What a terrible experience!

[Aaron]

I fed Bongo a mouse yesterday and put him back into his cage without really inspecting him, and tonight I found two cuts on his face!



I just put his head under a warm tap to wash it off, and I applied some Neosporin to the cuts. They were very small, but damn, that was scary! The last thing I need is an infection on his face. If it doesn't heal quickly, I'll take him to the vet post-haste.

I guess all I can say is FEED F/T! Take my advice! It really does happen! Seeing your snake bleeding really sucks.

I thought it was only rats that put up a fight, but I guess I was wrong. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can order some small rats.

[Soul_Of_Fire]

Hey Aaron
Looks to me as if your snake is about to go through a shed hence the huey eyes. Personal Opinion don't feed your snake before a shed but a day after the shed instead. If your snake will only eat live then ALWAYS monitor the feeding. My bp won't eat unless it is live I've tried everything but its gotta be live so what I do is I hang the rat by the tail in tonges in the tank close enough for it to strike but far enough so the rat can't get at it. Works charms for me. If you notice the snake always strikes for the head if the option is open which works cause then it makes it hard if not impossible for the rat/mouse to bite back let alone makes it easier when swallow time comes along. Anyways about the cuts just keep'em clean daily and you should be fine however watch for anything that looks outta the norm. Best of luck to you and your fellow trooper there looks great(post some pics after shed).
Andrew

[Aaron]

Yes, he is getting ready to shed, but its never bothered him before. I read that it won't harm them. This is probably his 15th mouse and every other one has done nothing beyond kicking a few times. If I have to wait a while on getting the frozen rats and end up continuing with mice, I'll definately watch him more closely! I usually do, we were just running late on a movie.

I'll definately put up another pic once he is all healed, thanks for the advise Andrew

[The_Godfather]

That's what happens, it doesn't always end that way, but there is always the chance. I'm gonna make this a sticky so people will remember it.

[JLC]

Hey Aaron...you don't necessarily have to wait for an Internet shipment of rats. Petco (or similar chains) usually carry them as well. It's a little more pricey than ordering them bulk from the 'Net, but at least you can go ahead and get started, if you want.

[gozetec02]

If your BP only eats live you got to get him to eat dead. In my experience Jojo wont right away eat a dead rodent, but if you use the tongs and dangle a freshly killed mouse or rat he should go for it. But never feed live unless you really have to. Personally I have feed live in the past but after hearing stories like this i have switched. Jojo never liked the F/T rodents but never passes up a freshly killed rodent. And Soul Of Fire is correct i dont feed jojo if he is sheding, their vision is not that great and they have a tendency to miss and they could hit their head on something. I look like a very small wound just put some neosporin on it and it should be ok. Monitor him everyday. Sometimes when a BP is injured by a prey item they will not eat another rodent because they associate the rodent with being injured.

Good Luck,

[Marla]

Hey Aaron, I hope Jojo will be all right and won't go off feed for you. I would definitely order some frozen rodents pronto if I were you. Mice can do a lot more damage than that, especially if the first bite scares the snake enough that it balls instead of striking, so you're lucky the wound is as minor as it is. I am having to temporarily feed my newest ball python live rats and I hate doing that, but I am supervising closely and using a utensil to keep the rat's mouth away from the snake as soon as s/he strikes and coils to make it as safe for her/him as I can.

[Mike]

i hope your snake turns out ok. im sure with the neosporin treatment itll do fine. god luck with switching to f/t too. isnt always easy. some will just switch right over but some take some "training. you will probably need to do p/k for a few feedings. then when that goes smoothly, try a f/t. make sure the f/t mouse stays dry, try thawing in a plastic bag in warm/hot water. the hotter you get it, the better. sounds like you wanted to switch to rats too. that can be even harder. thta should probably be done in the pre-killed stage. just sent a rat with a mouse and you should be good to go. or a small mouse followed by a small rat for a couple weeks might do it too. then just switch to only rats and you are good to go. hope it all goes smoothly for ya!

[Ginevive]

Feeding live is never a good idea. I think that I'd rather wait out a hunger strike than toss anything live in with my snakes.

[Soul_Of_Fire]

Live feeding is not a bad thing its just if thats the way you do it you have to watch the feeding and make sure the rat doesn't get to close to the snake. I mean i went into a pet store and they had tossed a live snake in with a non-hungry bull snake. Needless to say i wasn't a happy camper with what i saw the mouse was chompin' on the snakes tail so i kinda lost my temper and went beserk on the guy for being an idiot and then pulled the rat outta the tank and handed it to the guy. LOL needless to say he got bit by the thing but i didn't really feel bad for him more so the snake.
Andrew