That took a horrifying turn

h*ck

excuse me, this is a Christian site, i’m going to have to ask you to watch your language

I always thought it seemed really cruel to buy a pet just to feed it to a snake, but learning this clears up a lot.

My pet snake wouldn't go near a dead rat. They have to be taught it from birth and on top of it you have to thaw them and sometimes microwave them if it's too cold out in the sun for the body to become warm enough for the snake to even recognize it as food. It's easier to just put the snake in a bathtub and put a live rat in after. (I was a kid when I had my snake and didn't ever use a separate feeding area, but that only became a problem once).

sometimes you have too.... some snakes will starve themselves to death before they eat dead prey. At that point it's best to put them in a separate feeding tank first and then put the prey in without touching it so you don't get the scent on you. (From the stories you can see I learned those lessons)... I miss Patches (my ball python) :/