im not sure if anyone has seen the march issue of your dog, but i couldnt believe the article on page 6, on the zoo keepers in indonesia feeding live dogs to the 49ft snake. If anyone wants to tell the indonesian embassy exactly what they think of this act of sickening creutly, then write to:
The indonesian Embassy
38 Grosvenor square
London
w1k 2hw

thanks x

Thing is guest, is feeding live dogs to snakes any more unethical than feeding live mice or chicks? If not we need to be complaining to anyone who keeps snakes.

Jackie, in the UK it is illegal to feed live animals (chicks, mice etc) to snakes. They have to be dead before they are put in with the snake.

Does that include live crickets?

No, not insects.

So much for the sensibilities of man, still my question does apply to countries that do allow it.

That's true.

Just checked the guiness book of records web site...
largest snake is 32 ft...think 49 ft is a bit of a story!!
Archer

Insects can be fed live as they are not covered by any anti-cruelty legislation.  As JG rightly pointed out it is illegal to feed live vertebrates - however the RSPCA have been known to say that it is acceptible to feed them live if it is truely beneficial to the prey animal ie: if your snake is on its last legs you can try a live mouse!
Sarah

How can you tell when a snake is on its last legs??? ;) :D

LOL - Bad choice of words :rolleyes:

You want to feed the England cricket team to one Jackie!!!

Sorry John - I have it on good authority that the python would spit out the England Cricket team - not good enough Al says !!

Margot

On the ball ;) John, no amber stuff yet?

Just been to an AGM and been presented with a lovely bottle of Damson Gin Jackie so you are getting the sensible answers now. Later tonight I may not be quite so stable on my feet!

Sounds wonderful, almost worth going to an AGM for. Should not say that as I believe in democracy, just find most AGMs' a bore

Must say did not think a snake could get that long

I was always under the impression that if a snake has always been fed on live food it will not eat dead food

If fed dead then live it would be ok not the other way around :)

I have a corn snake (around 2 ft long) and he eats dead mice, I dont think I could feed him live mice even if it were allowed :)

no I could not either

I think it is cruel to drop a live mouse in a tank with a hungry snake

I understand that it is nature etc etc but in the wild the mouse would have somewhere to run in a tank they have no choice

also I think it could do harm to the snake if the mouse kicked up a fuss it could scratch the snake or bite him

they should invent snake dry food, you now the stuff we have for the doggies lol

Somone tell me if I am wrong, but feeding live mammels, wouldnt it make the snake aggresive?????????
Fight for survival and all that????????
Sorry If I am wrong, just wondering?????????
Lea :)

Yes its possible, but if you have a snake as a pet then it gets to know the smell of you and can tell the difference between you and its dinner ;) but Im talking corn snakes not 49ft pythons :D

Hi,

I had a few snakes, well the kids did, about 10 yrs ago.
Before the breeder brought the first snake I asked the Reptile & Amphibian trust if it was illegal to feed 'live'.
The answer I got was slightly worrying.
I could go to a pet shop and buy 'dead' (frozen) food. Or I could buy live mice, of both sexes, and breed my own 'live' food.
At that time, 10yrs ago, it was not illegal to 'breed' mice/rats etc to use as 'live' food but it was illegal to 'buy' live mice/rats etc to use as 'live' food. Apparently the mice that the pet shop sells have more rights than animals bred in a home environment. I never could understand the law. It may have changed now.
I'm glad to say our snakes were all fed on thawed frozen mice. Only kept them for a few years it made me sick feeding them when the kids left home.

Before writing to anyone about the '49ft' python, ya might want to check out Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/bigsnake.asp

I think it is horrible to feed anything live to a snake in a tank. It isn't natural for prey to have to sit there until the snake wants to eat it. Snakes hunt and prey is taken, that's nature, but to just shove a live animal into a tank....awful :(

A friend of a friend used to say he gave live mice to his pet tarantula....i know they eat small birds givne the chance so suspect this is true, but he was a bit sadistic...kept Ridgebacks and used to call them to him, then hit them :( and was spouting off about killing frogs by blowing them up at my friend's wedding. I think he was a real sadist and you know what they say about people who start on animals..... i have no idea why my friend was mates with him, i found him disgusting :(

Sadly it has also affected my friendship with my friend, his judgement is so bad that i just can't see him in the same way any more....!!!

Lindsay

It is against the law in England to feed live mammals to a snake in England under ANY circumstances.  I have a Kingsnake, he hasnt eaten for six months and is beginning to lose condition therefore my options are .... slice open a mouse to expose its guts so the snake gets the smell of blood, wiggle a mouse around on the end of my forceps so it looks more appealing, force feed him.  If I were to feed him live he wouldnt know what to do with it and it would probably attack him before he worked it out.  When I was at college we had 3 pythons in which had been confiscated at customs, these snakes were wild and had only ever eaten live food, we had to force feed them because they didnt know how to eat dead.  I think in the summer holidays though the technicians fed them live ;)

By the way .. it is true about the 49ft snake read here (sorry cant do links) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3354403.stm
and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3356945.stm

I hope Frank (my kingsnake doesnt get that big :D :D :D )