Is it okay to feed a snake live mice?
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Is it okay to feed a snake live mice?
Live prey should not be fed to snakes. Even a small mouse can bite and severely injure a pet snake by inducing a severe potentially life-threatening infection from the bite. Snakes should be trained to eat dead prey. It is more humane for the prey and safer for the snake.
Where can I find live mice for snakes?
Your best chance at buying live mice is from a local pet store. Franchise pet stores may carry live mice for snakes, but they’re less likely to have an adequate supply than a private store. Some snake owners complain that the corporate pet stores rarely keep the size of rodents they need in stock.
Does PetSmart sell live mice for snakes?
The snakes sold at PetSmart are carnivores, which means they eat meat specifically, mice or rats. PetSmart recommends Arctic Mice, which are frozen.
Are live mice better for ball pythons?
Ball pythons instinctually prefer to eat live prey but can be trained to eat frozen mice.
Should I feed my snake live or frozen mice?
Frozen Prey Has No Parasites Freezing kills many parasites that can be present in prey, so there is no risk of your snake being exposed to any illness or disease. As well as this, as live prey is more susceptible to injuring your snake, even if it’s just a minor scratch, this leaves them vulnerable to infections.
Is it cruel to live feed?
Live-feeding of animals is an inhumane practice that must be avoided whenever possible. It is only justified if a predator absolutely cannot be trained to eat anything but live prey.
Can I give my ball python live mice?
It is best to feed your ball python one mouse per feeding. Especially with live mice, the snake will have a more challenging time catching more than one mouse at a time. Feeding live mice already come with the risk of the tables turning and your snake becoming the prey or, at the very least, the one who could get hurt.
Where do you get mice to feed snakes?
The snakes sold at PetSmart are carnivores, which means they eat meat specifically, mice or rats.
Does PetSmart sell live feeder mice?
Re: Do petsmart offer live mice feeds? The Petsmart here only sells frozen mice.
How do you get live feeder mice?
Your best chance at buying live mice is from a local pet store. Franchise pet stores may carry live mice for snakes, but they’re less likely to have an adequate supply than a private store.
Can you buy field mice?
Wild mice can be kept as pets, same as any tame mouse you buy in a pet store, the only difference is, that wild mice have to be captured at one particular point in their lives, and not earlier or later. Plus, they live longer than the pet store variety of mouse and are generally healthier and stronger.
Does PetSmart sell live mice for feeding?
Re: Do petsmart offer live mice feeds? The Petsmart here only sells frozen mice.
Does Petco sell live mice for snakes?
Immediately informing my supervisor, I was told not to worry about it because the animal was just a feeder mouse. PETCO, you see, stocks live mice and rats to be sold as food for pet snakes.
Do snakes prefer live or frozen mice?
Snakes should be trained to eat dead prey. It is more humane for the prey and safer for the snake. Snakes can be offered either thawed, previously frozen prey, or freshly killed ones. You do not have to kill the prey yourself, as most pet stores will supply freshly killed or frozen rodents to feed.
What can I feed my snake if I don’t have mice?
While rats are a popular food source for some snakes, snakes will eat what’s available to them.
- Insects. Smaller snakes, such as the garter snake, will eat a variety of insects, including crickets, cockroaches and insect larva, such as mealworms.
- Small Rodents.
- Eggs.
- Birds and Fish.
- Snakes and Lizards.
- Larger Mammals.
02-Oct-2017
Is it better to feed ball pythons live or frozen mice?
These strong snakes are ambush predators and use their colorful scale patterns to blend into their environment and ambush prey. As pets, ball pythons feed on rodents and are happy eating either live or pre-killed prey
Is frozen or live better for snakes?
If you can get your snake to eat frozen it’s safer for her and more convenient for you. It’s easier to stock up, then just go to the freezer and get one out. Feeding live is just as safe as f/t if done right. And what’s more convenient depends on the individual keeper.
Is it OK to feed my ball python live mice?
It is best to feed your ball python one mouse per feeding. Especially with live mice, the snake will have a more challenging time catching more than one mouse at a time. Feeding live mice already come with the risk of the tables turning and your snake becoming the prey or, at the very least, the one who could get hurt.
Are you supposed to feed snakes live mice?
The key points to remember are that feeding pre-killed prey to pet snakes is safer and more convenient than feeding live prey. If your snake is unable to quickly kill a live prey item, the prey can inflict some nasty wounds on a snake since they are kept in a confined area.
Is Live feeding necessary?
Is live prey feeding necessary? Live prey feeding to animals kept in captivity is seen as necessary by some to promote behaviours that occur naturally in the wild [8] and therefore may have beneficial impacts on the animals’ behavior, general health and lifespan [24].
Is it cruel to feed live mice to snakes?
Live prey should not be fed to snakes. Live prey should not be fed to snakes, as the prey will not only suffer psychological stress while being hunted by the snake, but also threaten to harm the snake by biting it before they are eaten.
Is Live feeding better than frozen?
Currently under the 1911 Act it is not illegal to feed a live vertebrate to another unless you cause it unnecessary suffering, so that would have to be the result of a court case and the judge would have to make a decision.
Should I Feed My ball python live or frozen mice?
Snakes should be trained to eat dead prey. It is more humane for the prey and safer for the snake. Snakes can be offered either thawed, previously frozen prey, or freshly killed ones. You do not have to kill the prey yourself, as most pet stores will supply freshly killed or frozen rodents to feed.
Can you feed your pet snake live mice?
If your snake is unable to quickly kill a live prey item, the prey can inflict some nasty wounds on a snake since they are kept in a confined area. This is especially true if you are feeding rats (for example to a large python or boa constrictor) but even a small mouse can cause injury to a snake
When should you start feeding your ball python live mice?
When to feed hatchling Ball pythons Obviously you shouldn’t have to deal with the very first meal in the hatchlings life, unless you have bred these snakes yourself. But I like to wait until after the first shed has happened which is generally around five to seven days after hatching