i had a quick look but couldn't find an answer to this: is it illegal to feed live mice/rats to reptiles in the UK? i don't want to do it - i feed mine frozen. but a friend of a friend feeds their pet live food. i know there is no "nice" way to feed one animal to another, but surely using pre-killed, frozen mice is less cruel than feeding them live? thanks for any answers
Hi, You can be prosecuted for "Cruelty to animals" under British law. Subjected to a heavy fine and could also be banned from keeping animals. I see no need to feed live, there are risks involved, namely the mouse/rat could inflict serious damage to a snake, if not eaten straight away. Why subject a mouse/rat to that terrifying ordeal been trapped in a cage with no escape. Anyone who does feed live would have to breed their own as any petshop would soon latch on to the fact of someone buying live rodents on a regular basis and could report it. Pre-killed and frozen/thawed is the best way. In 16 yrs of keeping snakes I have never once fed live and all my snakes are over 10yrs old now and one of 17yrs and they have been perfectly happy eating F/T. There is absolutely no need to feed live in my opinion and I disagree completely with it.
i wasn't endorsing feeding live food - i am totally against it. i had an idea that it was illegal but wasn't sure. i just find it totally unacceptable and unecessary to put a snake in danger and a mouse in so much pain! i am trying to find out the person who is feeding live food and try to persuade them against it. thank you for your reply.
From your original post it was obvious you didn't agree with it for the same reasons I have myself. Hope you do find this person and change their minds. Kudos to you my friend.
Haha. Nothing annoys me more than ignorance where animals are concerned! Not only is this idiot putting a mouse through an unecessary amount of stress and suffering, he is putting his reptile are risk when the mouse tries to defend itself!!!! I'll let you know how it goes!! What snakes you got, just out of interest??
I got 2 adult boa constrictors around 9ft Sub-adult female 5.5ft (daughter of above) Albino Californian kingsnake and a western hognose You can see them HERE If you check out the Albums on left hand side they are all there.
The law itself is a bit of a grey area. In some cases, live HAS to be fed to stop the snake from dying. I do not agree with it in the slightest but i believe if it is to stop the death of a snake, its not illegal.
You are correct Luke, if it stops the snake dying then you can feed live. As you say, it's a grey area but as the RSPCA are now overseeing the Animal Welfare Bill as there is no other body set up to do it. We all know they are anti-reptile as a lot of the senior executives have been or are connected with the anti-reptile groups. Avoiding prosecution would be an uphill task if it went that far.
k hello everyone, I agree that one should try to feed frozen, but I had aweird sistuation where i'm now feeding live.spooks is 4 1/2 years old. I aquired spooks when he was the size of a worm. he was so young. he was on small pinkies lol. and one would do him for a week. gosh that seems like a lifetime from now. he tried to hybpernate the first year of the cold. he didnt make it long before he came out demanding food. the second year he did hybernated and he came out of the cave a hungry. so I continued with the frozen. we did have a mishap with poor spookies. I never kept him in his cage hardly I swear he grew up on my kitchen table , but he crawled into a coke a cola 12 pk. box. while I was doing dishes, and jammen out to tunes. that my daughter tried to help me and put the 12 pks into the fridge. i spent 2 days trying to find him even had my husband look into the heater duck. he wasnt happy. never thought about the fridge. about 3 in the morning I went to the fridge for a soda, and I went to screaming I found my poor snake. hollering he's dead. woke my daughter up and she was nice enough to pull spooks out. held him up and said I think he is dead.starting to catch my breath, and my marbles. nursing training hit. its not dead till there warm. well he went into the kitchen sink to warm up he started to twitch, then he had a grandmall siesure. he came around. he also got extremely sick. after this episode. spooks would not eat frozen. he lost 4 oz. before I gave in and gave him a live mouse.vet said he could have made it for up to 4 weeks like that. got my butt chewed out for sticking him in warm water. he said that is what got him so sick.he said I should have just put him in the cage and let him warm up by himself.I'm in the nursing field. not a vet. but I know I wouldnt have made it if i didnt find him for 4 weeks. so I feed live. but I think its under extreeme reasons. and its almost a funny to have a laugh. anyone that has snakes hasto have little stories like this. they are houdini. I agree that its harm to the mouse. but they are a pest. are you allowed to have an exterminator to kill mice in your house? or are they protected like that as well? since they do carry so many deseases.? I'm not trying to start a arguement, I just think this is a little extreeme for the humane society gets ya. I knew brit laws were harsh but this one makes you scratch your head.
