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Vegetarian snakes

CplFerro

Graduate Poster
CplFerro
Joined
Jul 30, 2005
Messages
1,962
Suppose I'm a vegetarian who wants to own a large snake, but doesn't want to feed it other animals (whether live or in processed form). Is there any way to keep a snake healthy on a vegetarian diet? Can I feed it vegetarian meat balls or something?
 
Snakes in general are thoroughgoing carnivores, and thier nutritional requirements are met only if they ingest the entire animal. They often digest bones, fur, and gut contents of whatever they capture.

It would be hard to circumvent many millions of years of specialized evolution to try to conform with your own dietary beliefs.

Some species thrive quite well on insects and worms, is there a point at which you don't classify the creature as "meat"?
 
I'm currently attempting to get my pet rabbit to eat only meat (I'm a carnivore by choice).

And I know a guy who's got fish he's trying to raise out of the water (he's a breathairian by choice).

Maybe we should start a support group!

We can call it - Dumbassezz with Animalzzz :D
 
CplFerro said:
Suppose I'm a vegetarian who wants to own a large snake, but doesn't want to feed it other animals (whether live or in processed form). Is there any way to keep a snake healthy on a vegetarian diet? Can I feed it vegetarian meat balls or something?
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Suppose? So are you or aren't you? If you are seriously considering this, then I'll give you a different answer than if you're just hypothesizing.
 
I am a vegetarian, chiefly. But I'm not considering getting a snake. I'm merely wondering if it's possible to maintain it so. Vegetarian dogs and cats exist, though with cats a dietary supplement or two is required. If a cat, which is as far as I can tell a near pure carnivore (other than the odd bit of grass or catnip), can be maintained without meat*, I wonder whether a reptile could. Or a shark, for that matter -- feed it watermelons?

* By meat I mean anything visible that moves about, including I suppose slime moulds, which are too nifty to eat, not that you'd want to.
 
CplFerro said:
Vegetarian dogs and cats exist
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No... people who wish their dogs and cats were vegetarians exist.

Anyone who says a cat or dog is vegetarian should apply for the $1 million dollar challenge... because that animal is truly paranormal!
 
You *might* be able to come up with some veggie concoction that could supply all the needed nutrients in the proper ratios, but they would not eat it. Tube (forced) feeding would be the only choice, but that's only gonna' hurt them and damage their health in the long run, plus it would be denying them their natural mode.

Why? Do you enjoy hurting animals? :( :(

Dave

ETA the why.
 
CplFerro said:
... Vegetarian dogs and cats exist, though with cats a dietary supplement or two is required.
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Forcing vegetarianism on a carnivorous animal completely defeats the purpose of moral vegetarianism. It is wholly opposite to the moral value of treating animals with respect.

And the dietary supplements for cats are animal-derived, i.e. not vegetarian.
 
I don't think you should get a snake if you are a vegetarian and all. It would be like a Maranatha follower buying a science book. It just won't work.
 
besides, half the fun of having a snake as a pet is feeding it. And none of that pre-killed baby mouse BS either...gotta watch the process to really appreciate having a snake...
 
LucyR said:
Somewhat off-colour post from you Mercutio.
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I have had pet snakes before. Just being honest. Snakes do what snakes do--if you don't like what snakes do, you should not have a pet snake.

For me...I appreciate the grace with which a snake can, with no limbs, maneuver a frog it has captured by one hind leg into position to swallow it headfirst. It is a remarkable sight. If that sort of thing makes a person queasy, that person should not be considering sharing a roof with a snake.
 
Mercutio said:
I have had pet snakes before. Just being honest. Snakes do what snakes do--if you don't like what snakes do, you should not have a pet snake.
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Well ok, and I agree it make no sense to try to persuade the poor reptile to eat "vegeterian meat balls" :D

But I'm not sure your logic is quite sound, although maybe it is. Do snakes really need to be fed live food? I don't know.
 
LucyR said:
Well ok, and I agree it make no sense to try to persuade the poor reptile to eat "vegeterian meat balls" :D

But I'm not sure your logic is quite sound, although maybe it is. Do snakes really need to be fed live food? I don't know.
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I don't actually think they do need to be fed live food. I know people who buy frozen mice to thaw for their snakes...

To me, this is like buying a painting because it matches the sofa.

Why would someone want a snake, if they do not want something that behaves as snakes behave? To me, such a person wants a snake-substitute, and not a snake at all.
 
Yeah, but in the overwhelming majority of cases we also feed our domestic cats and dogs horrible canned stuff. Doesn't your logic also apply to them, then? In the "wild" they would only eat live or very freshly killed animals, yes?

Mercutio said:
To me, such a person wants a snake-substitute, and not a snake at all.
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There's a joke in there somewhere....
 
LucyR said:
Yeah, but in the overwhelming majority of cases we also feed our domestic cats and dogs horrible canned stuff. Doesn't your logic also apply to them, then? In the "wild" they would only eat live or very freshly killed animals, yes?
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In the wild, there would not be domestic cats nor dogs. But I see your point.

eta: I am not refering to how we treat an individual animal, but how domesticated animals are different due to countless generations having lived in "domesticated" rather than "wild" conditions.

There's a joke in there somewhere....
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Good thing I am a behaviorist and not a Freudian, no?
 
Mercutio said:

Good thing I am a behaviorist and not a Freudian, no?
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Well probably, but I'm not really sure what a behaviorist is (*hangs head in shame*).

According to the dictionary behaviorism is:
"an approach to psychology that emphasizes observable measurable behavior".

Sounds interesting. I don't want to derail so can you suggest a link?

Edit:
"eta: I am not refering to how we treat an individual animal, but how domesticated animals are different due to countless generations having lived in "domesticated" rather than "wild" conditions."

I understood that, but the instincts of dogs and cats have probably changed little from those of their feral ancestors. From that POV it does not make much more sense to feed them non-live food than it does in the case of snakes.
 
LucyR said:
Well probably, but I'm not really sure what a behaviorist is (*hangs head in shame*).
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Not a problem, really--the joke was in the Freud part, given the phallic nature of a "snake substitute".

According to the dictionary behaviorism is:
"an approach to psychology that emphasizes observable measurable behavior".
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That is an oversimplification, but an understandable one.

Sounds interesting. I don't want to derail so can you suggest a link?
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Sure--Here's a nice tutorial on it.
 
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