So I was shopping for dog food.... and can't keep my mouth shut!

Sorry Ron, I usually agree with you, but not here. Feeding snakes live rodents is a horribly outdated, dangerous, and cruel practice that has not been considered the responsible thing to do in the snake world for many years now. For all the reasons stated above.
 

In my estimation, a snake is a snake and they eat live rodents.

 
They don't swallow their prey live...they kill it first. By that same token, should we allow all of our other carnivorous pets...cats and dogs....to chase down, terrorize, and kill their prey before eating it?
 
I by no means have a problem with nature and the fact that animals eat other animals and that it is often done in a fairly brutal fashion...that's the way the world works. This is not an issue of "Oh but rodents are cute and fuzzy and its MEAN to feed them to snakes!" I've had many snakes and monitor lizards over the years, all who ate rodents. I've gone over many reasons as to why it is a health issue for the snakes, and a cruelty issue for the rodents, to be put into that situation.
 
Captive snakes are not in a wild state. They are living with humans. *Some* species of snakes are bordering on domestication at this point. The fact is there's nothing "natural" about putting a predator in a small cage, throwing its terrified prey in with it, and letting them have it out. In the wild, that rodent never knows what hits it....it goes about its life until the time comes and then its death is as quick as possible. In captivity, that rodent is stuck in that glass box, inches away from a huge predator, with absolutely no chance of escape. I have seen some snakes ignore prey for hours before deciding to eat. Rats especially are intelligent animals...more intelligent than dogs...and it is nothing short of torture to subject them to something like that. In the wild, they would have a chance of escape. There is nothing natural about taking that away from them.
 
When I did rat rescue, I was given my share of rats who had spent a day or two with no food or water, stuck in a snake cage with a snake that refused to eat. They were, for the most part, the only rats I could never rehabilitate. They would have night terrors- leap out of a sleeping position screaming and biting, then sit in the corner shaking and wild eyed for hours unable to sleep. They never trusted a human hand again...not after someone picked them up and threw them in with a "monster." Most of them began biting and had to be handled with thick gloves...and it is very rare for a rat to bite. They never interracted with the other rats...they were too traumetized. They remained furtive, scared, and ruined for the rest of their lives...one or two came around, but in most of those situations, they had to be euthanized. Throwing a live rodent, ESPECIALLY a super intelligent, sensitive rat who KNOWS what is going on to a snake in a big glass box is not natural or humane...it is torture.
 
Nor is it "natural" to force a snake to be stuck in a tiny cage with its prey- in the wild, if the snake happens to be bitten or injured by its prey, it can let go and ESCAPE...not so in captivity. And as I've mentioned before, more than one snake has been bitten, injured, or killed by its prey. It is INCREDIBLY common for this to happen.
 
Here are a few articles on live vs. prekilled by Melissa Kaplan...she's a very well respected herp vet.
[linkhttp://www.anapsid.org/prekill.html]http://www.anapsid.org/prekill.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.anapsid.org/prekill2.html]http://www.anapsid.org/prekill2.html[/link]
 
The live vs. prekill debate is so outdated it really doesn't even happen anymore. I'm so shocked at the number of people who think feeding live to snakes is fine...in the reptile world, it rarely even comes up anymore except with newbies who don't know better. No experienced herper ever, ever, feeds live prey if they can possibly avoid it.
 

Ratsicles, thanks for the information!!  I have never had snakes or rodents so feeding live prey is a subject I had never even thought about.

carnivorous pets...cats and dogs

Flaw here is that snakes are not domesticated animals...bred in captivity or not.

(My Beagle killed a ball python i our back yard right here in Texas...big FAT snake that was...doing great until it met a natural enemy)...they have not changed for ever because they don't have to.
 
When people start breeding them so that they can no longer physically strike coil and squeeze victims on their own, or digest unprocessed food, then perhaps I would agree. Haven't seen that to be the case.
 
BTW: I really could care less how a person feeds their snake, monitor, etc live or dead...but if you choose dead make sure you know it's becuase of  human sensibilities and feelings, and not the critters...who really could care less...and in the case of the snake...would slide right past a carcass in the wild because it's tuned to hunt not scavenge.

I really could care less how a person feeds their snake, monitor, etc live or dead...but if you choose dead make sure you know it's becuase of human sensibilities and feelings, and not the critters...who really could care less...and in the case of the snake...would slide right past a carcass in the wild because it's tuned to hunt not scavenge.

 
That was my friend's thinking was. He had reptiles before. He only fed the snake when it was hungry. I got to feed Sulphur one time. Literally, if you blink, you will miss the strike. Death is extremely quick and Sulphur swallowed his prey whole. And he didn't care for warmed over mice-icle. And, how does a mouse die before being frozen as snake food? Death happens, one way or another. Sulphur was a sweet snake and it's all in the handling. It's not like you can train him to sit up or fetch. He is a predatory reptile.
 
Nor am I against rodents. As for animals hunting animals, Shadow has killed a squirrel that he didn't eat. But he has also killed mice in a field, one of which he had bitten in two. It is the natural order of things. Some people believe in it so much, they feed their dog raw, even if they are vegan, themselves. That animal died in some fashion, before becoming food. A human buried without casket becomes food for other creatures, such as maggots and flies. What's left is leached into the earth as separate components to get used by something else. We are all part of the food chain.

I'm completely in aggreement with Britt on this one.  I have NOTHING against snakes eating rodents.  It's what they're supposed to eat.  The problem I have with feeding live prey is that it is NOT a natural situation.  In the wild there would be a fair chance for both the rodent to live and the snake to eat.  There is space for the rodent to bolt and escape if need be.  If the rodent retaliates against the snake, there is space for the snake to escape.  In a cage however, there is NOT enough space for an even match.  It is not a natural situation at all.  It's taking two animals and putting them forcibly in the same container and telling them to fight to the death with no escape...   Animals fight in the wild, this is true, but there are no constraints in the wild.  I just personally don't feel it is fair for either animal to put it through that kind of situation.  Just because wolves fight in the wild doesn't mean we should take two and stick em together in a cage to fight it out.  Just my $0.02.  Hope that wasn't too harsh sounding to cause problems, but I'm in a hurry with little time to expand on it.

Way to go on the rant!  You go gettem!
 
I LOVE to take my seven year old DD into the pet stores that sell puppies.  She goes ballistic when there is no place for them to lie down comfortably and if they don't have water, watch her go!  The little green eyed blonde angel walks up to the clerk and in a voice you can hear in OHIO (we live in Oregon) she announces to the WORLD..... "Excuse me, your puppies have no water and they have no bed to sleep on.  I'll bet they're sad"  the whole store goes silent.  That's mom's cue to chip in "That's why you NEVER buy a puppy from a pet store, honey." and I pretend to drag her out.  We go have ice creams afterward.  Mission accomplished!

and I pretend to drag her out. We go have ice creams afterward. Mission accomplished!

 
I think that falls under the heading of a surgical strike.