Animal Welfare: Angry at ignorant people

[momof1kid3piggi]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong topic. but I wasn't sure Where else to put it.

I'm sure a lot of you try to inform people about guinea pigs, Well recently I have. I put a post on criagslist informing parents and people about how much work guinea pigs are and how much they coast and such. (Only because in my local Craigslist there are about 3-4 ads wanting a G-force pig for my children type of deals. So i wrote out a bunch of information about Guineas and I get Emails back thanking me for the information, but I get others back saying "Who cares about the welfare of guinea pigs. They rodents" and others that say "I feed guinea pigs LIVE to my snakes for food" and another one stating "Who cares i feed them to my Boa Snake" I was frantic. Granite Yes I know snakes need to eat too. But why guinea pigs. I mean that is why they make feeder rats/mice (i know mice and Rats are pets too.) but they are more populated then guinea pigs Here is a chart i had found
On the Growth of Rat Population how many rats are alive after a years cycle?
1,188,08 rats In one year alone
This is how many guinea pigs are alive in one year cycle.
76,900, an increase of 4.4% over the previous year. There is a chart i had found on www.Wikianswers.com/guineapigsandrats
But so that is my point. why do people have to feed guineas to their snakes? If rats and mice are more populated? It was sad to read the e-mails about what happens to some guinea pigs. Ithough I would just write this and tell you all about what had happened.

[Paula]

Originally Posted by momof1kid3piggi

why do people have to feed guineas to their snakes? If rats and mice are more populated?

Why is it any better to feed mice and rats to snakes than guinea pigs?

[momof1kid3piggi]

I'm saying it's not but mice and rats are more populated the Guineas

[Milkingit]

Say for a large snake, as an example.

1 Guinea Pig
2 Rats
4 Mice

Technically to feed the snake, you are harming less animals by giving it 1 Guinea Pig to fill it up.

I realize it seems wrong to you, and you may not consider feeder rats/mice as important or over populated. But when you consider its just a pet that has to eat. And their owner is feeding them what can be considered a better food alternative.

Guinea Pigs if raised properly have a good source of nutrients, where as if they fed 2 or more rats/mice they'd have more bones and things the snake wouldn't necessary need.

This may not be a fact, but just my opinion. I know I'd rather have 1 big steak with a little bone, then 4 small steaks with bones.

[momof1kid3piggi]

[/quote]
This may not be a fact, but just my opinion. I know I'd rather have 1 big steak with a little bone, then 4 small steaks with bones.[/quote]

This sentence made me laugh, But I guess i understand well I did from the beginning, It just doesn't seem right or humane. I my self have never had any reptile, I've always been more for the furry and fuzzy kind. So I guess thars why it bothers me so much.

[gooberific]

I wouldn't feed a LIVE animal to a snake (should I ever decide to keep one as a pet; however, I think I'm more comfortable with animals that wouldn't eat my other furry friends, like smaller furry friends, or possibly a dog someday when my pigs pass on). It would cause a lot of stress to the animal while it's alive, and they all have claws and teeth that could potentially harm the snake in retaliation.

This is why they have "humanely" euthanized, frozen feeder foods available. I know that I would rather have more meat and less bones, too, if you want to use that analogy, but I would also not want possible harm to come to my snake. However, I'm not sure about snakes, but I've read that dogs get a lot of nutrients from animal bones (especially those on raw diets and such).

But I do get very angry with ignorant people, if it makes you feel any better. And I find there is a LOT of ignorance in the world. Unfortunately, it takes too much energy to be angry all the time, so I find that I myself to be ignorant at times.

[Jaybird!889]

I understand where you are coming from; I never liked snakes because of the fact that you have to feed them live animals (although there are alternatives like gooberific said).

as for ignorant people; they annoy me as well because the thing is if they choose to feed them to the snakes that is their buisness but that doesn't mean there are not guidlines for proper care of the animal if a person chooses to have them as a pet.

I also wanted to say how great it is that you posted something on craigslist telling people the facts about guinea pigs; you might have saved a pig or given a pig a better home.

[CavyMama]

I personally, don't believe people should own snakes or other animals that need live food. Snakes are WILD animals and should be left in the wild. I know dogs used to be wild but over years we have domesticated them. I doubt there will be a day when snakes are satisfied eating kibble. I know that in the wild, snakes would be eating live animals anyway but then we are out of the mix. I don't like the idea of sentencing an animal like a mouse, rat or guinea pig to death, by purposely putting him in a cage with a snake and letting "nature take its course". That is knowingly and purposely putting into motion, what will be the eventual death of the rodent.

[pigsmakemesmile]

I too believe snakes belong in the wild. At least in the wild, small prey have some small chance of escaping and avoiding becoming some snakes' meal, that's nature. however, that chance is taken away once a small animal is "placed" alone in a tank with a snake, therefore, nature is not at work only instinct... to me, thats inhumane, and torture. If one must keep a snake, the humane thing to do is feed it frozen otherwise, just don't have the snake....a rat or mouse is no more expendable than a guinea pig, their lives are equally important as well.

[annageckos]

Ok, like everyone else this is my opinion.
I have had almost every type of animal you can think of. I grew up in a tattoo shop (my uncle and aunt) and they had alot of odd animals. Mainly snakes, and big ones. So, I love snakes and reptiles, but I also love rodents(rats being one of my faves) and every other type of animal. But the point was, first snakes DO NOT have to eat live prey, that is personal choice. Second, why feed guinea pigs? They are bigger than rats, so the snake would need would need less. As far as rats, guinea pigs or mice being pets, well they all are pets sometimes and prey sometimes. But they all started out as lab animals. I love them all and believe they should all be treated humanly(including the not fuzzy animals) And as far as being domestic animals, alot of reptiles are and have been captive bred for a very long time, many many generations, and would die if released, they are not wild anymore. There is a place as pets for all animals, but all types of animals are not for everyone. As far as snake "kibble". Dogs and other animals may servive on kibble but they do not thrive on it. I raw feed my carnivors and try to keep all my animals diets as close to nature as I can. I see a huge difference in my animals health now and between past and present pets. No prossessed food for my fuzzy, finned and scaled family

Back to the piggies and Craigslist. I have stopped going on that site, people there, not all, but alot, like to start trouble I guess you would say. They just want to get under your skin and will argue about anything and everything. Thats great you are trying to imform people about the needs of the pigs. Every kid is going to want one with the movie, G-Force out. Keep doing what you are doing and try to ignore the rest.

Anna

[YayPiggies]

Yes, if you want to go natural, then snakes should eat rodents and things, but why live? You could at least kill it humanely first so it doesn't have to struggle. It doesn't matter to me how long it takes for animals to reproduce- look at us humans, there's billions of us and we all consider ourselves extremely important in the world. Each life is vital to this world, big or small.
G-Force was a horrible idea. Eeveryone will want one, treating it wrongly, and we give you a round of applause for trying to help.

[momof1kid3piggi]

Thank you all for the posts. Yes I know the "cycle of life" but it still seems very wrong to me Putting a Guinea pig and or mouse or rat in a cage live to be chased around like a toy, No one should do that. And I again wrote a post about the movie. informing on how to take care of a guinea pig the proper way and gotten thanks and I Am talking to this girl that for a splurge because of the movie went out and gotten a piggy. And I gave her this website I hope it helps her.

[Onetwo]

I have had prey and preditor pets and I will never get a preditor pet again! I could not take killing feeder fish to feed my pet turtle. (He was sick and could not catch them himself). I do the samething. 1. I patrol and flag breeders, 2. I inform people selling products to guinea pigs that could be harmful, 3. I inform and try to help people selling and/or buying guinea pigs. About 70% of them are impolite about to say the least. But I keep doing it because I am able to help one person then I've done right. Just keep posting. I delete it every 48 hours and repost. You are doing good just keep it up!

[Seonta]

I am more annoyed at the people who laugh and get a big kick out of feeding live animals to their pets. The ones who put videos up online and enjoy the killing. Those are the ones you have to watch out for. Actually they sell many prekilled animals to feed to your pets but has anyone ever done research to find out how these animals were killed? I haven't yet but I might by day's end. Of course the animals need to eat but their killing should not be entertaining to people.

[jordan]

When I got my guinea pigs, one of my parent's friends told me that if I ever didn't want them he'd "take care of them." He's got several large snakes. I was pretty angry about it and told him that they were my babies and that they weren't going anywhere. I'm pretty protective over my little guys.

That being said, it is important for snakes or whatever to have a proper diet. It's a sad fact of life, but a lot of us are just lucky because our guinea pigs don't require such things. I've had some people tell me that their snakes won't eat anything but live food. I don't know how much truth there is to this or not. I know I definitely couldn't handle owning a snake for this exact reason.

[Adorable]

Originally Posted by momof1kid3piggi

Granite Yes I know snakes need to eat too. But why guinea pigs. I mean that is why they make feeder rats/mice (i know mice and Rats are pets too.) but they are more populated then guinea pigs.

What about puppies and kittens? They are born into the world at an alarming rate and would likely make a great snake snack, if it wasn't taboo.

Would you prefer that there are "feeder" guinea pigs? Maybe the white ones with red eyes, just like most of the rats and mice that you don't seem to consider worthy.

This is a very strange thread.

[gooberific]

Originally Posted by Seonta

I am more annoyed at the people who laugh and get a big kick out of feeding live animals to their pets. The ones who put videos up online and enjoy the killing. Those are the ones you have to watch out for. Actually they sell many prekilled animals to feed to your pets but has anyone ever done research to find out how these animals were killed? I haven't yet but I might by day's end. Of course the animals need to eat but their killing should not be entertaining to people.

In this thread: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...r-opinion.html VoodooJoint talks about a particular company and how their feeder animals are put down, as well as the issues about live food.

[Hawise]

If you have helped one guinea pig with your message, then it is worth it. I know some people can be very disturbing in their morbid penchant of feeding live prey to reptiles (or other animals) and ENJOYING it (which is, according to me, the disturbing part). I completely ignore the provocations of these homo stultus, as I call them , and secretly wish I could send them a hungry-Harry-Potter-style basilisk

[guineapiggies86]

live prey can actually harm snakes, my mom has three two pink boas and a rat snake, now as a former rat pet owner I have had three rats in the past, I objected to my mom using them as feeder food ,till my my gran cleverly told me it was simply nature, the snake would do what it had to do either in the wild or in a home and I couldn't save every animal from becoming a meal because each life on earth was connected and the snake was meant to eat such things.

[Paula]

Originally Posted by guineapiggies86

...I objected to my mom using them as feeder food ,till my my gran cleverly told me it was simply nature, the snake would do what it had to do either in the wild or in a home and I couldn't save every animal from becoming a meal because each life on earth was connected and the snake was meant to eat such things.

Indeed, snakes eat small mammals in the wild. But a home is not "the wild" and the snakes being kept in private homes are not the same as their cousins in the true wild, and as such there's no reason to feed live animals. Humanely pre-killed is so much easier and safer and better for all involved. It's one thing to have to feed a snake you are keeping as a pet - it's quite another to set in motion a showdown between a constrictor and a small animal. Justifying that it's the way it happens in nature simply isn't realistic, because in nature a snake actually has to stalk and hunt an animal to kill and eat it, not have it plopped down into their living enclosure to be eaten.