but with live food you never know what position the prey will end up in when it is constricted. It could end up with its mouth right next to your snakes and that would be no good. also if the mouse gets a shot at the eye right when the snakes strikes it would go blind. Not likly to happen but it has. those are my thoughts. Good question though.

Lucas

[Andy_G]

The snake could still easily get nailed if the mouse is wrapped wrong. I don't like live at all, and almost all snakes, as long as they are fairly young and not totally hooked on live, can be switched over. It is safer the way they are doing it though, but not safe enough IMO.

[Kara]

Why not just stun the food for the snake? That way it is technically "live" but cannot harm your snake.

[Mr.Lizard]

That's what I do with my monitor's food.
Just a quick knock to the skull and you have a fresh warm meal
for your herp. Sometimes still moving although scent and warmth
are probably strong enough stimulants without the poor thing
still twitching.

[Lizzy]

I agree that it's not the best idea to feed live because of the biting issue, but if a snake isn't eating, sometimes they are more attracted to a live mouse that smells like a mouse and wiggles. It gets them eating. The mouse in that situation is also not allowed to run around the cage, creating more of a hazard for the snake. On the flip side, what happens to wild snakes? They don't have the luxury of finding thawed prey that they can just swallow. Has anyone ever caught a snake that has bite marks on it? Snakes are supposed to kill their pray.

I recomend feeding frozen if people buy a snake, but if done responsibly, I don't pannic if someone feeds live...especially if that's what they're snake is eating.

Lizzy

[Lisa]

feeding live food that can bite back isn't good no matter how you dangle the mouse. there's no debate on it.

[Bryce Masuk]

If the snake hadnt eaten In a year and wont eat frozen It will eat live snakes are smarter then most people realize they will often roll the prey so it cant bite them anywhere live sometimes is he only way you dont have time to screw around when a snake is skin and bones
But Feeding it 6 mice quickly will most likely cause it to puke them back up......

[Linds]

Feeding live should only be used when absolutely necessary. Most snakes can be switched over to prekilled of f/t, so I do not agree with the stores practice. In addition, the longer you keep feeding a snake live, the more difficult it is to swtich, and it is a major buying point for many customers that the snake be feeding on f/t.

[Bryce Masuk]

I agree only when needed is the best way but in this case it seems like it was needed