56 replies to this topic

[missPixy]

i don't know how many of you have noticed this, but in petco they sell the white red-eyed mice as "feeder mice" for ppl who own snakes.

since the mice are right next to the hamsters and i always visit with the hamsters when i buy supplies, i've witnessed ppl buying up to 6 of the mice to feed to their snakes. oh, and the price of these mice? $1.50 each. the "fancy" mice (dark eyes and colored coats) are i think at least $5 or so.

i wonder what would be the better pressure on petco? insist they raise the price of the feeder mice to $5 each so ppl wouldn't buy them there? or maybe see if there's even a way to make the purchase of the snakes illegal for some reason? this would be better...

dunno... just my personal opinion, but i really don't get the mentality that wants to buy a giant snake, stick him in a tank where all he can do is just lie there under the heat lamp, and then feed this immobile reptile frightened, live little animals .

Edited by missPixy, 13 February 2005 - 12:28 AM.

[50,000_tears]

well im sorry but i see nothing wrong w/ it...the snake is a animal to it needs to eat so yeah..my neighbor saved 2 feeder mice (one died after a year one died after 3!! years) i am not defending snakes but still..they need food too and since they are carnivorius they have to have meat..at my petco they sell feeder mice for a buck and fancy ones for 5 bucks....they dont sell feeder rats at mine anymore and alot of the petco people are rodent people at mine so(one owns rats and they run around the house like cats)

[panther]

Awww... poor mice!!

I see your point, mP. No one wants to see those innocent mice die.

But 5T also has a good point... sigh... >_<

Edited by Panther_Shadow83, 13 February 2005 - 12:36 AM.

[50,000_tears]

well i always see a ton wherever i go..it isnt as bad at petco n petsmart in my area but if i go to my cousins in chicago its petmart has overpopulation w/ everything

[SouthPaw]

Snakes have to eat. But they don't have to eat live mice. I have nothing against snakes eating mice and rats, but it irks me when snake owners don't feed prekilled. It's much better for the snake and rodent, and I don't understand why snake owners don't see this. If you stick a live rat in the cage with the snake, the rat can actually kill it. I don't think it's the most responsible thing to do if you own a snake, and there's definitely no reason to put the rodent through that.

My rats could have been feeders...I got them at Petco, and they didn't have a separate "feeder" bin, but the "fancy" rats and "feeders" were all in the same cage. And of course, they are the plain old PEWs (pink-eyed whites). The pet store employee tried to tell me that a feeder rat could *only* be white, and I so just wanted to yell at her. Anyway, I hate how feeders are chosen because of what color they are. And I hate it even more when people see a really fancy rat or mouse, and say "how could something so fancy looking possibly be a feeder?". A rat (or mouse) is a rat (or mouse). Just because one is plainer than the other doesn't mean they deserve to end up in a snake's belly. >:(

At least Petsmart doesn't sell feeders....

[missPixy]

my point abt ppl owning the snakes is that in the wild, the mice have a chance... probably the snake will eat the sicker ones or the ones who just didn't know any better.

hmmm... i wonder what ppl would think if somebody decided they wanted to keep a live tiger, or other larger carnivore, and fed this animal dogs and other smaller animals? why would this be any different?

also, if you buy a snake, then you go into the deal knowing you're gonna be buying the mice, so my point is that some ppl probably even enjoy this part of it.

[missPixy]

Snakes have to eat. But they don't have to eat live mice. I have nothing against snakes eating mice and rats, but it irks me when snake owners don't feed prekilled. It's much better for the snake and rodent, and I don't understand why snake owners don't see this.

...My rats could have been feeders...I got them at Petco, and they didn't have a separate "feeder" bin, but the "fancy" rats and "feeders" were all in the same cage.

southPaw, somebody told me that snakes won't eat prekilled, they have to have live. is this person wrong?

at one smaller petstore in my area, they chose the "feeder" mice by the ones that bit... if the mouse/rat bit somebody trying to pick him or her up, that mouse became a feeder.

this included my egyptian spiny mouse! who turned out to be one of the most affectionate, wisest rodent i've ever known.

[SouthPaw]

Some snakes won't eat the prekilled, but I've read this can be easily fixed by thawing the rat/mouse out (ew), and then putting it on a stick or something, and wiggling it around so the snake thinks it's alive. It apparently works...

If I were a rat/mouse at a pet store, I would of course try and bite anyone who picked me up. Poor guys have to be terrified of everyone, and I'm sure most people grab them by their tails. :( It's sad...but as long as people keep snakes, rats/mice are going to keep getting killed.

[J Man]

my cousin used to have a snake but had to give it away cuz it was to big, and he said he would buy the mice and freez 'em...mice dont live to long in cold so they die faster and less painfully, but im still against selling mice as food...no matter if snakes have to eat or not

[SouthPaw]

Eh...I don't think freezing them is too much of a humane way. Their tissues freeze up, that has got to hurt. It would be just as bad as a human standing out in freezing weather, in like a tank top and shorts.

Some people drown them, or just whack them on head. I'm thinking CO2 is the most humane out of all the options, other than a vet euthanizing them. But I don't think someone would spend that money just to feed it to their snake. :P

[panther]

What's CO2?

[SouthPaw]

Carbon...something. Carbon dioxide? O₂ is oxygen (right?), so I think CO₂ is carbon dioxide. I don't know, I just know it's one of the most "humane" ways.

[berrylux]

I don't like snakes that much either, some people I know own them. One friend has a cobra, and has to feed live mice. Snakes have to have live rodents, their eyes are different from ours. They see the warm blood of mice and live rodents, in their eyes warm blood is an orange blur, they will aim for a live rodent than a frozen rodent. With no warm blood, it would appear as a blue blur to them. However I think it's better for rodents to be prekilled so they don't suffer, but you have to heat them up so the snake will be likely to eat it. Animals are in the food cycle, All of them have to eat. I think snake should only eat insects only because I think they're "yucky". I feel bad for all the animals that have to die, but that was how nature was made to be. People own snakes because they are exotic pets. I wouldn't own one, except for a small one that eats bugs. Because of the stories I've heard from all over, snakes attacking owners, it scares me.

[Hannah]

Snakes can eat food that is gassed (knocks them out almost immediatly and kills them in seconds) and frozen, most require a transition. If you read a reptile forum you can see that most members disapprove of live feeding as the mice/rats can severly injure the snake (there are some pictures on the internet of snakes who have had their entire backs striped of flesh down to the bone as well as ones who have scars and missing eyes). Most reptile sites/forums suggest gassing mice and wiggling them to get the snake to eat it. Most of the people who buy live food just want to see snakes kill, they have no concern for the well being of ether animal and should not own them. I heard one story of someone who thought it was "so cool" to see snakes kill prey and the snake was so badly injured (missing chunks of flesh on it's back, neck, and head) it had to be put down. Live prey come at the expense of both animals, not just the mice. It takes one mishap with live prey (despite the obvious cruelty to the mice) to perminantly scar or critically wound a snake.

[Nelson]

hmm...i saw on Animal planet that even tho it's gross, it's the way of nature, but i have to agree with all of your points, Like shark, Snakes eat on "sick" animals