No bloody rats?

[shootingstar26]

Hey Forum

I have a question about f/t rats. For about a month and a week now, my ball python hasn't ate. It hasn't lost any weight either, of which I'm glad. It recently had a large meal, and was uninterested in feeding for a couple weeks.

Today, it striked and grabbed the head (which was bloody) but then instantly let go. The last couple times I tried feeding it, the rats were a little more bloody than usual. The rats I get on a normal basis have just a bloody nose, but these had bloody faces, and there's still one in the package whose body is a bloody mess (I don't plan on using that one). My question is: Should the rats be blood free?

[seeya205]

I would get another supplier! They should not be bloody like that!

[Generationshell]

Yikes!
Well, its not uncommon for them to bleed from the nose minutly, but they should NOT be all around bloody... face..body....
Just a little bit from the nose and thats it!

Yea I would def get a new supplier.

[shootingstar26]

UGH I knew it! The brand is "Gourmet Rodent;" they (were) really reliable, up 'till now. I'll see if I can get rats somewhere else for a little while, and see if they can win back my loyalty.
Do all ball pythons avert from bloody rats?

[seeya205]

I don't think so because I had some that dripped from the nose and they were eaten fine!

[shootingstar26]

But I mean, even bloody faces? Is that a norm for pythons to take?

I know bloody bodies are crossing the line, but I assume the line is fuzzy because all pythons are different...right?

[Kyle@theHeathertoft]

UGH I knew it! The brand is "Gourmet Rodent;" they (were) really reliable, up 'till now. I'll see if I can get rats somewhere else for a little while, and see if they can win back my loyalty.
Do all ball pythons avert from bloody rats?

The feeders PetSMART and PetCo sell suck. I loathe them. I've had issues with both Artic Mice and Gourmet Rodent products, up to and including feeders that were allowed to decompose before they were frozen.

I've had the occasional rat-with-bloody-nose but it happens less and less now that I have a really great local feeder supplier.

[shootingstar26]

Update: Yesterday, I got a different rat to feed my snake (it was clean; nice and fat) - and it striked/coiled! So I thought that was that and I left. When I came back, I discovered that my snake decided not to eat it. I examined the rat, and this is what I'm sure happened : When it first struck; I thought it struck the head, it actually got the arm. After failing to eat from the arm, it started from the back...I think a leg got in the way. Then it gave up, and no matter how much I tried it wouldn't take the rat again.

Should I just try again later?