Feeding live captive animals to another animal is "natural and healthy," but a serious act of cruelty. The “cycle of life” has already been broken in keeping a pet snake, and at liberty, their prey is both more varied and fortunate. We don’t require our pet dogs to scavenge and cats to hunt in order to feed them, we interact with them - just as we should with our snakes. There are many humane alternatives that veterinarians recommend. You can substitute humanely pre-killed, frozen (not frozen-to-death, as some pet stores do) prey - but I do not love this idea because it is still a waste of a life, when there are other meat by-products such as poultry necks or packaged diets. A supply of meal worms, eggs in the shell, and other supplemented alternatives is just as available as live mice and rats. You can use tongs to hold the “prey” to entice the snake with movement. Please avail people of this information!
Unfortunately, small animals are often considered convenience pets, not thoroughly researched, because they are so affordable. As it's a caged pet that can't come right up to you, they can be more easily ignored - which is unkind, and owners can become "busy," which often means disinterested. For some, a small animal's short life is actually a selling point because some people consider small animals to be of no great consequence.
An animal once rejected is lucky to arrive on the doorstep of compassionate and knowledgable people. We assess its health, rehabilitate behavioural problems, and look after it until it is adopted or until it dies of natural causes (in palliative care).
We take commitments to animals seriously, and to never have one subjected to a capricious existence is our goal.
A site about rescuing pet rodents and appreciating rodents in general
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