Jobs

[GorillaJTA]

I used to have 3 snakes, and now I have 1. It is just big enough to feed small rats (<200 g). I fed live animals for years until I started working with them in the lab and got to see how intelligent and responsive they are. At this point, I still buy live (since there is no where I can easily buy frozen around here), but I do a CD before I put the rat into the tank. Since the rat is still warm and smells normal, the snake did not reject it like it did when I tried to feed frozen before. The rat also did not have to suffer the fear and pain of being constricted.

 

[CJR]

For the record, I would not feel any different if we had feeder chinchillas or feeder guinea pigs, feeder bunnies... etc. It does horrify me in a way, but I also accept that some people are going to do it that way and there is little that I can do to change it.

Learning that reptiles can be transitioned to f/t foods does change my opinion a good bit though. I will see what I can do, but honestly I'm not getting my hopes up too high. People are resistant to change and I'll probably get fired if I try to force the issue.

Thank you for the information, it really helped me see this issue on a larger scale. Sorry if my views angered anybody, although personally the thing that horrifies me most is the way the mice are kept... I don't really think about how they die... maybe that's too terrible for me to even consider? Hm.

 

[caiti]

Maybe you can just use the job as an educational tool so you know what the standard protocols are and what actually happens to these animals. In the future, if you want to use this information to try and change those protocols, great.

I understand that practically speaking, there would not be much you could do for these animals on a broad scale. You can make sure the ones you look after during your shifts are cared for the best they can be with what you are given, but anything beyond that is uncertain (as to what you can improve/change). I think you have a realistic perspective.

 

[3CsMommy]

That's all you can do. The only other thing I'd attempt is accurate sexing and separation so that when people pull a Paris Hilton and "rescue" feeders that they have no idea how to care for (http://www.examiner.com/pet-rescue-...n-rescues-20-bunnies-from-becoming-snake-food) at least there's a lower chance that the females are pregnant.

 

[AZChins]

Snakes gotta eat. It happens all the time around here - there's lots of snakes outside eating the rats and mice. I'm not horrified for it, but I am probably never going to have any animal that needs to be fed food that is alive (or be fed rats and mice.) My cats eat them outside all the time..I guess that doesn't count.

So, I have no real opinion except that I hope people are humane with the little critters.

I know you'll do fine in your job and take the best care of the little fuzzies.