The Issues with the Live Feeding of Rodents and Why It Must Be Stopped

Author: Mice are not food

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There are millions of snakes that are kept as pets throughout the world. Each and every one of these snakes are usually fed a diet of mice and rats. Most of the time, these rodents are alive when they are fed to the snakes, but sometimes they may be frozen or prepackaged. There are many people who do not realize the number of problems that live feeding rodents to snakes can cause. The live feeding of rodents to other creatures has many issues with it and it needs to be stopped. Read on and visit micearenotfood.org to learn more.

Why Live Rodents?

Proponents for the live feeding of mice and rats to pet snakes like to say that feeding snakes live rodents helps them to remain healthy and feel more like wild snakes. This really is not the case, as many pet owners prefer to use frozen mice and rats, as they provide just as much nutrition but do not require as much attention. In fact, a lot of snake owners do not like to be near

or touch live rodents, and this often pushes them to purchase frozen rats and mice as a way to counteract this fear.

Why Live Feeding of Rodents Must Be Stopped

There are many issues that need to be examined when looking at why feeding live rodents to snakes is a problem. There are a variety of reasons, both from the rodent and the snake’s perspective, as it is a complex issue. Continue reading to find out more about the various reasons why this must be stopped.

Inhumane Treatment

As you can imagine, rat and mice farms provide terrible living conditions for the rats and mice that are kept there. There is little space, as tons of rodents are in one small area. In addition, many times these mice and rats are underfed, especially the less-strong rodents who do not get to eat as much of what is provided. While there are likely many rodent farms that treat their rodents better, a majority of mice and rat farms provide pitiful living conditions.

Stress

Even as bad as the farms are for the rats and mice, they at least can live their lives somewhat contently. However, all of that ends when they are shipped to wherever they are needed. When the rats and mice are shipped to their destination, they experience high levels of

stress, as they are facing new environments and are often scared. This stress not only makes the rodent feel miserable, but it will also actually degrade the quality of the feeder mouse for consumption. If the rodent begins not eating or drinking properly, it will likely be less nutritious and possibly even ill by the time a snake gets to it.

Lacking

There are actually many different things that rodents need to live somewhat happy lives. These items include exercise, food, sunlight, and minimal stress. Rodents who are raised for feeding are generally given no space or opportunities to exercise, and this eventually causes them to become very unhealthy and die more quickly. Lack of food is a fairly obvious problem. A lack of sunlight can actually potentially make a rodent ill and even kill them if it is kept up long enough. Each of these little issues adds up to potentially make a rodent sick and die.

Snake Wounds

This is an appeal to the snake owners of the world. It is important to note that any time you are feeding a live rodent to your snake, there is potential for your snake to be harmed. Between the diseases, cuts, and bites a rodent can leave, snakes can actually be badly injured. It is important to realize that frozen rodents do not cause any of these problems to your reptile.