Don't see what the issue is here. I really enjoy observing all of my animals exhibit a healthy feeding response whether it is my Poison dart frogs searching for and eating fruit flies or my snakes eating live mice. The same applies to my fish. A healthy feeding response to live prey is something that I think is a good sign of health in captivity and is nothing to be sad about. These animals do not eat dead food in nature and why would I want to only provide dead frozen food to all my animals if I have the option to provide them with a live healthy alternative? I enjoy nature in all forms and predation is an integral part of that, a part that cannot be ignored. Each hobbiest can decide for themselves what they are comfortable with as we can provide a fairly full balanced diet to most of our inhabitants with prepared food. But if someone wants to supplement this with live feedings, I feel that this is their prerogative, and a great representation of the natural world in our little glass boxes. Isn't that what we are trying to recreate in the first place?
Sorry for the rant, just like my food fresh too! :wink:

:biggrin:^^^Well put.

Well they use the term ignorance is bliss for a reason :neutral:, predation happens we are predators, evolution is based on predation. Why on earth would you consider it "sad" to observe something so natural, something that occurs 24/7 all around us. After reading all of this I think that I might gouge my eyes out in fear of observing some malicious deer eating a poor defenseless piece of grass!

You can almost hear the vegetarians and vegans running this way lol. I ran in that pack for a couple years so I know =)

To each their own. I don't particularly enjoy watching that so If I'm able to keep my inhabitants healthy without live food I do that. I also wouldn't buy anything that absolutely had to have live food because it's a turn-off for me.

That doesn't mean I think it's wrong. We're keeping animals in little boxes against their will (if that can even apply here) so I don't think I can make that call. I just try my best to keep my pets happy. Sometimes that does mean hunting a crab with a nice long skewer :twised:

It all boils down to whether you are comfortable with what foods you choose to feed.

Our hedgehog loved live cricket's I thought it was gross but he thought they were very yummy.

And I had a tomatoe clown once and after it killed everything in my tank, yes I may have been tempted to feed it to something. However I am squimish and do not like it. But I think if you are okay with it then fine.:biggrin:

Gotta go my steak and eggs are done:redface:

predation
 

Life feeds on life, better get used to it!

People are predators too. It just 99.9% of us buy our food at the supermarket all pre killed and wrapped up nice in cellophane.

Predation is a fact of life, if you don't like it don't watch it. Maybe start a new movement for the banning of predation, that should keep you entertained for a while.

Meanwhile eat a carrot take a sip of V-8 juice and calm down, the herbal tea will be ready shortly.

live feeding
 

^^^ That made me laugh!

I don't have any problem of feeding live food to most captive animals. Crickets and crabs and even lobsters (into a pot of boiling water) are all invertebrates with no nerve endings in their exoskeletons and a very simple nervous system. Venomous snakes, tarantulas and pythons and constrictors all kill their prey quickly and humanely.

I don't know about live fish with a mantis though. They are slowly being chewed on and eaten alive until something vital is damaged. Seeing how nervous my Foxface, a clownfish being captured and eaten by a mantis would certainly be a stressful situation.

Couldn't you train it to eat crabs?

pinhead we have tried many many times, but as this is a spearer mantis it cant crack open crabs.
also the clown would not suffer, as the mantis jabs right through its prey usually killing almost instantly.