Is it illegal

[rifkygirl]

Im just wondering, is it illegal in the UK to feed live food to reptiles. Not that im going down that route, far from it, just need to settle an argumet.

[madavies65]

Morally its a grey area, now you have to look on the spiritual level... do insects have souls? mmmmmm its a quandary

just kidding, legally its all good though maybe not if your feeding your lizard a dog!

[grumpyoldtrout]

If you are talking rodents to snakes, there is a superb sticky near the top on the snake forum.

We would not do it, well not so far, due to chance of injury to the snake.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/snake...ml#post1000620

[rifkygirl]

Thanks.. like i said not going down the route myself, i thought it was illegal, but guess it's not.. Just wanted to settle a debate with a friend over it... moves on to read the sticky...

[Button12]

see, i breed gerbils, i give the pinkys to my beardy and the more grown on ones to my monitor, i feed theese live and people say its cruel but the way i see it is that they get a quick death with the jaws of both my beasties, and its a natural way to go. i also let some become adults and put them to sleep before freezing them for my snake(adult gerbils have teeth and claws so i wouldnt advise feeding them live) i know people say co2 chambers are more humane but i think a quick snap of the neck is just as good.....what do you lot think?

[Stevey85]

well I feed dead just cause of people saying that my snake could be injured.
And as for crickets having souls? Mine keep drowning themselves so they're goin straight to hell anyways Hah!

[Grond]

It's not illegal(as I guess you know if you've read the sticky).

I beleive it sould not be done routinely, and should be used as a last resort.

[pinktoetarantula]

I have always been told that it IS illegal to feed any live vertebrate to another animal in the UK, It is only deemed legal as a last resort e.g. to encourage a snake to feed that won't/hasn't eaten anything else offered to it to the point where its life may be/is threatened.

Tough one. I personally think its cruel unless absolutely necessary.

People can argue thats its natural for these animals we keep to have live food, but, we keep these animals in a completely artificial and in many cases a completely inadequat impression of the animals natural environment. Also, in the wild the prey animal always has the opportunity to escape, not so in captivity.

Final point, if there is anybody feeding live vertebrates to their pets e.g. live rat for a snake, just remember that the rat can bite the snake and could cause abcesses/growths/infection and therefore ending up with the owner of the snake either having vet bills or worst case scenario a dead snake.

[markhill]

it is legal but frowned upon and the RSPCA can try to prosecute for cruelty to the feeder animal.

[sambridge15]

why bother when ready humainly killed rodents are so easy to buy? if the rep takes defrosts why bother giving em live food seems sick to me