Switching to non-rodents?

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Originally Posted by Tosha_Mc

You can feed baby rabbits -- but there is a good chance that they will get stuck on baby rabbits so be sure you have a nice steady supply (and rabbits I believe are also rodents are they not?)

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Rabbits are actually NOT rodents. They're in a small family called Lagamorphs. This includes (pretty sure) hyraxes and pikas.

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Originally Posted by simplechamp

I think the burning question everyone has is this: Is your employer asking and/or requiring you to avoid all other rodent contact, or is this something you thought of doing?

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Well it is the last road block to the job and this is the biggest stumbling point. It is an LTE position so I can give my Ball Python to a friend for the next 6 months or so. They are really concerned over cross contamination because some of the mice do not have immune systems and one bacterium could screw everything up. Still I think it is a little overboard to basically not allow any rodents in my house, but I really need this job and it will be good experience for other labs.

Hi,

So does this mean they will refuse to employ anyone with wild rodents in their house? :weirdface

Enforcing quarantine and disinfectant procedures I can get - but refusing to employ people?

Are there any pathogens that can jump the species barrier between cats, dogs etc and rodents?


dr del

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Originally Posted by 4theSNAKElady

Rabbits are actually NOT rodents. They're in a small family called Lagamorphs. This includes (pretty sure) hyraxes and pikas.

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Rabbits and pikas are, of course, Lagomorphs, but hyraxes (dassies) are a totally different group of afrotherian mammals related to elephants, and are included in the family Procaviidae. Despite their external aspect they are not even remotely related to rodents.

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Originally Posted by MuscaDomestica

Well it is the last road block to the job and this is the biggest stumbling point. It is an LTE position so I can give my Ball Python to a friend for the next 6 months or so. They are really concerned over cross contamination because some of the mice do not have immune systems and one bacterium could screw everything up. Still I think it is a little overboard to basically not allow any rodents in my house, but I really need this job and it will be good experience for other labs.

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Are they limiting you to not using mice and rats only, or what other species are they not allowing?

African soft furred FT should be something to think about. ;)

I myself work with nude mice for work (these mice do not have an immune system). Anyways I have not had any issues with contaminating as I have to wear gloves, sleaves, gown, hair net, face mask, and work in a hood when handling animals. In the end as long as you use sterile technique everything should be fine. Meticulously using chlorohexedine solutions before handling and all the PPE should keep the work mice safe.

Maybe the best bet for you might be to feed your bp once a week on a weekend when you don't work. Go with F/T so that the only time you DO handle rodents is on that day.

i'd stick to rats. they're cheap and readily available. that was a big selling point in getting a snake to me. i had lizards and i was tired of finding food for them every single day. btw, i'm not lazy i just have kids to wrangle.:)

You might try gerbils, hamsters, or buying very young rabbits, from dwarf species.
I watched a show where they were talking about finding out how long it takes a snake to digest food in comparison to a human and they force fed a piece of steak to the snake.
And then checked it weight and stool and stomach gases. It was on the history channel.

You may also look into button quail, finch, canary or other small bird babies. You may have to breed your own.. and do F/T feeding. But its worth a shot for your job and snake.

Carol

There are online dealers that sell frozen chicks and stuff.

I have successfully fed day-old chicks to yearling ball pythons many years ago. They can handle them with no problem at all. So, if you need to switch, chicks would be an acceptable alternative--you may need to do a bit of work to get the python to accept them. At the time, one of my pythons took the chick on the first try, and the other did not.

Chicken chicks grow VERY fast, so you may want to kill and freeze any that aren't eaten immediately. Quail chicks may be a good choice to give you more time to work with, as they don't grow nearly as large. If you can get your snake to take them, and then switch to frozen/thawed, you shouldn't have any problems ordering them in bulk online. If you're concerned about nutrition, dust a little calcium on them. For the most part, though, they will provide complete nutrition--the droppings may be looser and stinkier on a bird diet.

The chicks are probably your best option for avoiding cross-contamination. You may want to take the added precaution of sterilizing anything in your home that may have come in contact with a rat, as mycoplasma is a pretty pervasive organism.