Quote:
Originally Posted by rick1iam
I am out of my league here (may be not just on this subject) but I'm ready and willing to learn.
Don't these critters feed in the wild with little consideration for substrate or any thing else? Not trying to be smarty just learning. I am considering getting another friend and studying if & what it might be.
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I will try to help explain the difference between the wild and captivity.
The first thing I want everyone to realize is that everything we try to prevent in captivity from harming or happening to our snakes DOES happen in the wild. Since there is no way of monitoring how many animals die each year from impactions, there is no data to support this. (An animal that dies in the wild is consumed by another predator or simply decomposes back into the ground.) Since an impaction is a medical issue, it goes without saying that it occurs in the wild. It is not something that appeared in captivity.
In the wild, the diversity of landscapes and substrates is vast. Many species of snake lay several eggs, and some MANY eggs, per clutch, to help ensure that the species will survive. This is because mother nature has its way of regulating the population.
Predators, illness, impactions, wounds, etc., all account for "x" amount of deaths annually. Since so many are born each year, the population moves on.
When any predator consumes something that is foreign to the digestive tract, an impaction
can occur. This is also true for humans. Substrate is foreign.
Depending on the size, type, and amount of substrate, any impaction can become a serious, life threatening issue.
In captivity we have the ability to remove the factors that surround the chance of an impaction. In the wild they can't. Its the risk taken every time prey is consumed.
Since our goal is to keep our snakes healthy and safe, it is our duty as responsible pet owners to do everything in our power to limit or prevent injury to our animals.
If we are going to use the wild vs. captive comparison, lets look at a few other things as well. (Slightly off topic, though relevant to this discussion.)
When a snake gets an Upper Respiratory Infection in captivity, why do we attempt to get the snake seen by a vet and treated? Thats simple, we don't want our snake to die or suffer. In the wild, snakes that get URI's are not seen by vets. They don't get shots of Baytril or Ceftazadine to battle the illness. They simply have to ride it out and may die as a result of it. (Or it may become a chronic illness.)
Since we don't want to watch our pet die, we do whatever we can to get them treated and cured.
There are many things that we do to help increase the chances of our snakes surviving their full life expectancy in captivity.
- We feed outside the enclosure to ensure that the chance of an impaction from substrate ingestion is removed.
- We try to get our snakes to eat frozen/thawed rodents to ensure they don't get parasite ridden or injured/killed by the prey.
- We have them seen and treated by vets when issues arise because we don't want them to die.
Gambling with the chance that "it wont happen to my pet" should not be an option for anyone.
