Very important question about feeding.

[angllady2]

I have a problem, or what might be a problem.

Although most of my BP take F/T, I still have one lovely little Pastel girl who only takes live mice. Today was feeding day, so I stopped by my local shop for her food. As it happened, they had just gotten in 2 large adult mice, versus the young ones I usually get, so I bought one of them and brought it home.

Kaiya was already on the hunt when I got home, so I just opened the end of the box and dropped the mouse in the far end of her tub. She struck and coiled perfectly within seconds, and all was well. I noticed about then that one of the tubs next to her needed a quick spot clean, so I didn't check on her again for several minutes.

That was when I noticed the mouse had a growth the size of a quarter on it's belly near one leg. It could only have been a tumor of some kind. But by the time I saw it, she already had the mouse in her throat, and there was no way I could have taken it from her. So she swallowed it just fine, but now I'm terrified that whatever was wrong with that mouse could affect her.

Has anyone come across this before? Should I be worried, or it is possible it won't harm her?

Guess who is going to be closely inspecting her feeder mice from now on.

Gale

[seeya205]

She should be fine! Their stomach acids are stronger than ours! After all, they can break down bones!!!

[Kaorte]

I don't see how a tumor on a prey item could make the snake sick unless some kind of internal parasite caused the tumor, which is unlikely.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Cancers are largely not contagious--the few cases where they are, it is always WITHIN the same species (such as the contagious facial tumors on Tasmanian Devils). It's usually possible only when the two are so closely related that their immune systems don't reject the transplanted cells. Very rarely, this happens between unrelated humans--but only a couple of times in recorded history (a surgeon who cut his hand while removing a cancerous tumor, for example).

There is 0 chance of transplant success between a rodent and a snake, so you should have no worries about feeding a rodent with a tumor to a snake. In fact, the role of predators in the wild is to weed out the sick and infirm members of the prey species--they're especially attracted to prey animals that have some sort of detectable problem, because these are usually easier to catch. They are well adapted to eat them without issue.

[angllady2]

Thank you for easing my mind. I kept telling myself not to worry, but as a paranoid snake mom, it didn't work very well.

I'm glad I have my experienced friends here to turn to, who understand what's it's like to be an over-protective snake keeper, and who answer my dumbest questions without making me feel foolish.

Gale