Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and the Yahoo Answers website is now in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

whiteraven.1964 asked in PetsReptiles · 8 years ago

dead mice for snakes?????????

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/operation--mo... ok this article says they poisoned mice for all these tree snakes-my question is dont snakes only eat LIVE rodents???

8 Answers

Relevance
  • Dion J
    Lv 7
    8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    In captivity, most people feed their snakes dead rodents; however, we often have to jiggle them to make them look alive in order to entice the snake. Captive snakes do learn to recognize dead rodents as food.

    Wild snakes probably seldom encounter dead rodents (especially fresh) and it is doubtful they would recognize them as food. Personally I don't think dropping dead mice from a plane is going to be effective. If the brown tree snake is a voracious eater, a few of them may eat the mice, but probably not enough to make an impact on the population.

  • Gary C
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    It depends on the snake. Some species will not eat food that does not move. Others will eat the frozen rodents sold in pet shops.

    One of the articles I read about the mouse drop in Guam said that biologists had tested the idea by leaving

    dead mice in trees, and the snakes in question (invasive Brown Tree Snakes) did eat the dead mice. That's why they think this will work.

    I'm more worried about the consequences if other animals eat the Tylenol-laced mice, or eat the dead snakes that have been poisoned.

  • ?
    Lv 6
    8 years ago

    Wild snakes would only eat live prey (as far as I know). Captive bred snakes are usually convinced to take dead prey by intially jiggling the prey item infront of the snake with tweezers until they learn that dead prey is still food. Perhaps the movement of the mice swaying in the breeze might "trick" the tree snakes into thinking the mice were alive, but that seems unlikely to me. I suppose time will tell. Id al;so be worried about naTIVGE PREDATORSS (IF THERE ARE ANY IN HAWAII) taking the mice and being poisioned. The article SAYS there is "MINIMAL" rtisk to native wildlife, but still. To me a more sensible/safer approprach would be to set baited traps where the snakes live, dispatch with any snakes caUGHT, and keep doing that until they are finally wiped out.

  • 8 years ago

    Some snakes will eat dead rodents, to the person that said snakes shouldn't be fed live because they become aggressive that's total bullshit. They dont become aggressive from eating live rodents.. Illegal to feed live unless they refuse dead???? What crazy *** **** is that? There is no law in the US that says that. I think I have heard of somewhere other than the US having a law about feeding live animals but not here.. Some snakes won't eat dead and have to be given live food.

  • 8 years ago

    Snakes will happily eat dead rodents as long as they are not rotting. Some owners will need to encourage their snakes by wiggling the mice a little or making them appear to be still living.

    In general it is a bad idea to feed live rodents to snakes as they become more aggressive but additionally it is considered to be animal cruelty in regards to the food itself. Whilst it can be argued that it is more natural for a snake to eat live food, it is not natural for a mouse to be put in a box with a predator and left to run around terrified and stressed until it finally gets eaten. Snakes can only legally be fed live rodents by their owners if they refuse to eat pre-killed food and would starve to death.

  • Anonymous
    8 years ago

    The majority of snake owners who keep snakes in captivity feed dead animals. It is safer for the snake, more humane for the animal and eliminates the risk of injury from the feeder and reduces the risk of parasite transmission.

    Out in the wild there are definitely snakes who wouldn't touch a dead rodent if they were brought into captivity but I also have no doubts there are some who wouldn't pass up on a dead animal.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    8 years ago

    I've had two snakes in my life, and I only fed them thawed out frozen rodents. Mostly because I've had pet rodents and I wouldn't be able to drop a live one in the tank without feeling sad, and partially because if the snake doesn't immediately kill the rodent, the rodent can hurt the snake and cause infections.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    My friends but frozen mice they thaw out to feed their snakes

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.