hi i just brought a male and female mice to feed to water dragons do you all think its cruel or just nature my partner says it is so ill get everyones opinion and (prob still will) see if its good to feed them that or not

Most of the lizards we keep will willingly eat mice in the wild. Personally I dont think it's cruel. It's part of the food chain. It will come down to peoples personal opinions and emotions.

I assume you intend to breed the mice and feed the pinkies

yeah feed the pinkie well fuzzies i have read that pinkies have less calcium

I don't have a problem feeding something live to something else, it is natural.

As long as it dies fairly soon after being placed with the predator and is done purely for food, not the 'fun' of the owner (like the guy on the NZ fishkeepers doco who was giving feeder goldfish to his vegetarian pacu...)

Feeding the babies is not cruel, however constantly breeding from the same female can be considered cruel as it puts a lot of stress on her. I would recommend having 2 girls and only allowing one to be pregnant at a time. That would of course mean keeping the male seperate.

It's just like farming... Humans breed animals to feed to other animals everyday... no issue in my opinion.

Just make sure the animals are well looked after while alive... like free range vs barn raised vs cage raised.

But that is a whole other topic that isn't needed in this thread

lol of course the mice will be in a cage but not like chickens lol

I've seen an over seas guy who keeps almost every pet possible. He breeds mice in those cheap plastic storage drawers. Feeds them to his lizards, snakes, hedgehogs etc

I think its wrong just because its not natural.

yes they eat them in the wild but generally its not a young infant that gets tossed onto there land.

still do what ya wana do

p.s locust are good nutrition

locusts might be good but not as good as whole live prey you can even feed baby chicks

i think you'll find 2-3 locust hold ALOT more nutrients than a mice

oh have u got an article so i can read up on that please

in the wild when young they feed mainly on insects, spiders etc

as adults they may feed on the occasional rodent or other small mammal

feeding too much animal protein when young can create problems later on

thanks living art so u recommend just now and then?? feed them mostly on insects?

i can confirm that my w dragons dont eat zebra finches or gouldian finches (eggs,chicks or adults)....but will shread an adult mouse with glee....

mine ate some canaries :facepalm:

I breed mice to sell as pets, and a guy once bought one of my males to breed the babies for his water dragons. I was pretty horrified when he told me, and I got him to assure me that he would only feed the dragons the babies, not the adults.

I don't really have a problem with newborn mice being used as a food source, as they are less aware (though personally I don't think I could ever do it, as I'm too fond of mice!) but I would consider it cruel to use adult mice or older babies (eg furry babies) for food.

It is however definitely cruel to be constantly breeding from one female, as previously stated by BigBossPants. A female mouse should not have more than three litters in her lifetime - she should be allowed to retire once she reaches three litters, and should not be bred from once she reaches one year of age. She should also be allowed at least a couple of months break between litters. It is important to separate her from the male before she gives birth and while she's nursing the babies, otherwise she'll get pregnant again straight away and it's not good for her to be pregnant when she's just had a litter or still nursing.

better tell that to the wild mice??

Well yeah...I'm sure with wild mice the rules of breeding are very different!

Wild mice are much hardier and more durable than those bred in captivity.

I was just stating advice I've read from other experienced mouse breeders - that mice bred in captivity shouldn't be treated as breeding machines.

Though in saying that, my male mice wouldn't complain if I let them breed all the time, being the horny little devils they are!!

The difference is captive mice can live for a year or two, while the average wild mouse will live for just a few months. This is partly due to being at the bottom of the food chain, partly due to females being exhausted by the energy put into reproduction. Birth and lactation is very taxing- just imagine a female human reproducing to her full potential (a baby every 9 months)

its not cruel if you dont tell anyone about it :sml1:

everyone here will have different opinions.

i think that feeding lions, tigers and predators int he zoo meat is cruel

i reckon they should put a goat or sheep in there after hours to get their stimulated.

but you cant

mice, baby mice is extremely good for fish and reptiles.

full of vits, calcium, especially ust after a feed from their monther and full of milk - they are extremely full of goodness!

just for the record. If ya gona feed out mice,less is more!! i fed out 7 adultwild mice (fresh caught in traps) over a season,over an above normal feed n me male was so FAAAAT afterwards,I had to starve him out for half the next season!

P.S starve = half share diet..... :digH: