Does anyone else think this is gross:people feeding LIVE animals to snakes i think its wrong and gross.?

Question

I mean Animals are living creatures and i have to say that i think it is wrong and Gross to feed animals to another animal what about gettining snake food

Answer 1

yeah its gross...

Answer 2

I think it is cruel. And it's not "natural". There is nothing natural about dropping a mouse (which is sometimes "drugged" as the owners say) into a glass box with no escape. The snake knows the enclosure inside and out while the mouse has no idea what's going on. The mouse doesn't even have a chance. This does not happen in nature. Very stressful and in the end painful for the mouse. However like abdul s said it is still less painful than a rat dying from rat poison. :\ Live animals can pass on diseases to the animal that's eating it. Some live prey can also injure the owner's pet... I've seen some horrible wounds all over a snake which were inflicted by the rat it was meant to eat. Live insects it gets a bit tricky. They are neccasary for some pets and can't be fed dead. I think it depends... insects tend to die instantly depending on the animal that's eating it. It's still not nice but I see it a bit more humane than a more intelligent rodent or bird going through tons of stress and hearing them scream in pain when they are caught (have seen some youtube videos). Then again I don't know what the insects go through so... Most animals *don't* need live meat in their diet. A snake, etc can live fine on already dead animals. If a snake won't eat a frozen rat, they often will if you heat it up first. Most snakes that don't eat dead prey are wild caught. Better to support captive bred animals. I agree that many slaughterhouses are terrible. I don't know the situation here in Australia about how animals are put down but I'm trying to find out and I would not eat knowingly eat an animal that comes from a place where they were cruely treated and slaughtered. But yes I eat meat. Not live though. :P I would never use bug spray on an insect or spider, I think it's completely unneccasary and unfair just because it happens to be in a house. Much easier and happier to put them outside. :) I wish more people would follow suite.

Answer 3

1. They do not make 'snake food'- the times they have tried it, it was less healthy and more costly than rodents.

2. The only reason you think this is gross is because you, like most of us, no longer kill your own food- but you gladly eat things someone else killed for you. Even if you choose to only eat plant life, someone in your geneology ate meat since humans are, by nature, choise, and design, omnivores.

3. It is REALLY wrong to commit to keeping a pet, then intentionally keeping it in ways that are unhealthy for it. Denying captive snakes rodents is cruel. It does not matter much whether they are live, freshly killed, or thawed, frozen. They were ALL alive recently.


Now, what I find HILARIOUS is that when I was a volunteer at a local nature center, people would get creeped out by the mice- gross, disgusting animals... until it was time to feed them to the snake, when it was suddenly 'oh, that poor mouse!'.

Animals eat animals. We already know this. Trying to pretend that it is wrong is just plain unrealistic and escapist thinking.

Answer 4

Snakes are a living creature as well. What makes any other animals life more valuable? There is no commercial food that snake owners can just feed their snakes therefore they have to feed them something. Usually their natural diet... Mice, Rats, Gerbils, Hamsters, Rabbits, Guniea Pigs, Pigs, Goats... That is what snakes eat in the wild. Sorry, but that is just the way it is.

By the way, are you aware that most dog food also comes from animals? Where do you think animals go when they are put to sleep at the vet???? Yep.. dog chow. Hope you don't have a dog.

Answer 5

The last time I looked Live animals are what these snakes are eating in the wild. If you think it is gross don't look. If you really can't handle than don't buy a snake. You are taking away the natural ability to hunt from the animal when you feed them Frozen (only other alternative). Tha is unfair to the snake and very unhealthy.

Answer 6

Sorry, my dear. Nature is not all pink and fuzzy like a baby bunny. Nature has something called "the food chain", and small rodents are nature's hamburgers.
If by "snake food", you mean something in a tin can or a pet-food bag like meow mix, there is no such thing. Snakes are MEANT to eat live animals. Their nutritional needs can only be met in this way.
A somewhat less "gross" method of snake feeding is to humanely euthanize the food and keep it frozen. Once thawed and slightly warmed (NOT in a microwave, that gets very messy!), snakes will eat it ok.
At least then you won't have to watch the food struggling and gasping and all that.

Answer 7

SOMETIMES THAT IS THE ONLY FOOD A SNAKE WILL EA\T. SO FOR SOME KEEPERS IT IS EITHER LET THE ANIMAL DIE FROM STARVATION OR KILL A MEMBER OF THE RODENT FAMILY. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS TRY TO FEED A SNAKE OR REPTILE DEAD FIRST BECAUSE SOMETIMES THEY CAN GET HURT BY EATING LIVE FOOD. BUT IF ALL ELSE FAILS AND YOU MUST FEED THEM LIVE IT IS A FACT OF LIFE. YOU MAY NOT LIKE IT BUT IT IS HOW THE CIRCLE OF LIFE IS. MAYBE IF LESS IRRESPONSIBLE PEOPLE WOULD BUY ANIMALS THEY CANT CARE FOR THERE WOULD BE LESS REPTILES THAT EAT LIVE IN THE PET TRADE AND YOU WOULD HEAR ABOUT SOMEONE FEEDING A LIVE ANIMAL TO A SNAKE ALOT LESS.

Answer 8

It's not wrong for snakes to eat live animals. They HAVE to eat live animals--they're the only kind they can see. Most snakes have terrible eye sight, and the only time they can really see things is when they are moving.

How is it any worse than a snake eating a dead animal anyway? The prey is going to die one way or another.

Answer 9

It's great when a snake will eat pre-killed food, but it doesn't always work out that way. Besides, what do you think the snake would eat in the wild? It's completely natural for snakes, and other animals, to hunt for their food.

Answer 10

there is no such thing as "snake food," cuz rats and mice r snake food, it can either be alive or dead (frozen then thawed out) thats probably "the nicest" way to feed them. but all snakes are strictly carnivores, and mice and rats r pests in the wild, and losing 1 or even losing 1000 isnt really a loss at all. so if u r worried about mice or something u shouldnt. cuz theyre fine. also u can buy some at a pet store for pretty cheap if u want to save them. but they eventually smell. so thats nature.... u know animals eating animals.

Answer 11

If you do not wish to feed a snake live food, they sell frozen mice and rats for it that you thaw out. It is a natural process to feed snakes live food, it is what they do in nature. They sometimes wont eat it if it does not move or feel warm. Snakes play a very important role in nature that keeps the rodent population in check.