Reptile and fish keeping approaches?

[Jennet12 70]

Took me 16 weeks to get this little blessing eating again one of the times he went off his food. Had to squish the heads to get the brains to leak. Could not do that with a sausage

 

[Back in the fold]

Snakes ! Why did it have to be snakes ! ? ! ?

 

[CassCats8 5]

Snakes ! Why did it have to be snakes ! ? ! ?

Because they're cool as heck. Did you know they only have one lung? Some species also have vestigial legs. They can move so fast yet dont have limbs. They're fascinating animals

 

[Innesfan30 14]

Snakes ! Why did it have to be snakes ! ? ! ?

Ah, my favorite line from my favorite Indiana Jones film.

 

[Herpin Man2]

I think the simple reason is that many amphibians and reptiles require live, moving prey, and don't recognize dead prey or prepared foods as being food.
It should also be noted that for the herp keeper with even a modest sized collection, it is less expensive and more convenient to culture ones own feeders. I currently culture my own mice, and several insect species. I usually have what I need on hand, it's less expensive, and I seldom have to worry about availability issues.

 

[GaryE]

I think the simple reason is that many amphibians and reptiles require live, moving prey, and don't recognize dead prey or prepared foods as being food.
It should also be noted that for the herp keeper with even a modest sized collection, it is less expensive and more convenient to culture ones own feeders. I currently culture my own mice, and several insect species. I usually have what I need on hand, it's less expensive, and I seldom have to worry about availability issues.

All of this works for many fish too. But fishkeepers just don't keep the obligatory predators. Some of my Epiplatys killies have never made it to flake, while other species in the same Genus eat anything. All are wild caught or F-1.

With my 50 plus tanks, cultivating food saves me a fortune. A single zucchini stand will feed my herbivores for a year. Mosquitoes and daphnia all summer are free. A $10 bag of kitten food feeds grindal or white worms for a couple of years. My homemade fruit fly medium is cheap. And the fish do way better.

If I were a reptile person, I don't think hobbyists would look at me like I was nuts because I raised live food. Granted, they might look at me as nuts anyway, but I earn that.