Sep
Is it ok to feed my snake wild mice? We live in the country, no houses within a mile so there's no chance of poison. We freeze the mice for a month before thawing and feeding to the snake. And these mice eat good….they live in our barn and eat a lot of the horse, goat and chicken feed that falls on the ground.
I know there are a lot of you that are brainwashed by society, and will so “No Way!!” and will only purchase their mice, but really, how do you know for sure that you won't get a bad batch of mice? Yeah, they’re raised in captivity, but really do you know what their living conditions are like???
So if we took all these precautions, would it be ok to feed wild mice?
Answer:
If your snake is a wild type then he would be eating them anyway if he was wild. Wild animals will eat anything. Humans and animals have a much stronger immune system then most people think. Besides if the mice were “poisoned” or whatever, then they would be dead themselves. If they had a disease, then i think they would show some kind of sign. (malnutrition, etc) I've owned at least 40 mice. (i started with 4 and they kept multiplying). But i think freezing them is a good way to cease the bacteria from growing and to freeze them that long is also a good precaution. I'd state go for it.
Answer:
wild mice are fine, i have been feeding my boa/water monitor them for years, i have a barn behind my home in tn. i catch all my snakes/lizards food out there, they have always been healthy,happy pets.
Answer:
Yes I don't see why not, like you said there's no risk of the mice eating poison. As long as you kill the mice in a humane way, it will be fine.
Answer:
I think it would be fine. The snakes would be eating them anyway and there are many snakes that haven't died from eating wild mice. My corn snake has yet to die from them and he's 6 years old.
Answer:
yea it would prolly be ok but you still have to watch out for parasites if you dont freeze
Answer:
Just make sure they’re free of parasites and disease
Answer:
No way. It is the mercury/fish problem. But here is my brainwashed idea:
You may think you are getting clean mice, you can't state for sure what the mice have been eating, even if you think you do. Your post makes it sound like you have already made up your mind, but consider that the breeder mice are not around goat, horse, and chicken droppings as you mentioned yours were. There are a lot of byproducts in the feed that also may not be healthy for your snake. (Fish/mercury argument - a tiny bit doesn't effect the mouse, but the snake eats a lot of mice, bigger effect.) And yes, unless you are going to take each mouse/rat to the vet you won't know what kind of parasites or infections they might be carrying and they don't necessarily die on freezing. Most don't in a home freezer, the temperature is significantly higher than a blast freezer - this is why home frozen food doesn't do well either.
Yes, it is possible to get bad feeders, I switched companies after one bad batch, but now I found a local place that has astonishing husbandry practices and I refuse to purchase from anywhere else. You can always encounter a bad apple, but that's why good breeders have a big customer base - they do good things.
Obviously, you can take the chances it is your snake. But having seen herps die from infections that could have easily been prevented, there is no way I would do this to my herps.