Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Jan O]

Just seen an ad on our classifieds, a guy wants approx 16 LIVE Leos a month to feed a snake., I know snakes got to eat but surely a substitute for live Leos must be available? Sorry if this has upset someone but I find it really awfull.
love Jan

[sally the skink]

o jan ,that is disgusting what species of snake is he keeping,do you know ?
i think there are plenty of rodent eating species out there to keep most people happy .why go for summit difficult to keep like this
makes me sick what a rsole

[slippery42]

I saw that advert............this gives us all a bad name .....please remove it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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[sally the skink]

just looked at the ad,he aint saying leos ,just geckos,so i think he is refering to house geckos.
still , as i said plenty of species out their that will feed on rodents without feeding our scaly freinds to each other and before any smart harse states it happens in the wild anyway ,(which it does )it dont mean we have to do it in captivity,how many zoos feed live zebras to their lions?
this species (oriental tree snake) will eat rodents in captivity ,but it has developed as a specialist lizard feeder,why bother trying to keep it ?
its nice to look at,cheap to buy and plentifull in its countries of origin>
some species should just be left in the wild

[Jan O]

Pheww! Thats a relief. After posting this I really expected a few replies saying " and you disagree with this why?". Sorry for mistaking the species of Gecko I was just so horrified at reading it. I know in the wild some snakes take lizards of course they do, but to avoid having to resort to this in captivity didnt Zoo- med or Exo-Terra bring out some food additive called Lizard Maker? I seriously hope the guy gets ZERO response to his ad though, to me Geckos- rightly or wrongly are pets and to see an ad like this chills me to be honest, hope no Antis have seen it either.
love Jan
PS I always thought feeding live prey other than inverts was illegal am I right or wrong?

[Scott W]

Hi Jan, feeding live vertebrates is NOT illegal although the RSPCA say they will prosecute EVERY case they find (they could potentially prosecute on the grounds of unecessary suffering).

As for the lizards as feeder items, can't say it's something I would want to do but I have to admit I don't see much difference to feeding rodents to my snakes, to a fancy rat owner or mouse enthusiast what we do is alway wrong and would make them sick.

I must admit my rodent colony has now had 10-20% put over to fancy rat production not feeders (I keep finding ones that are too nice to kill for food )

You're more than welcome to feel the way you do and I can understand your reasons
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[peaches]

Firstly I haven't read the ad but I do understand your feelings but there are alot of snakes that may never swap over to rodents, so what do you do? The lizard maker for me did not work - would have been nice if it did.

If someones got a wc snake that needs lizards and doesn't know where else to go than a classifieds may seem to be there only option.

I know what you mean about the mice though Scott, I have my faves that probably wont end up as snake food, my tame one especially that always comes out looking for a treat - bless her!!
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[sally the skink]

they do have another option peaches,dont buy the snake in the first place.
as i said there are hundreds of species that will feed happilly on rodents,its usally the show offs who want these species anyway,just to be different
i think a lot of the solely lizard eaters end up dieing slowly and unhappily
in captivity,and yes i know there are some in the uk feeding on rodents,
but how many die that wont switch?

[peaches]

I agree with you in principal as to not buy the snake but what if you buy one and not realise at the time of purchase??

Not sure about the 'show off' bit though, some people buy these in hope over time they can swap to rodents, and then breed these in captivity, to raise on rodents thus hoping to slow but surely reduce the wc imports and have some healthy captive bred specimins.

It's hard though I know if you're passionate about geckos, I do understand that - snake needs lunch though!!
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[sally the skink]