Rodent Question

[palane]

Hi

I was wondering i just found out the it is illegal to feed live rodent to snakes and other reptile is this true....

[Pythoninfinite]

Yes it is. And it's also a bad idea from the point of view of risk to your snake, and the inhumanity to the rodent . They don't always die quickly and they may do significant damage to your snake in the meantime.

Jamie.

[tempest]

Hi palane,

Yes, it is true (I think in all states?). Not only is it illegal, the rodent can do terrible damage to your reptile which could also lead to death. Do a search on the site and you will see some photos of what's happened to snakes who've been fed live prey. After seeing them you wouldn't want to risk your animal.

Btw, welcome to the site!

[palane]

We've been feeding live for now over 15yrs and had no problems...

Im just worried about all these new was ppl are killing the rodent before feeding them to the snake... There was the Gas Chamber using Carbon Dioxide to kill the rats/mice, that to me sounds more dangerous then feeding live as you have just poisioned the food....

Our snakes wont eat anything but live food...

[cris]

It depends on the laws in your state, in most states including Qld it is illegal to feed live vetebrates(including fish) to any animal that will eat dead food items.

So if your snake doesnt need live food, dont give it live food. This is the best thing to do anyway regardless of the law.

If you are going to do it anyway make sure that you only use younger rodents that cant bite through the snakes scales. Also never leave a live rodent in with a snake unattended.

[cris]

Co2 is in the air mate if it was poisionous you would be dead now.
Most snakes will accept dead food if you put some effort in, but there will be exceptions.
Fussy snakes that ppl say will only eat live food will usually eat fresh killed animals that are still kickin, just grab their tails wack their heads on a hard surface and feed to the snake straight away.

[cris]

Oh yeah welcome to the site

[palane]

Hmmmm i think i'll stick to live...

I can't bring myself to hit them, i usually get bitten first by the rat

In the 15-20yrs we've had snakes we have had no problems in feeding live, the only time one nearly need to see a vet is when our female diamond python decided she wanted to eat our male but now our snakes eat guinea pigs as rats are too small for them, but our juvinille ones eat mice and small rats... Usually the their feed dosen't hit the ground when feeding time is on...

On the other hand i can see why ppl euthanise their reptile food before feeding them, but i preferr mine to eat naturally...

[Bonustokin]

G'day Palane,
Think about it this way......
Would you rather be shot dead and fed to a Lion, or be put in a Lion pen to be eaten alive?
I know which option i would take.

I cant understand how you cant hit a rat over the head, but you can watch it run around trying to escape, and die a slow death.....
weird....

[munkee]

mmmm..... popcorn.

[Kiwicam]

Originally Posted by palane

Hmmmm i think i'll stick to live...

I can't bring myself to hit them, i usually get bitten first by the rat

Better the rat bites the snake then huh

[scotchbo]

I think we need to get comfy cause this is guna go for day's

[Veredus]

Originally Posted by cris

Co2 is in the air mate if it was poisionous you would be dead now.
.

Co2 is a poisonous gas, hence it kills the rats when you put them in a euthanasia chamber. Saying that Co2 must not be posinonous because it is in the air and we do not die is like saying that hydrogen is non combustible because water cant catch on fire(Hydrogen is the major component of the worlds most powerful explosive weapons). The concentration of Co2 in the air simply is not high enough to be lethal. There are a number of highly toxic gases present in the atmosphere(ozone for example) but they are not present in high enough concentrations to do damage.

[Pythoninfinite]

An excess of CO2 suffocates the rodents. CO2 is not "highly toxic." If it was you'd die from drinking your first soft-drink. All you are doing by gassing your rodents with CO2 is reducing the access to oxygen.

Jamie.

[Veredus]

A excess of CO2 actually causes a break down in internal cell structures, if it were in equal concentrations with oxygen there would still be serious effects to the body, increased amounts of CO2 in the body cause excessive reactions of the gas with the H20 in the blood and thus a rise in carbonic acids, this can destroy ideal enzyme environments causing cells to misfunction and die.

Forgot to note, if you drank enough soft drink (Quite a lot would be needed which would give rise to other problems to do with fluid intake and caffeine as well) that the same effect could begin to be achieved, an increase in the pH of the blood.