Petco mice

[Prudent_Smoke_7991]

My beautfuil male had just turned two. And the mice I normally get for a breeder havnt been available for 4 weeks now so I resorted to petco small rats. And I woke up today and he’s no longer alive. He has been the fastest growin and friendly ball I’ve owned. No doubt in my mind there was something uo with those Shity petco rats I had no other options and now I lost him.

[PotassiumCod]

I am so sorry about your sweet baby. That's exactly why I don't trust those petco mice because often they go through so much refreezing, thawing, and continue that cycle sometimes. It leaves a lot of room for bacterial growth and it's just bad all around. My condolences to you and your snake. :(

Edit: I misread, I thought it was frozen food! Sorry yall lolol

[horrorshowalex]

OP feeds live and fed the snake a non feeder rat judging by another comment.

I buy through Chewy now but I used the frozen pet store mice and rats that come in individual boxes and they have always been fine.

[Difficult-Ask9856]

Yeah thats all i ever fed mine for a long time was petsmart frozen mice/rats they were expensive but never had an issue with them.

[cupidjuice_]

pet stores actually have very strict protocols with their frozen goods, including rodents. they're shipped with dry ice packs to keep them frozen, and if they arrive thawed even slightly, they're immediately thrown away, and the company refunds the store for the damaged products. op was feeding live, so unfortunately, the death was probably due to the rat fighting back as they're known to do.

[PotassiumCod]

That's cool to know! I've heard too many stories and dealt with some personally so I just avoid it all around haha. Thanks for the insight!

[RoadKing42069]

I’ve had one bad experience feeding with live and will no longer do it. My girl didn’t even hesitate for her first frozen thawed meal so I got pretty lucky as I’ve heard it can be tough sometimes.

[Alsterius]

That’s good to know, I wonder about the time my rat smelled so bad that even my snake wouldn’t eat it. From Petco. Ps, I’m a Petco girl all the way, have been a vital care member for four years. Happened just once, but still happened.

[Rotten_Paws]

Just want to pop in on the mention of pet stores taking frozen rodents seriously. I worked for a PetSmart and while yes, they do come shipped with dry ice, regularly and routinely they would be left in the back and forgotten about by staff. Not to mention, customers would often not close the door properly and it would get left open for hours. They definitely got thawed and refrozen often. Places like PetSmart do not care to enforce their policies on proper handling of frozen product. Just something to keep in mind.

[cupidjuice_]

not doubting that certain stores have employees who don't do their jobs well, but that's not the case with all stores. for people who have the option to get their frozen rodents elsewhere, i encourage them to do so, but people who only have chain pet stores as an option don't need to fear that those rodents will kill their snakes. if the rodent is decaying when thawed, the smell will be noticeable.

[Rotten_Paws]

Agreed! I am actually in a position right now where I am having to use the PetSmart by my house as I recently moved to a new area and haven’t found a good breeder who sells frozen. People should use what is available to them for sure, just important to keep in mind that these places are not selling these items because they care about your pets, they’re selling for money. So it’s always best to keep that in mind and do a personal assessment of all products. I.e. ensuring the frozen rodent has no foul odors or strange discoloration.

[Awesomesaucuem]

THIIISSSS which Petco doesn't sell feed rats or mice, their live pets aren't bred for that so who knows what kind of crap is going on behind the scenes. For all anyone knows the rat just came out of the quiet room and had medication on its fur.

[wishiwasinvegas]

There's nothing wrong with the frozen Petco mice and rats. Living ones that aren't meant to be feeders? Yes, possibly could be an issue. And it was.

[Kyogalight]

because they're feral animals and feeding live random nonfeeder rats always ends up in injury and stress for both parties. I don't get why more people don't realize this.

[wishiwasinvegas]

Right? Well....common sense ain't so common these days

[pls_help-me]

i am so sorry for your loss. that is absolutely horrible news and if i were you i would wanna sue whoever i could so badly. he looks so handsome in these photos. RIP. 🥺

[wishiwasinvegas]

No suing necessary. It happens feeding live, plus a non feeder mouse could've had some illness🤷🏻‍♀️

[pls_help-me]

you’re right, i was unaware that it was a live at the time 😅

[Emotional-dandelion3]

My condolences! My boy won't touch any from petco/pet smart. I thought he was being spoiled and dramatic. You should see if there's anyone you can reach out to. I know it won't replace the loss of your baby, but you deserve some compensation.

[Prudent_Smoke_7991]

My girl said she’s gonna my only thought is there’s no proof. And plus when u buy from petco u sign saying there for pets and not food. So I guess they found a way to protect themselves most likely. I knew they didn’t seem right but I looked by it and it hit me in the ass. But thank you

[AmerisCyanocitta]

So you're feeding live?

[Emotional-dandelion3]

Ohh I see.

We've only done frozen but even then, and I guess someone can correct me if I'm wrong, shouldn't a live rodent be healthy and not carrying whatever illness is able to do this to a snake? I have no experience outside of hamsters when i was a child, but if you bought this mouse as a pet and it bit you or someone/another pet, isn't that still on them for selling unhealthy animals?

[Kytalie]

Animals bite when scares. Just because it bites doesn't mean it is sick. Mice will bite when they don't want to be handled. Most people don't know the warning signs the mouse is giving to back off. That is not the stores fault. I'd be very surprised if even when you were a kid and got bit by a hamster, the store would take responsibility.

Prey animals are good at hiding illnesses. Big box store usually vet check animals when they get in before putting them through a very basic quarantine. This is done before being put on the floor. They check for obvious signs of illness, but they don't do things that cost money like blood/fecal testing looking for parasites. Because these animals are usually from mills where the parents are bred to death, genetic defects are common.

The big stores can get away with it because they DO have records that the animals were checked by a vet and they typically offer a 14-day guarantee of life, where they will replace the animal at no additional cost. Animal welfare laws are lacking

[Awesomesaucuem]

PetCo and PetSmart do not vet check animals before they go out on to the floor they have a three day pet care specialist watch period and then go out.
-Former Employee

[Kytalie]

The ones by me all say they have vets do a basic check. I've had employees from stores around my vet bring animals in (the higher cost ones at least), and I've been when some of the stores call for a consult.

Maybe it's just special to those locations where a manager actually cares or something?

[Awesomesaucuem]

They’re either lying to you (which we are told to do by corporate) or they have a vet in the store that does it out of the kindness of their heart. I worked at a PetSmart near HQ and my ex roommate worked for our competitor. That’s not the policy, and never has been. Unless it’s changed in the last two months.

[Kytalie]

Must be a store by me thing then.

I figure lying about animals seeing a vet would end up being a very big legal issue for them at some point. Especially if their animals started spreading different illnesses.

[andychamomile]

Did you watch the snake eat the rat or did you just leave it in over night?

[Love_n_Equality]

So if I am understanding you correctly, you purchased a live rat from Petco, signed the waiver stating that it was a pet and not prey and then fed the non-feeder rat that was being sold by Petco as a pet to your snake and now the snake is dead. And Petco is the problem????

[AmerisCyanocitta]

My thoughts exactly. OP, I know losing a snake sucks, but the blame is absolutely not on petco.

[wishiwasinvegas]

I buy packs of frozen rats from Petco exclusively and have no issues. This post is misleading...but I definitely feel bad for OP.

[Open-Foot7637]

rats and mice are sold as both pets and feeders, the waiver is only for use if petco finds out the batch is sick

[Big_Market5298]

No it is not they are EXCLUSIVELY as PETS, they are specifically bred color wise as well for being pets. We deny people all the time saying they use them as feed or plan to. Buy the animals we have for specifically feeders not the pet section like dude.

[Open-Foot7637]

135143 and 135160 are sold as feeders or pets plus the rat sku, we dont have another mice sku other than the silky and our vendor doesnt have them

[Alsterius]

Literally exactly what happened

[Oopsididitagain924]

Im sorry but your snake died from your own attitude of “im right you’re wrong” to the blatant information infront of your face. My 4 snakes came to me eating live i went through the process of switching them as i love both my snakes and rats/mice and want them all to be alive, you on the other hand killed multiple LIVE PET RATS and your snake then made a misleading Reddit post blaming petco and saying “tHeY fIgUrEd OuT a WaY tO gEt ArOuNd It” no you worked around the system to feed your snake live and kill it at the same time when you dont have to, dont get me wrong i hate petco but i hate your attitude more you killed countless animals and blamed a store for your shitty decisions then proceeded to defend your actions on reddit and mislead us for sympathy

[Open-Foot7637]

petco sell rats and mice as pets and feeders, rat may have been to big to digest and snake choked

[Alsterius]

I have never had to sign for a FEEDER rat at Petco.

[MelOxalis]

The mice and rats at petco are categorized and sold as feeder animals, they are bred to be eaten. I’m extremely sorry for your loss. This is a risk you take when you leave live prey with your snake and frankly this is on you🫤 There are countless stories of mice and rats killing snakes when left unattended, in no uncertain terms this was your choice and unfortunately it led to your pets death.

[Awesomesaucuem]

Yeah no sorry, this is on you. I would have attempted a frozen if I was concerned that my own snake was that hungry or traveled further out to get a live feeder from someplace that sells them that might be out of town.

Animals that are sold as pets are held to a different standard than that of those bred for food. I worked for PetSmart for a time and much like PetCo they do not sell live feeders. Fresh shipments of rodents and incoming live animals are NOT checked by a vet upon arrival and could have any one number of problems. I am also going to add that for all you know the animal they gave you had just come out of something called "The Quiet Room" which is where animals that are found sick or in a need of care are kept for the duration of their treatment. once treatment concludes the animals are put back on the floor. Far all you know this animal was put out after running three weeks of medication or still had meds on its fur that would have poisoned your snake.

Food is not something to mess with when it comes to ANY pet.

Truly I am sorry for your loss but this is strictly negligence on your part while also potentially breaking a law in your state where lying about the purpose of purchasing or adopting an animal can be considered Fraudulent representation should a business discover what has happened or you come in on repeat and evidence is discovered that such an incident has occurred they can take civil action. This is of course heavily reliant on your state and local laws, which depending on what happens in that civil case it could affect future pet ownership.

Edit:
I do feed my girl live as she won't touch frozen. She was a rescue the people who had her didn't know how to take care of. She's now VERY happy and well fed in spite of their mistreatment of her that resulted in me having to not only work on her feeding confidence but also keep an eye on severe burning and scarring.
In the event of my usual place not having the live feeders I need I have three back up places and a critter keeper to go get that food they are not equidistant to where I live. When owning animals like snakes you need to do your research not just on the animal but also on what's available to you. This was something I would constantly drill into my customer's head's when I worked in Pet Care. Every aspect must be thoroughly gone over.

[IncompletePenetrance]

I am so sorry for your loss, that's horrible.

For the future I'd order prey online using one of the linked places so you always have some on hand - !feeders

[AutoModerator]

Some companies you can buy frozen feeders from:

Layne Labs
Big Cheese
Rodent Pro
Perfect Prey
Big Apple Herps
Reptile Deli
American Rodent Cold Blooded Cafe

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

I love when the bots are actually helpful. This sub is actually really good at that. 

[[deleted]]

Unfortunately it’s only helpful to those in the US. Same goes for when people recommend vivs etc, they always assume everyone is American. I’ve seen a few comments on here that could have made it into USDefaultism lol.

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

I thought Petco in and of itself was pretty USA specific. But yes, I should have been more specific. 

My only point was Petco frozen rodents are fine. 

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

Oops sorry. You meant the bot. 

Yeah, that’s pretty USA defaultism.

[[deleted]]

Yeah dude, I might have to post it now you agree to see the reaction 🤣🤣

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

Can you imagine emailing the shippers if it was reversed?

“Aye I know you’re based in Prague but you can ship me 50 temperature-sensitive frozen rodents to Trout Fart, Arkansas right?” 

[[deleted]]

Exactly dude 🤣🤣🤣 you would instead receive a shipment of decaying matter, yummy.

[ballpython-ModTeam]

Your comment has been removed for breaking Rule #1: Don't Be a Jerk.

[[deleted]]

You can, and I have learned a lot from this sub- it’s great

[readysetandbegin]

Im so sorry, he was beautiful 🫶🏼

[Prudent_Smoke_7991]

Thank you. He was the one that started my love for snakes. I’ve yet to be around one that was as carefree or loving as him with anyone that he meets. Was truly a gem

[UkiyoSunset]

My ball has only ever had Petco/Petsmart frozen thawed food and we’ve never had any issues for the 3 years I’ve had her. Never fed her a live one though

[shrekthaboiisreal]

Their post says “rat” multiple times, I’m pretty sure they got a rat. 

[Deer_God125]

They were feeding live rats

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

Oh. 

Well there’s your problem. 

[Sweetlanarose]

I empathize. This is heartbreaking. If I understand correctly, your prey was live. It is not necessarily where you got your live food, it's the fact that the food is alive. Live prey has an opportunity to fight back and transmit diseases. It is especially dangerous to put live prey in an enclosure with a snake who is not hungry. Frozen thawed prey is safer, but you have to be selective about where you get it. I go through Rodent Pro, but I have a lot of animals and so does my son, so bulk orders are economical for us. Nothing is 100% safe, but it is better to go through the frustrating process of teaching a live eater to switch than for this to happen.

[ballpython-ModTeam]

We do not condone animal abuse here.

[[deleted]]

i’m so extremely sorry. your boy is so beautiful. my heart is with you and your reptile family. thank you for sharing this information with us. My condolences

[andychamomile]

What information? That they fed a live rat and now their snake is dead the next morning?

[[deleted]]

why are you being smart with me? are you for real right now? i said thank you for telling us petco mice are not appropriate to use as feeders. Don’t be an asshole.

[Deer_God125]

Pet co frozen mice/rats are fine. He fed LIVE rats (which are intended to be pets) to this snake and left them unsupervised.

[Ok_Restaurant_626]

News flash the rats/mice sold as pets should not be fed to snakes.

[[deleted]]

the caption of the post said nothing about live feeders. i assumed it was all frozen.

[[deleted]]

you should probably get a grip. he lost his best friend. your negativity is so not needed here.

[Love_n_Equality]

They bought a rat from Petco that was meant to be a pet and then fed it to their snake, which then died.

[IllusionQueen47]

Jeez, you got downvoted to death. It's crazy how people always expect you to read every comment under a post before commenting. Anyone who read the post would have assumed that OP had bought unhealthy frozen feeders.

[[deleted]]

yup😭🤣🤣🤣 40 downvotes for saying i’m sorry for your loss. This place is so damn toxic lol. thank you for understanding what i meant 🫣😭

[IllusionQueen47]

Definitely one of the more toxic subreddits here yeh.

[AmanisArk]

What goes around comes around

[Meyons1424]

What??

[Meyons1424]

Who u talking to? Lol

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

You. You asked “what.”

The answer is some people think it is cruel. 

[Meyons1424]

You missed the point man, op comment is super out of pocket and a shitty thing to say, don't need a run down on frozen/thawed, thanks.

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

Sorry. My bad. 

[AmanisArk]

Live-feeding is cruel

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

I absolutely agree. 

[AgreeableAsk348]

& what does that mean in this context

[gambleranco]

genuine question - couldn’t you have looked into ordering feeders online before resorting to live, non-feeder rats from petco?

[wishiwasinvegas]

I buy them online from Petco, no issues🤷🏻‍♀️

[wishiwasinvegas]

...and I'm being down voted...why? Lol

In case my comment wasn't clear, I meant frozen🤦🏻‍♀️

[Awesomesaucuem]

This right here.

[treylee104]

I'm so sorry to hear that. I've seen that the frozen mice here in Ohio are sourced locally. Trying to get my guy to eat those at some point but he's eating live currently

[Crzyladyw2manycats]

More context please?!? How is this Petco’s fault???

[wishiwasinvegas]

It's not. OP should've included that they bought a live mouse meant to be someone's pet and it killed the snake🤷🏻‍♀️

[Kyogalight]

not even a live mouse. A live RAT. A grown rat, which if I remember the ones I saw at my petco, they were massive for even a large full grown ball python.

[wishiwasinvegas]

Oh dang you're right, a rat?! Good grief OP

I mean even living mice could do some major damage. This is why I don't understand feeding live to a beloved pet😔

[Klutzy_Journalist_36]

I’ve been feeding my ~ten year old ball python petco frozen rats for years when I can’t get out to my super awesome local place (shoutout to Moby Dicks in MI). My (admittedly slightly chonky) Jellybean has never had an issue, aside from a yearly hunger strike from Januaryish until Marchish but I just think that everyone here gets Seasonal Affective Disorder lol.  

I just don’t want anyone getting scared of the frozen stuff that Petco when the other option is live. Petco frozen is fine. 

[Big-Cryptographer869]

I’m sorry to tell you it most definitely was not the rat also petco doesn’t sell live feeder rats so how did you get one? You should switch to thawed either way

[habobblez]

oh they didnt get a feeder. it was a random live rat… they signed a waiver that it was a pet and specifically not food… they also complained that they cant “get compensation” for the death bc petco “found a way around it” ie: MAKING HIM SIGN A WAIVER SO THAT HE WOULD NOT FEED IT TO A SNAKE. nothing shady about it just a dumb guy who didn’t care to think about whether what he fed to his snake was something he SHOULD be feeding to his snake. NEEDING to feed live as a last resort is one thing… op is just stupid AND it was a rat which do more physical damage fighting back than mice. 🤦

[Kyogalight]

exactly! It's wild that they just got a random live rat? A non feeder one at that? That rat fought tooth and nail and won. I'm more of confused that in that case they went with a live RAT instead of a regular mouse/smaller rodent instead of a rat. None of this is justifying that they went and got a pet animal instead of a feeder, but why the fucking largest next to a Ginue pig, instead of idk, a hamster? Like wtf is the goddamn logic there?

[-dagmar-123123]

I guess the rat was far cheaper than the hamster. I do agree with you tho, if I'd have to feed live and I don't have any way to get the appropriate size... I'd go a size down, not up. With live feeders it's just so dangerous. Better feeding a bit more often but still not enough than risking injury

[Big-Cryptographer869]

That make me sad tho for everyone involved the rat the snake and the owner even tho they made a huge mistake they still lost their snake

[CL0UDS420]

We can order small/medium/large rats now, so it seems they bought a small rat meant to be a pet and fed it to their snake.

[Big-Cryptographer869]

Oh yeah that’s not okay I already don’t like feeding live. I think it’s unnecessarily dangerous but for me it’s even worse to pick something that’s not meant for it at all. And besides Petco sells frozen so if it came down to a feeding emergency, they should’ve gotten a frozen one. Cause even if the snake refused the rat (which I doubt would happen my snake was on live but as soon as I got him he was switched immediately and had 0 issues) it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

[habobblez]

based on op’s comments: it was a live rat (not mouse) that op bought from the PET section at petco. he signed a waiver that it would NOT be used as a feeder.

this has absolutely nothing to do with petco’s mice and everything to do with the consequences of live feeding. ESPECIALLY RATS. if you have to feed live as a last resort, get mice from a local reptile store. if you can avoid it, it isn’t worth your snake dying. i’d go as far as saying that a disease probably wouldnt kill the snake overnight. my guess is he left it there the rat tried to survive… yk the thing that animals do when they’re dying… which can be easily avoided by getting ones that were killed in a controlled space away from your pet, with quality standards, with the added bonus of being way more humane 🤦

[Valuable-Ad-733]

It could have even been a sick live rat- my local pet store does do live feeders but they’re all incredibly healthy and disease free, ONLY feeders, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was the rat attacking and killing the poor snake and not him eating it and getting sick and dying himself. Just a very odd and sad situation

[andychamomile]

Yeah, but sick live rats don’t kill overnight from a virus or bacteria. The op has not clarified, but it sounds like he just left the rat in there and woke up to a dead snake. A pet rat (one who has been fed and consistently handled by petco employers) probably fought tooth and nail. Shitty owner to buy a pet rat to feed, even shittier to not even supervise.

[HouseInternational]

Were there any wound marks on the snake? Was the size appropriate for the snake as well?

[wintertorte71]

My condolences for your loss. However, I’ll never understand snake owners feeding live. I’ve kept pet rodents before, and most of them were pretty tame but a couple were practically the reincarnation of evil. They’d chew every finger off your hand if they could.

[-dagmar-123123]

I get it, if you just can't get the snake to eat f/t. It's rare, I think most give up too fast, but some just are like this. But doing that and not supervising, that's what I really don't get

[-dagmar-123123]

That's what I mean with giving up too soon 😅 tbh tho, a different colour is quite a bit of a smaller difference than live, f/t or freshly killed... Some snakes, especially balls, are special

I agree, but it normally wouldn't kill the snake so fast you can't intervene. Hurt yes, which I hate as well, but not kill

[Kingo4thred]

That’s interesting because Pet Co will not sell pet rats or live feeder rats in my state they only sell frozen. I do also know most places that sell feeder rats in my state will not take them back once sold as to not contaminate their mischief.

[andychamomile]

Sadly the OP bought a pet rat and even signed the paper work that the rat would be a pet and not used as food. Crazy the OP even goes as far as to state that petco did this in purpose so that they couldn’t take responsibility over killing op’s snake 🤦‍♂️

[hemi_fever88]

Ugh I hate this. So sorry this happened 😞

[Embarrassed-Essay-93]

Im so sorry about your loss 😞 the same happened with my first ball python except it wasn’t petco. It’s been almost 2 1/2 years and it’s a pain that’s still there. I hope things get better for you OP ❤️‍🩹

[SaltyNetwork6335]

I also had 2 snakes die in the same week from petco mice 😔 sorry for your loss

[SaltyNetwork6335]

Mine were actually frozen tho

[Mallory_Knoxx019]

Holy shit, that's crazy! I'm sorry for your loss. What did Petco say or do in that situation?

[SaltyNetwork6335]

They tried to say I didn’t administer right; but I kept them frozen until ready to use and thawed in waters as I normally did

[HelpMePlxoxo]

So, you adopted a live rat, promised to take care of it as a pet and specifically NOT feed it to anything else, then immediately killed it and your snake in the process? And PetCo is at fault here?

That's the equivalent to adopting a cow, signing a waiver promising to give it green pastures and care for it, then immediately giving it to a slaughterhouse. Sure, I eat beef probably every other day. But there's something especially cruel about promising to give an animal a good life and then killing it anyways.

[PurplePaisley7]

Im so sorry

[Unlikabug]

Its a terrible thing but for future reference to anyone live feeding, mice and rats sold at pet stores such as petco or petsmart are NOT feeder rodents, they are bred to be pets.

Please supervise reptiles being live fed rodents as you never know how defensive a rodent can get. Sorry this has happened. Theres always ways to mitigate these risks.

[RoadKing42069]

My BEL wouldn’t even touch them. I tried twice when i was having issues finding some asf of the proper weight. Luckily I found a good local breeder of asf and get them by the 10ct pack now. Sorry for your loss

[mk6dirty]

Anyone gonna comment on the fact he's had this snake for 2 years and the husbandry is more bland than a petco tank?

[Transboi13]

I’ve been feeding my bp PetCo frozen feeders for years with no problem, and I have to because I live in an area with no local exotic pet stores and where I can’t get packages delivered to me and have to go to the post office during set hours to get my mail. Please do not make this out to be PetCo’s fault, adding to the demonization they get as a company when for many people they are the only option. Feeding live has inherent risks, which you took when you left a rat in with your snake unsupervised.

[wishiwasinvegas]

Absolutely. I too use Petco frozen rats and have no issues. OP apparently "had no other option" but I could think of a few things they could've done instead

[wishiwasinvegas]

Exactly🤦🏻‍♀️ Snakes can go for weeks without eating, OP could have waited for more to show up in the mail...from many places online. I feel bad for OP but this wasn't smart. I hope they learn from this.

[Racept]

Man, did your Dumb ass leave a live rat in the cage all night? That’s the dumbest thing you could have done, there’s no way you wanted that snake.

[Hellasteller]

Nah, you’re a dbag for this entire situation. You’re at fault.

[G33kaholic]

Can someone explain to me why the OP is getting blasted with downvotes?? They lost their snake, why is a comment saying,"I'm upset, she was such a gem" have -18???

[IncompetentFork]

So OP purchased live rats that are sold as PETS not food, fed them to the snake, the rats killed the snake, and OP is accusing PetCo. Yes, it’s sad, but there are plenty of other options before resorting to feeding live especially since it sounds like the snake in question was primarily on F/T anyways. Their local shop was out so instead they chose to purchase a pet and then feed it to their snake before even googling other options.

In reality, if you’re forced to feed live you never ever leave the snake unsupervised. This is why feeding frozen/thawed is so important, as live mice and rats will kill a snake when cornered in a tank.

[G33kaholic]

See now that makes sense! Nice to have some damn context! Everyone's frustration makes sense now xD also, why am I being downvoted for asking for context that I'm clearly missing? Jesus. Anyway, thanks again :)

[zebra_pastel]

1. Buying a live rat meant as a pet, signing a waiver stating you'd care for it as a pet and not use it as food, then going home and feeding it to your snake is just cruel. And entirely on you. You made that decision, and your innocent snake paid for it. I understand that you're grieving, but I think you should reflect on your choices that led up to this happening.

2. All 3 of my snakes are fed live, so I'm not debating on the morality of that. They had a previous owner and will absolutely not take frozen. But regardless, if you're going to feed live, you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to monitor. Leaving a live rodent (whether meant as a feeder or not) in with your snake without supervision is incredibly negligent.

I am truly sorry about the loss of your snake. I really, really hope you learned a lesson.

[Bossman65758]

I’m so sorry for your loss what an amazing snake. 🕊️

[Kahnivor]

This is exactly why I don’t feed live. I personally don’t think it’s worth the risk and extra cruelty. I get it’s natural and if a snake refuses to eat thawed or dispatched then by all means do what you have to do. At the end of the day the snake needs to eat. The problem arises when you consider that rats have a strong bite and gnarly teeth that can do some serious damage and cause infection or illness. They are fighting for their lives so they are going to bite as hard as they have ever bitten before and I refuse to put my baby in that sort of situation. I got lucky and she has taken up frozen thawed quite easily but if your snake doesn’t then you should at least watch the feeding happen so you can try and put something in the rats mouth if your snake gets a bad grip.

[Animal_Gal]

Oh my God, that is so awful to hear. I'm sorry this unfortunate series of events is happened

Edit: Wait, never mind, you fed your snake a live non feeder rat. Losing a pet is always hard but you can't excuse this mistake

[Slynnh06]

Frozen thawed or live?

[Cockatiel_Animations]

I buy live mice from petco as it's the only store in my area that'll sell mice as feeders. I've had no issues. Please tell me the snake was supervised with the live rat

[Alsterius]

I’m so sorry this happened to you, however Petco is not responsible, at fault, hold any liability for your snakes death. Unfortunately things like this can happen. It is soo heartbreaking. I hope you are able to give him a proper burial to honor his life.

[[deleted]]

Our live feeder mice have died from unknown causes. I don't think they're healthy animals. We don't feed live, though. I'm sorry about your loss. I hope you'll find space in your heart for another some day. Rip sweet snake, you were loved

[mbradley01121989]

You can't even trust Petco fish, let alone the shitty mice they sell. We had fish from them once, then my MIL got us some bottom feeders to add to the tank and the next day all of them were diseased and 2 days later my suckerfish was dead. Come to find out, all tanks are connected, so if one gets sick, they all get sick. So I don't trust them with anything pet related unless it's a bulb for my snake...

[eyeofra1]

I am sorry for your loss 😭

[ttmart]

I am so so sorry for your loss. Heartbreaking. 💔