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Originally Posted by BamaFan121s  IMO, there is no such thing as a domesitcated reptile. You can have reptiles as pets, they live in captivity, but you can never 'domesicate' them. There is a big difference in a domesticated animal and one that can live in captivity. Under human care does not mean domesticated. Alligators can be under human care (in captivity), but you couldn't have one as a pet walking around freely in your house (domesticated). |
I agree. I also agree that eating live rodents is vital to a snake's psychological health. Snakes don't really play, and most of the time don't enjoy companionship by others of the same species, so catching and constricting prey is the only natural form of mental stimulation they get.
This was tough for me to accept as well. I have been around snakes and other reptiles my whole life. My "baby" growing up was my boa constictor, Cornelious. I adored him, but as he got bigger, he ate bigger creatures, and it became really hard for me to feed him rats, rabbits, etc. Feeding days involved me cuddling with his food beforehand, giving them names, and then placing them in the feeding cage and running out of the room crying. I eventually had to give him up. He's now a mascot of a reptile supply shop somewhere in the midwest. I still miss him terribly, but the feeding process was too horrible for me to endure, and there was no way I could deprive him of his need to eat live rodents.