Lesson for All *GRAPHIC*

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Originally Posted by that_dc5

My second concern is getting him to eat again, hopefully he isn't traumatized..

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I had a rescue that had her tail tip chewed off and scabs half way down her back
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...escuestail.jpg
but she healed over and the scarring went down ALOT
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...picture_16.jpg
but after that I could only get her to eat on her own 3 times...every other time I had to start her off by getting the head in her mouth....hopefully your guy will not have trouble eating..

The beauty of this community is that we support those of us in need before anything else. And I'm proud to belong in such a community.
I love you guys!!! <3

I wouldn't worry over scarring. Most of the time the wounds heal, they shed a LOT and often, and the scars disappear mostly. Ball pythons are remarkably tough.

The rat probably bit along the back, because the snake coils and only the back is showing. When something pokes a BP, they tend to 'shove' it away with part of their body, using the back instead of the belly. The rat just chewed the part presented for it to chew easiest. It was probably very hungry and after all, the snake would eat it, can't blame a rat for trying to turn the tables. If something were trying to eat me, I'd bite it back too!

Keep us updated on how he does! I second the keeping him on newspaper or paper towels.

Sorry that you had to go through this... In the future, if you're getting your rats from someone else, I would suggest giving them an hour or so with food and water before tossing them in with your snakes. Rats have a high metabolism and it doesn't take long for them to get hungry and thirsty.

Wow thats why I never leave. but I understand emergencies with humans are one thing, but a good lesson. Another good lesson is having too different types of reptiles together. I won't put my boa with my BP, same is this video I seen the other day. the kid thought his bearded dragon and crested gecko would get along since it never had a reaction to his adult leapord gecko. he went to pick up the crestie and as soon as his hand went to grab the crestie the Beardie had it in a blink of an eye... I felt bad for the kid, and he was torn up about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvNEX...reply_received

Im sorry to see that. Something similar happened to me as well. I have a very large female who is well over 2300 grams. I had thrown in a medium mouse for her and had stepped away becouse there was someone at the door. She got bit on the nose and i felt horrible.

Not reading al the posts, But Do not use peroxide or rubbing alcohol as it kills living tissues.

I dont even use it on myself as all i use is Betadine.

If the woulds are Deep, do not put the neosporin/polysporin in the wounds. Just keep flushing it to keep it clean. Then you will need to see a vet as they will have something that will be applied to open wound along with antibiotics.

I am sorry this happened to you and your snake. I wish you both the best, him to recover and you to stop beating yourself up about it. Both will take time.

It is for just this reason that since I decided to feed live, my husband and I feed in a team. He takes the smaller snakes in tubs with lids, I take the bigger snakes in the rack system. If one of us gets distracted or called away, the other is always on hand to monitor things.

I realize not everyone has that option of course, but it is one of the many precautions I take after choosing to feed live. I also realize that one day I will inevitably be posting here about a feeding accident, no matter how careful you are, it can still go wrong in the blink of an eye.

Thus far, my worst incident has been a nip to the neck that left a rough patch for a shed or two.

Gale

Sorry that happened to you and your snake. Seeing stuff like that makes me so sad. I hope he has a speedy recovery. Just tonight I put a rat in with one of my boys to see if he would eat. He hasn't ate in a month. I bought the rat Saturday. He wouldn't take it Saturday so I put him in a spare container and I have been feeding him good.So tonight Rocko didn't want him but he wanted to follow him around and sniff him. For some reason the rat was in a crappy mood and tried to bite him in the face. I told my husband to get that thing out of there now. Hubby almost got bit to. My first experience with a meany rat :mad:

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Originally Posted by that_dc5

I am the type of person that feeds one snake at a time and has something in my hand to separate the rats mouth should the snake wrap in a place where the rat can move his mouth freely.

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When I have fed live I do the same thing. I keep the tongs ready if their mouth is exposed. If it is, the tongs go right in the rats mouth so it has something to bite on.