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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arachnoscholar" data-source="post: 146119" data-attributes="member: 28900"><p>Very well put in my opinion. Not just in regards to the tarantula discussion, but also the comments pertaining towards how things work in nature, politics, and the general ridiculous notions that try to have people out as either nature snowflakes with a few screws loose, or simply mindless killers that enjoy harming all living things (although those types of people do exist unfortunately). But I would have to agree that while nature is nature and all that comes with that, that animals in captivity are not at all the same as those in the wild. In the hobby almost everyone is aware that when you see "CB" -captive bred- we know what that is, and if it really amounted to nothing then there would never be discussion about it. Animals in the wild are used to hunting, and through natural selection of evolution and strength, they know what prey items to go after when circumstances are right to take the risk of going for w/e prey that may be. I don't object to feeding appropriate animals mice as a food source, but I agree the feeding of live mice to be a strange risk for those that claim to care for the animals. Tarantulas are formidable compared to mice, but even crickets in all their insignificance in comparison can cause serious harm in the right circumstances as most hobbyists would also agree. And more so from that besides the risk of harm, and factors of an unsavory suffering death of the mouse/rodent when a clean/quick death could be chosen, the practice of feeding live like that is illegal in alot of places because of the mentality notions in people that it can encourage. In short to skirt the risks for the animals means it was more about the factors of a person wanting to enjoy the display of carnage however it played out in my opinion. We are all human, and like all living things are bestowed primal instincts for hunting, surviving, ETC. But I feel if a person has strong feelings in that regard channeling it into a constructive fashion is the only way that is done without a person regressing themselves mentally. What tortoise Tom said about hunting pest species, and deer hunting being perfect examples of that kind of balance, and I totally agree that the extremists are usually causing issues with common sence with one extreme or another. Yes insect prey is live most times, but as I mentioned with the crickets, I would expect the same argument from people putting a large cricket in with a smaller sling alive, instead of most commonly choosing insects of efficiently smaller size for that particular specimen to avoid any injury to the best of our abilities. I will agree also that insects aren't the same as mice biologically. The spiders venom is much more designed to 100% incapacitate the insects who do not feel things the same way a mouse would. It would take much longer for the rodent to succumb to the venom, and hence would suffer much more. Also the mouse doesn't lose very much (if any at all) nutrients by having been pre-killed even after frozen and then thawed. An insect is primarily a shell with fluids, and the instant it dies it starts to lose hydrating nutrients very rapidly. With my very young slings I do get pinhead sized insects for them when I can, and besides that i get very small crickets, crush the heads, and then even may cut those up into smaller peices for the ultra small slings. Besides feeding aspects, I also feel it's dangerous because of how tarantulas can abruptly start going into pre-molt,  or fasting for some species. In those events the tarantula can completely shy away from prey items it typically attacks with gusto, and can go into a very defensive posture you otherwise wouldn't see. In these cases the mouse would/could be completely static with fear, and if I see insects recognize the danger of a tarantula being nearby the way I've observed, then that would be far more prevalent with the mouse. I'm not saying it isn't possible to feed a tarantula a mouse live and it not work of course, I'm simply pointing out that like a seatbelt, all it takes is that the 1 time circumstances line up just right for things to go terribly wrong and there would be no fixing it after that. The other personal factor for me is knowing that if a tarantula is big enough to eat any rodent alive or dead, that it would have to be an adult, or at least close to it. These amazing and beautiful creatures take a long time to grow, and I care about their well being besides just my own, and I will admit dealing with others that hypocritically demonstrate only caring about their own but help hurt others for alterior motives in turn has generated some animosity within me pertaining to that! I do respect the individual who posted this for looking for feedback (as long as it wasn't with malicious intent as ive witnessed a trend of people doing backwards things like that to revell in the social negativity it generates in a cowardly fashion) to get others to share information on their opinions, information, and social networking to get a better idea of aspects pertaining to that kind of practice. And I do hope my information, and opinions are helpful.</p></blockquote><p></p>

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