live feeders... long rant....

Cas · 08-15-03, 12:01 AM

***apologies to those here who feed live... my personal opinion is that F/T is better, and I'm having a bad day

***

I cannot believe how many people out there feed live! I'm working in a pet store, and we get 100 mice in ~once a month... and we sell virtually every one as a feeder for a snake. And generally, it's not to people who's snakes won't eat frozen... one of our customers is feeding a snake he bought from us <i>who we were feeding F/T</i>. *sigh* I try to tell people that feeding live is dangerous, more expensive, and less convienient (there's usually one week a month where we're out of live mice - and we virtually NEVER have live pinkies (don't get me started on the people who come in once a week for a live pinky, and then blame us for 'starving their snake'... but won't try a frozen one) ). Some people just don't know... one person I told that he has to watch his snake so it doesn't get bitten.... "really?! the mouse will bite my snake?! They actually fight back?". Believe it or not, those were the actual words. At least some are willing to listen and think about it... I suppose that's a start. What annoys me are the people who say "oh, but he does really well.... he always squeezes the h*ll out of the mouse about 30 seconds after it's put in the cage". What about the time he grabs the wrong part of the mouse? Or misses? Or the season changes and it's not hungry? But until the snake gets bit, it's just too 'cool' to watch them eat live (that's what people tell me... it's just so cool!).

Even better, we have never had live hopper mice, and have live fuzzies even less than pinkies (cause almost none stick around to become fuzzies)... what are all these people feeding live pinkies going to do when their snake grows up?

Or, the people who feed their adult corns multiple F/T pinkies because they're not cute like adult mice....

Grr... it's an excercise in frustration some times....

Dawn

HetForHuman · 08-15-03, 12:20 AM

like i said before, some people need to grab a brain.

the only reason you should even consider feeding live is if you have tried every other possibility with F/T. IMO.
i have not had to deal with feeding live and i hope i never have to.
But the people that think it is cool to feed live all the time need to get a clue, and maybe they will realize what they did wrong when they wind up with a dead snake or two.

Mike177 · 08-15-03, 12:31 AM

i totally agree! but if people want to but 5 pinkies and feed it to there snakes rather than 1 mouse, hell its there money! but i beleve that there is no reson to take more life than is apsolutly nessesary!

Cas · 08-15-03, 12:55 AM

Pinkies have less nutrition in them - especially a lot less calcium.... it's like an adult survivng on baby cereal. You'll live, but not well, and not very healthy... and you'll probably shorten your lifespan.

Dawn

TheRedDragon · 08-15-03, 10:04 AM

*GRRRRR* That makes me just want to work in a pet store so that I can perhaps "enlighten" these ignorant individuals. It's so frustrating when you provide someone with accurate information and they're too stubborn to act on it. Oh well, I need a second job anyway, so, I may as well see if PetSmart or Picses is looking for help in the reptile department.

HetForHuman · 08-15-03, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TheRedDragon
[B I may as well see if PetSmart or Picses is looking for help in the reptile department.

[/B]

i go to picses all the time and they are one of the better pet stores ive seen. but some of the people still have no clue.

Go teach them up RedDragon

Samba · 08-15-03, 02:11 PM

We have so many animal cruelty laws, it's unbelivable that
A.) People are still feeding live, and
B.) That there aren't any laws to prevent it.

In my opinion, feeding rodents, rabbits, and other animals to carnivorus reptiles should be regulated. Pet stores shouldn't even be selling live feeder animals. It should be mandated that animals such as these are humanely dispatched and properly stored for reptile owners.

People lobby to get dogs and cats spayed and neutered, vacinated and registered, yet reptile owners for the most part don't have to worry with such rules for their animals. No rats, mice or rabbits should EVER have to suffer when many snakes, monitors, and tegus willingly take the same animals F/T.

Who cares about what is natural and what happens in the wild? Obviously, our reptiles are our pets, and even though many of us don't care much about the food they receive, (at least not in an emotional way), these are living creatures raised by man. I'd like to see who would support a person feeding their dogs live goats, sheep, or baby cattle... hey it could happen in the wild!

On another note I'd like to mention a GOOD quality about PetCo and PetsMart... these places do not sell rodents as food at all... neither live or dead.

elevation24 · 08-15-03, 02:24 PM

What? The Petcos around here sell both dead/frozen feeders (mice and rats) and live feeder mice. I've never purchased a live feeder but have seen people asking for them specifically for feeding purposes and then see them purchase.

I don't know about Petsmart.

Invictus · 08-15-03, 03:51 PM

The option MUST be there to purchase live. I have a Kenyan who has been fed live her whole life and we were JUST able to get her over the fresh killed. And by fresh, I mean whacked and right into her mouth. It's the only way she'll take it. We have the same problem with our baby Kenyan. (See the Erycines forum if you want the full detail.)

Anyway, for those of us who are either unwilling or unable to breed our own rodents, the option HAS to be there for us so that our snakes don't starve. It's a sad fact, but some snakes just will not take prekilled prey.

08-15-03, 04:03 PM

I see it as keep your laws off of my herps, all of them including this bad idea.

Lisa · 08-15-03, 04:04 PM

I've dealt with a few pet stores that won't sell certain rats for food.