Help! My snake failed to kill a mouse!?

[Jessileeallain]

My ball python is about 3 months, I have gotten her to now eat on a regular basis. Today I bought home a baby mouse for her since she is due for feeding. Apparently she showed now interest when i put her in a separate aquarium to feed, because well it was moving much since its eyes were still closed. After waiting a bit i put her back in her cage and put the mouse in back with her. She finally took interest and striked. After what it seemed to be an hour of her strangling and biting it, the thing was still alive!! She eventually got tired of it because well she failed to kill it. Im not sure how this happened, i obviously can't find the reason why on google! I promise you she has killed mice as big as this before. I really need some help on what to do now, the poor thing is half dead in her tank and she couldn't care less of it's existence anymore

[TheSnakeGuy]

If there's no risk of it hurting your snake, I would leave it there overnight to let the snake try again. It will probably die if it doesn't get eaten. If it's there in the morning just throw it away.

[swansonbb]

As I understand it, you have 2 choices:

1. Leave it in with your bp. Maybe she'll come back to eat it. This is only a reasonable option if the mouse (you said it was a baby) poses no threat to your snake. An injured animal can be dangerous.

2. Euthanize it yourself (humanely). If you don't have the ability to use CO2, cervical dislocation will do the trick.

My other concern is this: Is this really a baby mouse? Why is a 3 month old bp eating what sounds like a very small meal?

[sho220]

A "baby mouse" is way too small for a 3 month old ball. I start hatchlings on hopper/adult mice for their first meals. Not sure if that's why she refused after constricting. She should be able to eat adult mice or rat pups/weanted rats easily...

As for the poor mouse...cervical dislocation seems as good a method as any unless you can gas him...

[Jessileeallain]

Thank you for all your advice! sorry for double posting!

[Jessileeallain]

I got her from an exotic pet store who gave me the baby hoppers and reassured me it was a good feeding size :/

[NormanSnake]

The food should be about the same size if not slightly larger than the thickest part of her body.

[Pythonfriend]

just a side note, but for mammals, to die from CO2 is terrible. Its the worst choice of all gas you can easily get. The problem is that mammals, as well as humans, react with panic and painful reflexes and cramps and convulsions if CO2 goes up.


Use nitrogen or helium or argon, these take a long time to work but a mammal will notice absolutely nothing, because mammals can only detect CO2 buildup, not lack of oxygen. Best choice would be nitrous oxide, its also painless and knocks out mammals faster than anything else.

or just freeze it. Still better than CO2 i think, since humans that almost froze to death report that it doesnt feel bad, while humans that almost got strangled or drowned or almost died because of lung problems report terrible agony and pain and panic, due to CO2 buildup.

Really, people want to kill rhodents humanely, and then end up torturing them to death because they pick the wrong gas. Tragic irony.

[barbie.dragon]

just a side note, but for mammals, to die from CO2 is terrible. Its the worst choice of all gas you can easily get. The problem is that mammals, as well as humans, react with panic and painful reflexes and cramps and convulsions if CO2 goes up.


Use nitrogen or helium or argon, these take a long time to work but a mammal will notice absolutely nothing, because mammals can only detect CO2 buildup, not lack of oxygen. Best choice would be nitrous oxide, its also painless and knocks out mammals faster than anything else.

or just freeze it. Still better than CO2 i think, since humans that almost froze to death report that it doesnt feel bad, while humans that almost got strangled or drowned or almost died because of lung problems report terrible agony and pain and panic, due to CO2 buildup.

Really, people want to kill rhodents humanely, and then end up torturing them to death because they pick the wrong gas. Tragic irony.

Im going to say freezing is a terrible idea as well. I don't know know those people thought it wasn't terrible. I guess the beginning stages of frostbite wasnt bad. My brother is out in Oklahoma and it's not even close to freezing temperatures and he says it's painful for the skin and extremely uncomfortable at night.

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[satomi325]

just a side note, but for mammals, to die from CO2 is terrible. Its the worst choice of all gas you can easily get. The problem is that mammals, as well as humans, react with panic and painful reflexes and cramps and convulsions if CO2 goes up.


Use nitrogen or helium or argon, these take a long time to work but a mammal will notice absolutely nothing, because mammals can only detect CO2 buildup, not lack of oxygen. Best choice would be nitrous oxide, its also painless and knocks out mammals faster than anything else.

or just freeze it. Still better than CO2 i think, since humans that almost froze to death report that it doesnt feel bad, while humans that almost got strangled or drowned or almost died because of lung problems report terrible agony and pain and panic, due to CO2 buildup.

Really, people want to kill rhodents humanely, and then end up torturing them to death because they pick the wrong gas. Tragic irony.

Just curious, where does one get argon?


Theres a reason why CO2 is used by veterinarians and laboratories. While I'm not a huge fan of C02 euthanasia , its one of the most humane methods out of the official lists of euthanasia practice. It's quick and effective. Humans exposed to high levels of C02 have probably been exposed for longer than a few moments and a much lower concentration, which is why they're not dead and is more painful.

Freezing is inhumane for rodents older than 2 weeks of age.
Freezing is only appropriate for pinks due to their high resistance to low oxygen and hypoxia. The chances of them surviving a gas chamber is higher than freezing. And also because pinks can't survive long without heat.

And freezing is painful. Put your hand on an ice block for more than a minute. It hurts doesn't it. For rodents older than 2 weeks of age, they can survive up to hours in a freezer before dying. That is painful and inhumane. At least CO2 only lasts just a few moments.

And then there's cervical dislocation...If you know what to do, this is probably the most effective with the least pain. However, doing it wrong can severely hurt the animal.




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