First let me say congratulations to you for stepping in to help these
ferrets and kittens. They definitely needed it! Take the following for
what you will, be it devil's advocate or not; but as a ferret owner
AND a snake owner AND one who feeds whole prey to BOTH keep in mind
what you are attempting to promote with a rush to get yet another law
imposed upon pet owners.

One way to tackle that situation you encountered would be to see if
that guy had the required specific permits for snake ownership and if
that guy actually had them!

I can surmise that IF the snakes were large enough to consume small
mammals, that they were of the constrictor variety and likely of the
exotic python and boa families.

Recently in a nearby town a family endured a horrific incident when
their UNPERMITTED albino python got out of its enclosure and
constricted the 2 year old child in the house!

Talk with several other people in a social gathering revealed that
several people know of others who have these large snakes and are NOT
keeping them in proper containment! Many of the snakes were simply in
a large bin with merely a blanket or piece of plyboard as the top
enclosure!

My snake happens to be a constrictor too, but she is a corn snake so
will never get to a size that could devour my ferrets. However I DO
ensure that the lid to the snake house is securely locked at all times.

Not all pets need to be warm and fuzzy to be enjoyable companions.
Reptiles, amphibians, fish and even insects are kept by many people
and make perfect apartment companions that don't bark, yowl, destroy
carpeting or furntiure, or require large amounts of time to brush,
walk, and interact with.

I had my snake a number of years before I got my first ferret- I don't
throw away animals that I've chosen as companions, so Slinky remains a
cherished member of my family.

AS for the use of "feeder animals", I've said numerous times that some
animals' lot in life is to eat, some to be eaten.

I refuse to feed my ferrets crap in a bag which comes from unknown
sources and is a source of so much strife for ferrets; so I choose to
offer my animals as close to a natural diet as possible to promote
optimal health for them; this entails feeding them whole prey which
can only come in the form of other animals.

These prey animals come from many sources - pet shops, private
breeders, people discarding unwanted "pets" and since last fall, my own
breeding operation. My ferrets have enjoyed a wide range of whole prey
from feeder insects to mice and rats to chicks and guinea pigs. Many of
these "feeder animals" can, were or could be companion animals, but for
my ferrets they were simply - dinner.

One needs to completely evaluate the ramifications of what will
happen IF a law gets passed that ONLY sees things from ONE faction's
perspective. Of course kibble feeders think that whole prey feeders
are horrible for feeding animals to animals - but after all - that is
EXACTLY wht is natural AND perfectly healthy!

ON the other hand whole prey feeders think kibble feeders are simply
slowly poisoning their pets - but do you see whole prey feeders
attempting to "outlaw" the feeding of kibble - nevermind the already
well documented instances of contaminations, poorly selected ingredient
sources and storage problems. Only after tremendous numbers of pets
begin dying do kibble feeders begin to deman tighter controls or better
quality ingredients - but for all the demands - what gurantees do you
get that such changes have come about?

Would kibble feeders be happier if these feeder animals were
slaughtered in a factory, mixed with so called healthy grains and
veggies, cooked, processed, stamped and baked into tiny cute shapes?
Probably - because that is exactly what kibble is!

But snakes don't eat kibble, and ferrets that eat kibble eventually
end up with health problems ~ health problems that are so rampant they
are accepted as "normal" by a large part of the ferret community!

Don't be so quick to judge what others do that is different from your
perspective, people in some countries refuse to eat pork, some refuse
to eat beef, others regularly eat dogs and primates even tarantulas-
but is it right for us to impose our beliefs upon others?

Animals have evolved eating other animals and have flourished because
of it - hence the predator/prey connotations - there's always a bigger
fish - what was a predator becomes prey for another, its as simple as
that.

Before the advent of kibble manufacturing it waws common place for
companion animals to earn their keep by devouring vermin. And those
feeding practices kept companion animals healthy and thriving for
thousands of years before the cute and crunchy colorful shapes became
the norm!

As I write this I watch 2 of my 5 ferrets playing keep away with a dead
mouse. One of my elderly breeders that was no longer prolific. I it
cruel for them to play with a dead mouse? Not at all, the mouse feels
no pian but my ferrts are enjoying doing what comes naturally to them -
my only hope is they don't stash the darn thing in my jeans again!

AM I condoning feeding ferrets to snakes? NOT at all! They should feed
rabbits instead! - But rabbit owners probably think the snakes should
eat ferrets! How many people have you run across that think ferrets are
simply long bodied rats? They firmly believe that ferrets are rodents!
Of course my reply is absolutely not and thet ferrets actually devour
rodents!

There are already laws and restrictions on the books regarding reptile
ownership, my suggestion is you research those and see if your town has
them and/or is able to enforce them before you begin a law dictating
how and what people can feed to their animals.

Regards,
Kim

[Posted in FML 6384]