| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| rudybear |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 08:01:16
I`m aware that this topic has probably had the arse kicked out of it but as i`m new to the forum i was wondering what the general feeling is towards live feeding weather it`s frowned upon or a necessary evil in certain circumstances ?
Thank you. |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Royalbob |
Posted - 14/02/2011 : 11:46:03
I've used it to kick start one of mine, it has it's place when needed, but i think a live feeder should at least try and be converted to F/T for the safety of the snake. |
| n/a |
Posted - 14/02/2011 : 11:35:02
I've killed a rat. I had an allotment at the time and we were infested; the council sent their operative round and a few days later a very sick rat hobbled out beside me. Luckily I had my spade handy. Instant decapitation. Ratty knew nothing, I hope. Rat poisoning is NOT humane ...
I personally would not live feed unless I absolutely had to. The snake kills fast enough - it's said that a snake kills faster than a CO2 chamber, and judging by the speed of a coil round defrost prey, I can well believe it.
All meat has had to die in some way before we eat it. I've bred and killed my own meat, and I've never spared much pity on the little mousy corpses presented to me by my cats - and your average pet cat kills slowly, and for sport.
To me, the practicalities of live feeding rodents to snakes are the main deterrent. Either you breed your own - fine if you have the space and time, I admit. But if you have to obtain live food, and the snake refuses, then you have to keep that live animal properly housed and fed until it's eaten. What about pinks, pups and fluffs? They can't be left without mother and milk for long. Kinder to euthanase.
Add to that the close supervision needed for a live feed, and the risk of injury to the snake, as BE has said. Also the fact that this country legislates against live feeding; therefore the majority of pet snakes, and their owners, are used to defrost. If I had a snake accustomed to live prey and had to part with it, I would have to find it a home where the owner was prepared to feed live - a difficult proposition.
If I could breed my own rodents, that would be great, but personally I'd CO2 them first.
These are my personal views, by the way, and not meant to be argumentative or cause any offence to other members, and if I've overlapped with anyone else, sorry. |
| chris100575 |
Posted - 14/02/2011 : 08:36:18
Some people have had good results moving live feeders onto freshly killed and from there onto defrost.
It's something I hope I never have to do, I've had rats as pets and I think I'd struggle to kill one. |
| Blackecho |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 17:59:07
Would suggest you try fresh-killed as an intermediate, CO2 them or knock them on the head and then offer. They'l still smell fresh and be nice and warm and would be a less risky alternative. |
| rudybear |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 15:16:02
Thank you for your feedback, The reason i ask the question is because when I purchased my 2 royals last march the previous owner told me they were strike feeding on de-frosted rats..However after 6 months of trying including changing the complete setup of the tank as the previous owner thought a lightbulb painted green was what a python needs for a healthy life..Anyway after trying everything,every tip i`ve read on here and so on..In the end i ended up buying live and no prizes for guessing they almost had my hand off when the saw the mouse having had nothing for the 6 months previous and however long they did`nt eat before that.So i`ve decided to breed mice as to avoid the expense and morality of going to a petshop and buying rats/mice under the pretence of them being pets,,So anyway if anybody in the derby area would like Rats/Mice free of charge then leave me a message because in 5/6 weeks i should have more than me and my friends can get through..
Thank you |
| Blackecho |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 09:58:45
It is not illegal to feed live, but there is a risk to the snake no matter how small it is, so as above it is generally used only as a last resort. Unless buying in a snake from the US for instance where it has been brought up on live, then there should be no need really. |
| blackskull |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 09:38:26
quote:
Originally posted by Kelfezond
Indeed, don't quote me on this but I believe you can live feed in the privacy of your own home still.
i have heard that too but i wouldn't quote me on it either |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 09:29:12
Indeed, don't quote me on this but I believe you can live feed in the privacy of your own home still. |
| blackskull |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 09:16:32
i once had to do this with a royal, it was under advisement from my vet. i bought her as i felt sorry for her, she was badly under weight and i think the pervios owner didn't know what she was doing, the set up was completly wrong. the only thing she would eat was day old chicks. we tried asset fed with no joy then had to fotce feed her. after a while and many chats to the vet he suggested tyring live prey to try and kick start her into feeding he also made many enquiries on my behalf and decided it was the best option.
it was the only time i have done this and it did work. this was many years ago. but the gf, a vet nurse, says they have made changes to the animal welfare act and things might be different now. |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 08:10:10
Absolutely fine in my opinion if supervised rightly however not very financially smart in england. The general rule is that you should only be trying it if the snake wont feed defrost mice, it can be a pain getting them off live food once it's started |
