is Raising feeder mice for you?

[Loren]

I have an extra fridge/freezer just for snake food. It contains mice, rats, frogs, guppies, lizards, and an albino pacific gophersnake that I found in the wild (dead on road). And worms in the fridge.

I have never had a problem putting down a rodent for snake food. But, I also never pet them or name them. I look at them as snake food from the day they are born- although I do make sure they are well taken care of, to a basic level anyways.

[Garter_Gertie]

Loren, I think you'll find - at the risk of offending the FemaNazis that may be here - it's going to be usually women that have the prob of using raised anjumuls for feeders. Personally, I think it's gender related.

I've never had kids, but my nuturing, mothering, loving, etc., comes out with my pets. I won't go into detail and list my whys and wherefores and what I feel and believe because I know it wouldn't be accepted.

So, on the whole, ittiz my belief more women then men would have a hard time keeping mousies for feeders.

Opinion.

[Loren]

That is a definite possiblitly, but I will leave that to each female to decide.

I was born and raised on a dairy, so I was brought up "in the food chain". I think that probably afects me too. I do however, feel that even feeder animals should be treated respectfully.
By the way, I am not afraid to claim that my family's dairy probably offers the best living conditoins a farm animal could hope for, living up to the "happy cows come from California" slogan. And yes, our hundreds of cows do get to graze in green pastures.

Not to say I am going to house my rodents each in a huge habitrail full of toys, but that they will have fresh food, water, and bedding, not be kept too crowded, and they have a temperature controlled climate.

[infernalis]

Well, OK my original opener post did mention habbitrail...

The local dollar store had some of the tunnel pieces, so I compulsively spent $5 and hooked the pieces together, they use them.

The mice are in $5 rubbermaid totes, not the clear kind either.

The local pet store sells a basic grain/seed mix for a buck a pound, so I feed them from that.

The Ritz and pop tarts, stale leftovers from my kids, but the mice love the stuff! and I don't feel like my kids are wasting food if it still gets a good use.

The exercise wheels, well that would be kinda wrong to NOT provide that for them, since they cannot run far in a tote.

Only the moms ever get a name

[Loren]

Sounds like they are well taken care of Wayne. By the way, I wasnt refering to any of this thread's beginning posts when I posted ealier today- I actually just started reading this long thread and didnt read it all yet.

[Hornets23]

I actually had mice as pets for a long time before I ever thought about getting snakes. It seems like a practical idea to have a litter here and there to feed the pinkies to the snakes though...I only have two snakes, so i wouldn't need a lot of them.

[infernalis]

Sounds like they are well taken care of Wayne. By the way, I wasnt refering to any of this thread's beginning posts when I posted ealier today- I actually just started reading this long thread and didnt read it all yet.

Sorry if it sounded as if I was getting defensive, I tend to sound that way sometimes.

I read the opening post again today, and realized how misleading it looked.

I kinda go for the happy cow analogy, happy food is healthy food.

Still sucks when I whack a mouse over the head before I feed it off.

Finally got a system down that works, sounds cruel, but really it's not, I spin them once by the tail onto a hunk of steel to execute them just moments prior to feeding.

I used to place them in with the snakes alive (totally natural, the way it works in the wild) until one bit a chunk out of my Pueblan. Now I pre-kill prior to placing in the cage.

[Hornets23]

Is it necessary to pre-kill pinkies?

[infernalis]

no it is not, rather hard to do without a C02 chamber.

It does take some thick skin, since it does seem cruel, but hey we feed live fishies and worms also and they are living creatures also.

Pinkies have no teeth, so they are not going to bite the snake.

The most barbaric of all, our Savannah Monitor "Chomper" he brutally bashes the poor mouse into his rock pile before he sucks them down.

I cannot watch Sometimes he just "inhales" the mousie before it even makes it to the floor of his cage!

However, when he smashes the big hissing cockroach into a gross pudding, I don't feel much remourse....

[Rook]

we do, but I dont know how nessasary it is.

with our Gerbils, they are pets first and formost, with large cages, deep bedding, lots of toys and chewies, high quality food etc.. we only breed the best temperments, we will cancel plans to use one as a breeder if they get sick at any point in life etc.. they are treated like any other pet, we just happen to skim pinkies off of litters for the snake(soon to be snakeS)