KORBIN5895 said,
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No is is feeding rodents mazuri in the wild and both rodents and snake have done fine for centuries.
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First, that is absolutely true--but rodents living in the wild have a
FAR greater variety of foods in their diet than oatmeal, potatoes, and carrots, or cheap dogfood. In addition,
snakes living in the wild also have a far greater variety of food sources--even if they eat "only" mice (which I take leave to doubt; I'll bet they eat other critters as well, generating even greater variety in their diet)--because they might eat one mouse or mouse family one day, then eat another mouse/family from a different area yards away another day, which would mean that the mice had been eating different things.
Second, I totally agree that the mouse with the hole in its ribs had to have more/other problems than feed; however, the feed may have caused the issue indirectly. If that mouse was housed with other mice, which many mice breeders do, and if they were all fed inadequately, then some more aggressive mice might easily have begun gnawing on a mouse weakened/slowed by pregnancy. I'm only guessing on that, though, and I definitely do not dispute your argument. I don't buy from that breeder, though not originally for that reason, and having an established relationship with another source that I'm confident uses good husbandry and top quality feed means I don't need to change my source.
Third, I also think you're correct that there are no shared mammalian-reptilian diseases, though we could both be wrong.
However, if one's mice or rats are diseased or become susceptible to disease because they are weakened by inadequate nourishment, then the breeder would be putting himself or herself at risk. In June of 2012, there was a problem at a rodent breeding facility in the U.S. with Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, known as LCM or LCMV. This is a viral disease hosted by rodents that affects nearly five percent of the mice population. While it is rodent-born, humans are placed at risk of becoming very ill if exposed to fresh mice or rat urine, droppings, or saliva of mice/rats carrying the disease. This is not something I would want to have to deal with. (Source:
Farm World – weekly farm newspaper source for ag news, classifieds, auctions)
While I would argue that size and quality are not completely correlated (think about obese people and the respective proportions of protein and fat in such people, just for a start), I do believe that Mykee is an exemplary representative of a snake breeder whose concern for his snakes is so high that he wouldn't skimp on feeding their food. I've read many of his posts and his concern for good husbandry in all areas is very obvious.
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