What do you think of men who do live feedings for pets like large snakes, snapping turtles, etc?

aluriaphin · 2021-10-22T05:36:05+00:00

I worked at a wildlife rehab centre and we never did live feedings as a matter of policy. It's unnecessarily cruel to the prey animals and also risks the predator getting injured by the prey animal or the prey animal escaping and the predator going hungry. People who do make and/or watch videos of live feedings are sadists, period. Disgusting.

iguanidae · 2021-10-22T01:44:34+00:00

I have a snake and I would never do a live feeding. Not only is it needless suffering for the mouse, but mice/rats have sharp claws and can seriously injure your pet snake.

Every single person I have known who insisted on live feedings of mammals to snakes have been garbage pet owners and are not interested in the welfare of their pet, but the brutality it can inflict on its prey.

catifyy · 2021-10-22T01:01:52+00:00

I think those are on the same level of the scrotes that film “Tarantula vs bullfrog” videos. It’s disturbing, shows they don’t have compassion towards the animals. You are supposed to feed snakes dead meat (mice?) not a live animal. Stay far away, they are disrespecting the animals. It also gives off some psychopathic vibes.

ASeaOfQuotes · 2021-10-22T02:47:36+00:00

It’s one thing to do something that’s in the animals best interest, and I don’t begrudge someone having an exotic (legal!) pet. But filming that? Sharing it? Laughing about it with your friends? That is the part that is insane to me. Disgusting. Anyone who takes pleasure in an innocent being suffering is broken.

dembar126 · 2021-10-22T01:19:31+00:00

I completely agree with you. It's always men who will do stuff like dangling a mouse in their snakes cage to torture it for their entertainment before letting the snake eat it. And then they remark that it's "so cool".

I also only ever see men encouraging their dogs to chase cats or other animals hoping they'll get to see their dog k*ll something. Psycho shit.

I have no problem with nature existing but it's people who get sick pleasure out of watching violence that are a major red flag.

2021-10-22T02:44:44+00:00

I'm a tough woman. When I was 14 I chased a grown man out of my friend's garage because he was robbing them. It came to my mind that he might have had a weapon but that didn't deter me from running in alone into the garage. I was threatened by my older brother and we got into a fist fight, despite me knowing I wouldn't win I fought with all my might. Also got into boxing. The point being, I am a tough cookie, but even then I can't stand seeing people or animals suffer. Even when I see healed up gashes on others, it sends pain to my legs, wrist, and ankles as if it happened to me.

Platipus6 · 2021-10-22T01:47:04+00:00

I get the same psycho vibe off men who watch violent sports, boxing, MMA etc.

They're not enjoying nature, they're not admiring peak athleticism. They want to see blood and destruction and they're getting aroused.

They wish they could be the animal getting away with 'licenced' killing and maiming.

throwawaynevermindit · 2021-10-22T04:29:23+00:00

I keep reptiles. There is almost never a good reason to do live feedings unless your animal is an insectivore. Live feeding is less humane for prey items and it's also more dangerous for the predator. It's fair to do if you're trying to establish a picky eater esp. if recently wild caught/imported but if possible the predator should be switched to stunned/fresh killed items and then to (humanely dispatched) frozen/thawed as soon as possible.

A lot of these animals can be kept humanely and responsibly in ways that increase their lifespans (compared to wild specimens) as long as husbandry requirements are met, but live feeding is just not usually an actual requirement.

If there is no legitimate reason for someone to be feeding live and they insist on it, avoid them - they're actually going against what's considered best practice by most herpetoculturists and may be irresponsible owners in other ways too. Even if there is a good reason... if the guy doesn't seem to feel for the prey animals at all or takes pleasure in the process/makes gory videos to upload to Youtube with patented Weird Reptile Guy heavy metal music playing in the background... matrix dodge that shit. There are some really cool people in the reptile community but there's also a subset that are creepazoids in really outlandish/obvious ways and this is one of the biggest tells.

Jandi18 · 2021-10-22T01:14:50+00:00

I already judge them. I won’t date someone that has an "exotic" animal as a pet. It’s just wrong to me. Also I feel a lot of wild animals shouldn’t be domesticated. So I don’t get people that have certain animals as pets.

Apprehensive_Ad_7917 · 2021-10-22T01:25:12+00:00

I owned a ball python for a long time and don’t understand live feeding. It’s dangerous, the frozen mice were checked for bacteria and health issues where the feeder mice are, not.

preppykat3 · 2021-10-22T02:33:00+00:00

I wouldn’t want to date someone who has a snake or even a lizard as a pet. I just don’t find it very appealing. Especially snakes and spiders.

BrightIdeaGenerator · 2021-10-22T02:00:10+00:00

Okay, serious trigger warning, but ....

Family used to own a pet store, and I worked for another chain pet store later in life.

I understand feeding live, and I personally really like some reptiles. But filming it to me is horrible taste. Why do you WANT to watch that?

here's a story that illustrates my point, although not everyone is like my father, I'm sure. We had a sociopathic guinea pig once. Seriously, this little fucker was born with something broken in him. Do you know how gentle and sweet guinea pigs are? He KILLED HIS MOM. for no reason. We moved him to the males. He killed another guinea pig. We had no choice - this piggie was like 5 weeks old and like fucking Dexter, 2 kills and he's like a month old! The cages were NOT overcrowded or anything, the guinea pigs were like "my" area of expertise, just this guy?? No idea. I have worked in pet stores for a combo of 13ish years and I have never seen anything like it before or since.

So we had to get rid of him. Had to. May as well feed him to one of the larger snakes, so the death is not watsed, right? I believe in that. Guinea pigs are very ...loud. I ran out of the store because I couldn't stand the sound of his squeak/screaming while the snake began to constrict him. Worse, my father was laughing. Never looked at him the same again. It was horrific.

galian84 · 2021-10-22T01:21:18+00:00

100% would not date someone with exotic pets. I’m very sensitive to animal suffering and cruelty and cannot get on board with live feedings. And yes I totally judge them, too!

millions_ofpeachs4me · 2021-10-22T01:15:59+00:00

These wild animals should not be kept as pets. They’re not domesticated like dogs and cats; they are predators that should be out hunting their prey. I don’t see live feedings as animal cruelty, but I do see keeping non-domesticated animals as personal pets as highly unethical. I would not date someone with such a pet.

Davina33 · 2021-10-22T08:37:16+00:00

I only read the title but I will say I do not like snakes. I would not date a man that has snakes. I hate live feeding and I've heard there are snakes that won't eat defrosted mice etc.

What do I object to is fucking YouTube showing me a snake eating a duckling when I looking up cute duck videos. It really pissed me off. I saw people objecting to this in the comments and the snake owner was a cruel fuck who took a great delight in it. Of course he was a male too.

EarthKveik · 2021-10-22T11:38:49+00:00

I'm a reptile keeper and if I had time I'd keep a small colony of feeder animals as well. Live feeding isn't a necessity unless you are keeping an insectivore or have an animal that refuses to eat frozen thawed.

Animals that won't eat frozen thawed can usually be transitioned from live prey to freshly killed animals and then on to frozen thawed.

Some species can be picky eaters even when bred in captivity, and some breeders will give live prey to hatchlings for the first two or three feeds. This is to try to make sure they develop a solid feeding response so they will always take frozen thawed food later in life, but nobody has done proper research into whether this works.

There is absolutely no reason to be filming or uploading any of this. Education is no excuse, plenty of instructional videos and other material already exists, as do reptile messaging boards and subreddits where experienced keepers are happy to advise you.

Predatory pets of any kind will attract sickos. Dog fighting and the abuse of wildlife with dogs is a big problem in my country for instance. But while some effort is put into catching and charging sickos who abuse dogs and cats, when it comes to reptiles and large insects eating rodents people seem much more willing to turn a blind eye to the feedings being used as entertainment. Youtube won't even demonetise the videos. It's sickening.

The law in my country has been purposely left vague so that live feeding can still happen so animals that won't eat dead prey don't starve to death. Idiots uploading this shit for entertainment could lead to it being banned outright.

Commercial feeder breeding is a cutthroat business and the welfare and health of the feeder animals isn't usually a priority. I've had to change suppliers multiple times because>! the animals I was getting had bite wounds, abscesses, and evidence of infections and ineffective euthanasia practices.!<

If you can stomach euthanising your own feeders, you can easily keep them to much higher standards. This benefits the health of your reptiles as well as the wellbeing of the feeders. You can also use feeder bedding to give reptiles something to investigate and let the feeders play with items that the reptiles will later be given to explore.

If someone says they are feeding live for their pets "behavioural enrichment", 9/10 times they (or, lets be real here, he) won't bother their backside using the bedding or toys, because, well, it's time consuming and we all know whose pleasure the live feeding is really about.

As for vetting men, I see predatory pets as great vetting tool, especially if he's also keeping feeder animals. If he's taking pleasure from feeding live, that'll be a block and delete from me. Same if the reptiles and/or feeders are poorly kept, and you bet I'd be having a word with the local SPA. If he keeps snakes or spiders he should be aware that these animals often provoke an ingrained fear response in many people and always keep that in mind when discussing them or showing them to people.

Something useful non reptile keepers might not know- Most reptile species don't need to eat every every day. There is therefore no need for him to "just happen" to be feeding it when you're around. Even if he's on the autism spectrum like me he'll be perfectly aware that watching a feeding could be deeply upsetting to other people. If he's a sicko though he'll be looking for an excuse to do it in front of you or show you footage because his penis needs him to see your reaction.

Pay close attention to how the feeders are kept, especially the breeding females. Ignore whatever he says about what they do "in the wild". In captivity there is no need for female rats and mice to be bred to death. You can either keep the males in a separate cage and introduce them when you need babies, or you can remove and euthanise up to half of the offspring shortly after birth (if you take more than half they notice and start looking for them). Sure, "In the wild" they'll have as many babies as they can, but they don't usually live long enough to knacker themselves doing it. They will also eat some of the offspring if times are hard, but if they are doing this in captivity then it's a sign of really poor care.

Mice and rats are both intelligent, social creatures. If you are keeping them well they need space, toys, running wheels and a varied diet and routine so they don't get bored. If the male is separated from the females then he's going to need a friend, and enough to do that they don't fight.

African Soft fur rats/multimammate mice (actually they are not rats or mice but are related to their common ancestor) are growing in popularity as feeders for some snake species and have different needs from normal rats and mice. Unlike rats and mice they don't live in human homes and haven't had to evolve the same kind of intelligence. Once they start breeding they lose interest in play, but they do have behavioural needs an it is obvious if they aren't being met. They eat each other. A good keeper will give them a high protein diet, lots of exercise wheels, plenty of things to chew and enough room to get away from each other if they need to. They'll also watch the temperament since a small percentage are born vicious and should be removed asap. They should never be bred from since they will pass this trait on.

So yeah, anyone uploading live feeding videos is automatically a N/LVM in my book. If he's got an animal that will only eat live he shouldn't be showing you or rubbing your nose in the fact if you're clearly uncomfortable. Asking him what he's doing to transition it to dead prey could be a good vetting question. If he's keeping feeder animals then their care and his attitude towards the females can be very revealing, and there is no excuse on this earth for anyone who makes someone else watch a live feeding against their will. Block, delete, and keep the number of your local animal protection society handy.

Daydreamingon · 2021-10-22T01:39:34+00:00

The true crime junkie in me tells me to run as the next live feeding I’ll be the prey 😂 (don’t fuck with cats truly scarred me for life)

Thesseli · 2021-10-22T02:03:25+00:00

They're freaks. Avoid them at all costs.

ConfusedBisexual1992 · 2021-10-22T09:36:48+00:00

I love snakes and most other reptiles, but do not have one due to the fact that I couldn’t bear feeding them mice/other small animals (am also now vegan, so am also against it for ethical reasons). From what I’ve read, live feeding is generally advised against anyway. I’m not sure who would find it ‘entertaining’ to watch another living being suffer like that - I would dump anyone the second I found out they were into that.

throwaway_head_ache · 2021-10-22T02:04:19+00:00

I think if your animal doesn't need a live feeding, don't do it as it is obviously terrifying for the feeder animal. Also, filming it is absolutely bizarre. People who film and/or watch it are likely just into it because it is violent.

However, I have owned tarantulas. They are beautiful animals and I really tried to give them the space they needed in a live terrarium. That included providing live food. Tarantulas don't eat their prey, exactly, they just suck the insides out. This doesn't work for dead food and they usually won't even try to eat if you offer them something dead.

I do know many women who own turtles, lizards, amphibians, and insects as pets. Many of these animals require live feedings. So it's not having these pets as a red flag -- though you're entitled to not be interested or want them around -- its the filming and being overly interested in the predatory act.

XNjunEar · 2021-10-22T02:07:22+00:00

Strong NOPE

Ninja_Flower_Lady · 2021-10-22T06:36:04+00:00

I follow a few snake channels on youtube (i don’t have any snakes, but i think they’re neat), and while most snake experts agree that pre-dead feedings are best, some snakes are kind of obstinate, and won’t recognize it as food if it’s not live. So occasionally they have to do live feedings so the snake doesn’t starve while they’re trying to get it onto pre-dead mice. The people i follow are very respectful about it, and would never post a video of a snake killing something, though.

Snakes can even get injured if you don’t do live feedings right, because nature is harsh. We don’t have to be, though, and i think that’s one of the thinks that elevates us from the animal kingdom.

hopeful_flounder93 · 2021-10-22T09:58:03+00:00

I find this especially heartbreaking because some of the animals that are being live-fed are not only being tormented and exposed to the very primal fear of dying in such a horrible way, but some of them have the capacity to feel things in a more complex way & honestly, these scrotes shouldn't even have the privilege of being around them, let alone being responsible for their deaths. And filming them for entertainment? Makes me sick.

Feeding live insects is very different from feeding a small dog, or even a baby chick. Birds can be extremely intelligent, depending on the species. My family's full of parrot-lovers; it started when we found a little lovebird under a car in the rain when I was a child & kept him for the next 10 years when no one claimed him, since then my parents have rescued 2 parrots. Seriously, They're smarter than dogs, and their brains have evolved in a way similar to great apes.

What the fuck is wrong with people?

bookworm1896 · 2021-10-22T12:25:46+00:00

I had an acquaintance who had a pet snake and we talked about her snake for a while. She fed the snake living mice, because she claimed that it would not eat meat if it did not move (that's how I memorise it). She wanted to switch to feeding rats, but just couldn't do it. Once she had tried but the rat knew what was going on and panicked and she just could not torture the poor little rat like that. So in the end she had three rats as pets, because it was too cruel to give them to the snake. The way she described it was so sad. Anyone enjoying torturing an animal like that, has serious problems.

DoodleJack · 2021-10-22T22:08:54+00:00

I own a snake. A small corn, he will never get large enough to eat anything larger than an adult mouse or small rat. I ONLY feed frozen thawed because it is the safest for the snake and most humane for the mice. I once had a very disturbing conversation with a man at the reptarium where I get my snake’s mice. He wanted to know what I had, what I fed it, why I’d never done live or tried larger animals. He was so pushy and creepy, and pouted when I stood my ground. I said I wanted my snake to be happy and comfortable, not force down too large an animal and have to regurgitate. He thought that was WEIRD.

Fucking ZOOS don’t feed live unless they absolutely have to (some animals get picky and won’t eat thawed). Even reptile owners I’ve met that breed mice to feed their animals make sure the mice are dead before feeding. There’s no call for it. Those men that do it are creeps.

leekykeeks · 2021-10-26T05:24:01+00:00

It is unnatural to revel in the brutality of any living thing. Regardless of what is happening, people who do are sick and you need to stay far away from them. They are walking voids.

MajesticSkyPachyderm · 2021-10-22T07:00:00+00:00

I agree with you and I'm judging them too. They suck and clearly get off on violence.

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