Another PREVENTABLE tragedy with live feeding - Page 3

Sharlynn93 · 01-15-14, 10:38 PM

from what I read, the owner was a new owner and was told just to put a live rat in the tank...he/she didn't know the risks...now they do...I know it's difficult to switch some snakes to f/t...but luckily so far I have been lucky enough to do it...but still...if I HAD to do it, I never left the side of that tank...if the snake showed no interest within a few minutes, I took it out...

KORBIN5895 · 01-16-14, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharlynn93

from what I read, the owner was a new owner and was told just to put a live rat in the tank...he/she didn't know the risks...now they do...I know it's difficult to switch some snakes to f/t...but luckily so far I have been lucky enough to do it...but still...if I HAD to do it, I never left the side of that tank...if the snake showed no interest within a few minutes, I took it out...

I guarantee you at least one person said to feed f/t.

This is a prime example of why veteran keepers get so frustrated with new keepers. When sound advice is given they either ignore it or take the worst advice given. I can point out several examples over the last two months and often by the same person.

robertjnovak59 · 01-16-14, 09:17 AM

I think a big part of the problem is the information you find when you search online. There is a ton of very bad information out there. For a beginner to sift thru it and find solid advice, it can be overwhelming.

TeaNinja · 01-16-14, 06:43 AM

disgusting. and the thing with the dog is also disgusting. makes me feel like abusing the people lol. xD

seriously though, looking at that picture makes me sick on multiple levels.

**EL Ziggy** · 01-16-14, 10:38 AM

I highly doubt it was intentional, though it was extremely negligent, on the keepers part. I'm pretty sure they feel terrible right now so I won't call them bad names. It's a sad but valuable lesson to the all keepers. We live and we learn. Most times snakes kill rats, sometimes rats kill snakes.

KORBIN5895 · 01-16-14, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertjnovak59

I think a big part of the problem is the information you find when you search online. There is a ton of very bad information out there. For a beginner to sift thru it and find solid advice, it can be overwhelming.

That's why we strive to keep bad info off of here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I highly doubt it was intentional, though it was extremely negligent, on the keepers part. I'm pretty sure they feel terrible right now so I won't call them bad names. It's a sad but valuable lesson to the all keepers. We live and we learn. Most times snakes kill rats, sometimes rats kill snakes.

Rats should never kill snakes. Period.

**EL Ziggy** · 01-16-14, 12:48 PM

Rats should never kill snakes. Period.[/QUOTE]

I agree but sometimes predators do become prey. I'm sure it happens occasionally in nature and it obviously happens more than it should in captivity.

dbank999 · 01-16-14, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Rats should never kill snakes. Period.

This.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I agree but sometimes predators do become prey. I'm sure it happens occasionally in nature and it obviously happens more than it should in captivity.

It should never happen in captivity, ever. One occurance is one too many, the situation is completely avoidable, and if anyone thinks that this is acceptable to occur every now and then due to lack of knowledge in the hobby, then you are lacking just as much common sense as the person who allowed for this snake to be mangled by its "prey".

**EL Ziggy** · 01-16-14, 01:16 PM

It should never happen in captivity, ever. One occurance is one too many, the situation is completely avoidable, and if anyone thinks that this is acceptable to occur every now and then due to lack of knowledge in the hobby, then you are lacking just as much common sense as the person who allowed for this snake to be mangled by its "prey".[/QUOTE]

LOTS of things SHOULD never happen but that doesn't stop them from happening. I never said it was acceptable but I do have enough common sense to accept the reality that bad things DO happen, whether we like it or not.

KORBIN5895 · 01-16-14, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Rats should never kill snakes. Period.

I agree but sometimes predators do become prey. I'm sure it happens occasionally in nature and it obviously happens more than it should in captivity.[/QUOTE]

I doubt a healthy snake would ever be killed by a rat in the wild. A snake would have the ability to flee .

**EL Ziggy** · 01-16-14, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

I agree but sometimes predators do become prey. I'm sure it happens occasionally in nature and it obviously happens more than it should in captivity.

I doubt a healthy snake would ever be killed by a rat in the wild. A snake would have the ability to flee .[/QUOTE]

I don't use absolute terms like never, or ever, because I believe ANYTHING is possible, no matter how improbable. I highly respect the laws of nature and I understand how the food chain "typically" works but lions are 'sometimes ' killed by zebras. It doesn't happen often but it does happen.

mclund · 01-16-14, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Rats should never kill snakes. Period.

at least not in captivity, what happens in the wild is somewhat left up to chance.

poison123 · 01-16-14, 01:29 PM

Mouse**** .

**EL Ziggy** · 01-16-14, 01:46 PM

I respect ALL life and it's sad that one rat killed one snake. 99% of the time the roles would be reversed and people wouldn't care one bit about a rat that's thrown in a tank and suffocated by it's natural enemy. It's not the first time or the last time this will happen so no, I don't get all twisted out of shape about these things. I don't question people's intelligence, common sense or call them morons, idiots, jerks or other bad names for making what appears to be a tragic mistake. Should the keeper have known better? NO DOUBT. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson to others to NOT make the same mistake.

infernalis · 01-16-14, 02:11 PM

Here is exactly what happens, IF the rat had a pile of chow and a water bottle, it never would have turned on the snake.

Rats need a steady supply of food and water.

Mice and rats locked in a box will turn on each other when denied food from any other source.

When I was breeding mice and rats for my own use, all it took was one night of falling asleep before filling their food bowls and by the next morning one of the rats was dead and stripped down to a skeleton and some fur on the ground.

I am in no way condoning what happened, but I know exactly WHY it happened, had the keeper provided something for the rat to eat, a pile of cereal, dog food or a biscuit, the rat would have preferred that over eating snake flesh.

want to see a cool demonstration? lock a solo rat in a fish tank for 24-48 hours with no food and water, now, go stick your hand in there...