Rat bit my snake (Adviceneeded)

Hey,

I feed my snakes live and while im extremely careful (watch every second and when she strikes grab the head ASAP to safeguard against rat bites) unfortuantely (yes, I cant spell haha) the rat got in a quick bite before I could grab its head. After she finished eating, I checked her quickly to determine if the bite penetrated the scales and I saw that it had, albeit a very minor penetration. It only penetrated the bottom scale. There is a very light shade of red and I would equate it to a papercut on a human. My question is, is there a risk of infection (Aspen bedding in a tub within a rack) or should I not even worry? I'm inclined to think its fine seeing as how they get bit in the wild, immune systems, etc. After all, a human is fine after a scrape or cut and a snake feeds on rats and mice in the wild so its immune system should be able to handle a rat bite. Advice?

Yes, anytime there is penetration there is risk of infection. these captive bred generations do not have the immune systems of those wildcaught snakes. I would clean it good and keep an eye on it.

I would treat it twice a day with Neosporin (without pain killer) and switch from aspen to newspaper until it heals.

A touch of non pain relieving formula neosporin or similar anti-biotic cream.
If the wound is exposed then paper towels/newspaper for substrate till it's healed over.

Most small bites heal within a couple of shed periods.

Clean it with a little sterile contact lens solution. If it's more than a papercut you can put bacitracin or neosporin ointment on it. If it's on her sides or ventral area, I'd put her on paper for a little while to prevent bedding dust from getting in it until it seals itself.

This is what makes live food controversial. You were right there and still your snake got bit. If you hadn't been there it could have been really bad. Thank goodness you were there!

Will she take fresh p/k? IMHO it's safer than live and just as nutritious (can't lose much nutrition if it dies seconds before she would have constricted it to death). I'm a f/t feeder myself but I don't want to flame you, so I hope you don't feel flamed. If you do sorry because that was not my intention.

It should be fine - little nips don't do much harm - they're equipped to handle it. Keep an eye on it and put some neosporin on it, and you won't even be able to tell after the next shed.

I feed live to my entire crew.

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

Hey,

I feed my snakes live and while im extremely careful (watch every second and when she strikes grab the head ASAP to safeguard against rat bites) unfortuantely (yes, I cant spell haha) the rat got in a quick bite before I could grab its head. After she finished eating, I checked her quickly to determine if the bite penetrated the scales and I saw that it had, albeit a very minor penetration. It only penetrated the bottom scale. There is a very light shade of red and I would equate it to a papercut on a human. My question is, is there a risk of infection (Aspen bedding in a tub within a rack) or should I not even worry? I'm inclined to think its fine seeing as how they get bit in the wild, immune systems, etc. After all, a human is fine after a scrape or cut and a snake feeds on rats and mice in the wild so its immune system should be able to handle a rat bite. Advice?

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I had this happen to me once before... and like you i was panicking!! i was watching the whole thing and did not even see when it happen... she actually grab the rat by the face so i taught i was a perfect kill.... i was wrong! when switching her to her tank is when i notice all the blood... my snake was bitten in top of her head... I honestly think it hurted me more than the snake... i rinsed her off and the snake kept going about her business like nothing ever happen! If is not to deep or severe the snake already forgot about it by now...;)