Pet snakes drive hidden rodent factory farming surge

As pet snake ownership has climbed from about 810,000 US households in 2018 to about 1.3 million in 2024, investigators say the demand is being met by largely unregulated, factory-style breeding and killing of feeder mice and rats. The result: overcrowded cond

In living rooms across the United States, snakes have become a familiar sight—slithering in glass tanks, paired with heat lamps and carefully measured schedules. For millions of households, the animals aren’t just reptiles anymore; they’re members of the family.

But the way pet snakes are fed runs on a system most people never see. From 2018 to 2024, the number of US households that own a pet snake rose from about 810,000 to 1.3 million. Over the same period, the share of snake-owning households with more than three snakes doubled.

To keep up with that boom, companies are breeding tens of millions of mice and rats in factory farms, according to undercover investigations that have reported overcrowded and inhumane conditions.

In the wild. snakes eat a mix of prey—small mammals such as mice and rats. along with birds. fish. frogs. and insects. In contrast, pet snakes are commonly fed a near-exclusive diet of “feeder” rodents. The range varies by size: pet snakes may consume anywhere from two infant mice per week to one or two larger mice or rats every 10 to 14 days.

Those mice and rats live—and die—under rules that many animal advocates say are designed for speed and cost. not welfare. Like the animals raised for human food. mice and rats aren’t protected by the federal Animal Welfare Act. and there is no animal welfare oversight in these operations. even as welfare issues are described as widespread.

The problems begin with space. In rodent farms. mice and rats are confined in small tubs. never able to breathe fresh air or step on grass. despite the fact that mice and rats have long ranges in the wild. The industry’s packaging of care can be startling: one best-practices document for rodent farming. published by the pet industry lobbying group Pet Advocacy Network. does not mention several necessities that are generally recommended for pet rodents. including shelter—important because they are prey animals—and enrichment toys such as running wheels to let them exercise.

Veterinary care is also unlikely. When each animal is worth only pennies or dollars, the economic logic tends to leave little room for treatment. Pet Advocacy Network goes further. saying that standards for caging and veterinary care recommended for pet rodents and those used in medical research are “unnecessary for feeder rodents” because of their short lifespans.

The second act is slaughter. Day-old mice and rats—known as “pinkies”—are popular with snake owners and make up a large share of production; it’s standard practice to freeze them to death. Other rodents are killed within a couple weeks or months after they’re born, often by carbon dioxide gassing. For decades, that method has remained controversial among those who use mice and rats in medical research.

Studies have found that mice and rats will go out of their way to avoid CO2. As chambers fill with gas, it causes anxiety, fear, and pain in the two to three minutes it takes to render animals unconscious. Other chemical options also have drawbacks.

Some rodents are even fed while they are still alive. How often farms kill healthy animals or euthanize sick ones with methods described as more gruesome—such as decapitation. cervical dislocation (quickly severing the spinal cord at the neck). or blunt force trauma (picking them up by the tail and slamming them against a hard surface)—is described as unknown. But the methods appear common enough that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums allows zoos to purchase from rodent farms that euthanize their animals using these approaches.

AZA declined an interview request for this story. Pet Advocacy Network, along with two of the largest feeder rodent companies in the US—RodentPro and Big Cheese Rodent Factory—didn’t respond to interview requests.

PETA has conducted investigations into large-scale US pet breeders that raise mice and rats for snakes. In documentation from those investigations. workers are described grabbing ill and injured rats by the tail and slamming them against walls and tables to euthanize them; there are reports of hundreds of dying. dead. and decomposing mice and rats; and rodents are described being bludgeoned with tongs and BB guns. with some reportedly thrown into the trash still alive after botched attempts. The investigations also document mice and rats starved and frozen to death, with some drowning in floods.

Because this part of the pet industry is described as largely unregulated and almost entirely hidden. there’s no data on how many feeder rodents are farmed each year. In 1999. a journalist at The Independent estimated 167 million each year for the US market alone. but that figure is more than 25 years old. In 2017. Pet Advocacy Network wrote that with the growth of the reptile pet trade. “demand for rodents increased concomitantly and led to large-scale production facilities [of feeder rodents] throughout the United States and Europe.” Then even more people got pet snakes during the pandemic.

A 2024 back-of-the-envelope calculation by an animal advocate estimated that 200 to 650 million mice and rodents are farmed for captive snakes globally. with most destined for US and European markets where pet snake ownership is concentrated. If the true number is near the upper end of that estimate. animal advocates say it would mean globally more than twice as many mice and rats are farmed just for snake food each year as cows are killed each year to feed people.

The supply chain may also be shifting. Increasingly. farmed mice and rats are being imported from China. where animal welfare oversight and regulations are described as weak in both the meat and pet breeding industries. US snake owners. zookeepers. and animal advocates are said to have even less insight into the conditions of feeder rodent farms in China than they do in the US.

Exports of feeder rodents from China to the US grew from around 12,000 pounds in 2015 to 1 million pounds in 2025, which amounts to tens of millions of rodents.

Advocates concerned about numbers argue this is part of a broader “small body” problem: small animals—like chickens. fish. crustaceans. and rodents—tend to have very poor welfare and are farmed in huge numbers. while larger species. like cattle and sheep. are farmed in much lower numbers because they’re so big.

Some people dismiss such concerns because rats and mice have long been demonized as pests. But advocates point to the intelligence and emotional lives of these animals. Researchers have found that mice emit ultrasonic giggles when they’re tickled. while rats free trapped cage-mates even if they get nothing out of it. They also say rats demonstrate strong memories and that mice can rapidly learn complex tasks.

There are steps advocates say could reduce harm, starting with the demand side. Reducing the number of pet snakes is one route. Several US states and hundreds of cities have prohibited the sale of some types of animals in pet stores. though only a few of those city laws include a prohibition on selling reptiles. Advocates say more city action could dent pet snake sales because currently almost 40 percent of snakes are purchased at pet stores.

Another route is pushing for changes in how zoos buy feeder rodents. Advocates say the Association of Zoos and Aquariums should raise its standards for feeder rodent suppliers and require routine audits.

A different approach focuses on what pet snakes eat. A few companies—including Arcadia. Good Reptiles. and ReptiLinks—sell sausage-type products made from a variety of meats. including chicken. beef. rabbit. and quail. They say the products are nutritionally comparable to feeder rodents. and some claim they use often unwanted animal parts such as bones. organs. and feathers. The companies also market the products as safer and less messy alternatives because feeder rodents are shipped frozen and must be thawed before feeding snakes. and occasionally frozen feeder rodents cause salmonella outbreaks.

There’s also a practical benefit tied to animal numbers: these products can reduce the number of animals raised to feed snakes. A single chicken, rabbit, or cow can produce enough meat to replace dozens to hundreds to thousands of feeder rodents.

For advocates, the underlying issue isn’t only the fate of snakes in tanks. It’s the hidden expansion of factory farming built around feeding practices—an animal welfare crisis that, they argue, grows quietly while the public debates visible parts of pet ownership.

If that system is left untouched, the growth in pet snakes suggests the demand for feeder rodents is likely to intensify. If it’s challenged—through diet changes, stricter standards, and limits on sales—advocates say the ripple could reach much farther than the enclosure glass.

pet snakes feeder rodents mouse and rat farming animal welfare factory farming carbon dioxide euthanasia Association of Zoos and Aquariums Pet Advocacy Network RodentPro Big Cheese Rodent Factory Arcadia Good Reptiles ReptiLinks China imports