I agree with you, to an extent.

The popularity of such videos shows an aspect of husbandry that some people enjoy. I've heard numerous people say that they feed live because they enjoy watching the hunt. Usually these same people have not owned snakes for very long. But, let's face it, some people do like having snakes BECAUSE of the attack/constrict behavior. I suppose that's the same reason rooster-fights (to word it nicely) have a following.

I don't enjoy watching rodents suffocate (though when I initially got my first snake, a ball python, I did like watching the hunt behavior) and this can indeed send a message to some people that owning a reptile creates cruel situations for live feeder rodents - especially if those watching decide to assume that ALL snake owners are the same.

Some people at my work have asked if I could feed one of my snakes a live rodent so they could watch. My answer was simply no - first, my snakes are all currently eating frozen/thawed, which is safer for the snake and less traumatic for the rodent. Second, transporting a snake that has just eaten isn't desirable due to risk of regurgitation. Most people just say "oh", but a few actually seem to be interested that mice and rats can injure snakes and say "that makes sense".

Exhibitionism... some people also put the hobby at risk by taking large pythons out in public areas where the general population isn't expecting them.

But do we berate everyone who may have these interests? Would getting rid of people who like watching rodents get constricted remove a sizable portion of people from the hobby? Because people who are initially less-than-responsible sometimes do learn and become responsible reptile keepers after a little while.

The bad thing about YouTube is that the videos are just THERE, with no explanation or educational offering most of the time. So there's nothing to say "feeding live rodents to snakes can cause injury to the snake" or "humanely euthanized frozen feeder rodents are available to the reptile hobbyist"... so these macabre videos are what people see, without introduction.

Guess the only way to counter it would be to post a similar video, and show snakes that have bite-wounds, or show frozen-thawed feedings to try to counteract what is currently posted.

Sorry for my meandering writing!
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com
1.0 Ball Python, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 Green Tree Python

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