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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Mar 9, 2009 13:43:41 GMT -5
How can you guys do that? I feed mice, but my guinea pigs are my life! XD as well as my ferrets, just they came first. I don't think i could ever feed guinea pigs to them dead or alive.
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Post by harrisi on Mar 9, 2009 16:01:31 GMT -5
I find it pretty easy - dang it - I could feed dogs and cats to ferrets at the end of the day, I dont understand how people can think there is a difference between a puppy and a rat. I have fed alot of "crazy" things including guinea pigs but now stick with whole prey like rabbit, rats/mice and a variety of wild bird chicks. I have pet guinea pigs aswell as rats and rabbits and still dont think "ewww gross!" Lol.
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Post by Kerit on Mar 9, 2009 19:01:24 GMT -5
Ha... Harrisi, were you in that argument over on the ferret.com forum about live feeding? I wonder what'll come up if that guy ever makes his way over here.
I have a six-year-old guinea pig that I love dearly, but I think I'd be okay feeding frozen pigs to the ferrets. Actually, I could feed anything that was already dead, no problem.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Mar 9, 2009 19:51:35 GMT -5
I used to feed guinea pigs, but can't any more. Not to be graphic but they really smell when they are opened up.
The guinea pigs I fed were from rodentpro.com. They were small and looked NOTHING like the pet guinea pigs that I see come into my work (vet clinic). I dunno, I guess I could feed them because they didn't remind me of a pet.
I wish I could own a pet guinea. I used to work in a petshop and this little piggy was SO cute. I called him Hawk because he had a mowhawk. But it just wouldnt be fair to keep a guinea in a home where my other pets HAVE eaten guinea pig.
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Post by Kerit on Mar 9, 2009 21:35:31 GMT -5
I wish I could own a pet guinea. I used to work in a petshop and this little piggy was SO cute. I called him Hawk because he had a mowhawk. But it just wouldnt be fair to keep a guinea in a home where my other pets HAVE eaten guinea pig. That is exactly how I got my piggers! I was home from college visiting the pet store at which I worked in high school, and they had a brand new litter of baby pigs... out of which only one was long-haired. I never cared much for guinea pigs before, but I fell for her hard, and ended up with a new roommate. And my fiance is allergic to her, but she predates him by a year... which actually makes her seven, now that I do the math. She came before my ferrets, too. I don't have any photos on the laptop, but here's a shot of her hard at work: tinyurl.com/aeydpjAnyway, I guess I have a pretty strong farm mentality. Pets are pets, and food is food.
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Post by harrisi on Mar 10, 2009 13:01:34 GMT -5
Ha... Harrisi, were you in that argument over on the ferret.com forum about live feeding? I wonder what'll come up if that guy ever makes his way over here. I have a six-year-old guinea pig that I love dearly, but I think I'd be okay feeding frozen pigs to the ferrets. Actually, I could feed anything that was already dead, no problem. Nope, I will go take a look over there now...
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Post by bluedove on Mar 11, 2009 19:07:52 GMT -5
I think you actually answered your own question. Why would you feel comfortable feeding mice but not a guinea pig? The answer is that you have placed more value on the life of the guinea pig than that of the mouse. Other people who keep mice as pets will value them more due to the affection they feel for the species. Others still may value all animals in a similar manner, so they would be equally able (or unable) to feed those animals as prey. Personally, I wouldn't feed adult guinea pigs because I don't want to witness them being torn apart and then have to clean up after them. For whole prey, I prefer something small enough to be eaten in one sitting.
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 11, 2009 21:13:15 GMT -5
I don't think I'd have a problem feeding a piggy to a ferret. I don't think I could ever feed a snake though. I keep pet snakes and they are my babies. But at the same time I think I could keep pets that I also feed their kin as food (rats, mice, guinea pigs, ect) but snakes would be a no.
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Post by jadieglitch on Mar 25, 2009 16:57:50 GMT -5
Yeah, I put way too much time into my snakes to feel like it would be okay to feed them to a ferret...
We have a Kingsnake for our trouble-feeders (background: I'm a cornsnake breeder, and occasionally we get a baby that just gives up on life early on, and no matter what the efforts are, they aren't going to make it. We end their suffering with a painless euthanasia, freeze, thaw, then feed to our King).
As far a guinea pigs go, I don't have a "pet" attachment towards that species, but I do agree that I'd rather feed smaller, quicker meals. I don't want to clean up after such a large meal. That would be terrible.
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Post by whipple on Mar 31, 2009 22:43:22 GMT -5
I have had GPs as pets, mice and rats and rabbits too. I'm nearly looking at feeding cats to the ferts. The overpopulation thing is crazy, gotta dispose of them somehow. Sorry if I've offended someone, but when they are already slated to die in a shelter then the bodies should be used instead of burned. I have had pet cats also, and would not dream of buy or picking up free cats or kitten to feed. Oh gosh no. They would already have to be dead. I think after the whole "Food" thing I'll stick to mice and such small rodents as the only live food. Anything else will have to be dead first and will be fed while I'm out of the house. Or maybe I'll put the cage outside for that meal. What a site eh? lol
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Post by harrisi on Apr 1, 2009 4:35:21 GMT -5
I'm nearly looking at feeding cats to the ferts. The overpopulation thing is crazy, gotta dispose of them somehow. Sorry if I've offended someone, but when they are already slated to die in a shelter then the bodies should be used instead of burned. I have had pet cats also, and would not dream of buy or picking up free cats or kitten to feed. Oh gosh no. They would already have to be dead. Can I just say, and I am not picking on anybody, but I think we should quiten on the feeding "pets" to ferrets. My post was a for intance kinda thing, animal rights will already be at us enough with feeding cats coming into the aquasion (sp?) But truely, what a site that would be. I would be up for it or at least open minded about getting the animals from shelters that have been PTS to feed. I would rather that then they get burnt and thrown away.
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Post by jadieglitch on Apr 1, 2009 12:46:03 GMT -5
I don't know about feeding cats. Cats are carnivores too and I just don't believe that "meat is meat". I believe that a carnivore should eat meat from herbivores only. Even the bible tells us that the meat WE eat should not be from scavengers or carnivores... it's just more sanitary/healthy that way.
Not trying to add any more fire to an already controversial topic, but since we're giving our opinions here I feel okay about sharing mine.
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Post by harrisi on Apr 1, 2009 13:19:34 GMT -5
Now, see as I am not religious at all (I don't even "have" a religioun) and so I don't really go on what the bible tells me I should do. And alot of people - including me, actually, despite not really trying it - see rats/mice (some of the best known scavengers out there!) as a delicacy. I dont think this topic is very controversial. This is the only forum I have been on where we can have a debate that doesn't turn into a slanging match!
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Post by jadieglitch on Apr 1, 2009 15:01:50 GMT -5
I'm really glad about that. The Corn Snake forum is the same. If someone causes a problem it is usually handled nicely.. and if it escalates the mods step in before it gets too bad. I was disclaiming that in my previous post because I am still testing the waters on this site. I don't want to offend anyone or start anything. And I guess I see your point. Rodents ARE scavengers, aren't they? I guess I don't think about it that way since I don't give them scraps or meat... but I know they'd eat it if I did. I'm still learning about the whole "Ferret Food" thing, so any enlightenment is welcome. Ferrets may be game eating things that scavenge or eat meat, but I could never eat a mouse! If I was stranded in the forest and the only food I could catch was a rat... sure, fine... I might eat it if there was nothing else... but the frozen/thawed ones?!?!?! I'd rather die. Seriously. I would starve to death before I ate one of those. They are SOO nasty when they thaw out! Nothing like how they went in. I feel bad feeding them to my snakes, which is why I've started an ASF colony. That way, all my animals can have freshly killed prey and don't have to settle on the nasty freezer foods.
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Post by harrisi on Apr 1, 2009 15:11:18 GMT -5
Hehe, yeah Frozen store-bought mice can be horrible!! I freeze some of our home-bred mice and rats and when I thaw them if/when needed they never smell like the store ones do, they dont even smell....well its kinda like explaining how water tastes..there isnt anything to explain Our rats usually get scraps (just yesterday my brother gave them some left over casserole because he feels horrible 'cause they can smell us cooking from the kitchen, so he took the left overs to them ) of meat and even raw meats every now and again so I guess we really do think of them as scavengers.
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