oh no, i'm a bad owner!

i was trying to feed alfy late at night in his separate enclosure and he wasn't taking it. i accidently dropped the rat and then i thought i would close the lid and see if he eats it. then i layed down for a second but fell asleep! poor alfy was locked in there with the dead rat for five and half hours!! i have heard horror stories about snakes getting really sick this way. do you guys think he will be alright?? i would absolutely die if anything happened to him.

Accidents happen......doesn't make you a bad owner, just a tired one! I'm willing to bet you'll never let it happen again, pretty big of you to admit it at all! Five+ hours is quite awhile, really depends on how chilly it got I suppose.
Keep an eye on your pal and next time have a cup of coffee during feeding, lol.

What you did wasn't that bad...the bad part is when people do that with a live rat! I have seen some great looking snakes just about destroyed by LIVE rats being left without watching. We all will make a mistake or two.

No worries about leaving them in over night I have one BP that I must do that with eveyr time I feed her she is a real private eater.

That's actually one method to get a finicky BP to eat; leave a prekilled rat in the cage overnight. This actually worked for a WC male rescue case I had awhile back, when nothing else would get him to eat. Of course, if it had been a live rat, that would be inexcusable; ever been bitten by one!?

I think the only problem would be if the snake was without heat for that long. And with that, how cold it actually got. Just keep an eye on him and see if anything is out of the ordinary. :)

what was the temp in your house. if it didnt get too cold i wouldnt worry about it but still keep an eye out for any signs of RI.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DRS

I have seen some great looking snakes just about destroyed by LIVE rats being left without watching.

---

Really? Ball pythons? You've seen these in person? How many?

-adam

LOL....adam you are funny.

BTW.....what method do you use to feed multiple live mice (I know before you said that you feed some of your girls up to 8 in one feeding)? Do you put 2 in at a time or just one and watch it go down, put another one in, etc.?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by daniel1983

BTW.....what method do you use to feed multiple live mice (I know before you said that you feed some of your girls up to 8 in one feeding)? Do you put 2 in at a time or just one and watch it go down, put another one in, etc.?

---

I drop one in and when that one is done and the snake is settled back down, I drop another ... I keep going until they are done "looking for more" ;)

-adam