Nooo! >.< A mouse bit my baby ball python.

My older brother tried to feed his BP today, and he didn't eat it. So we had him bring it over to my house because we were going to get snake food tomorrow anyway.
I fed the mouse to Madison since Cleo is now on rats. Anyway, she is in blue but struck and coiled fine. I did notice, though, that the mouse's head hung over on her side up on her neck a little. I didn't think much often because usually they tighten up and the mouse's head moves upwards, so they can't bite.
Well at some point the mouse must have bitten her, because as she's swallowing it I freak out 'cause there's a big patch of blood on her neck that DIDN'T look like the mouse's (I've seen what it looks like when mouse blood dries, this was fresh snakey blood) :tears::tears:
I am so upset. I feel bad. She's just about to shed though so hopefully it'll heal quick.
The only Neosporin I could find (I'm a health freak for my BP's :) ) had pain relief in it, and I remember reading something about that being a no-no for snakes. So instead I found some "Band-aid" brand antibiotic ointment with the same stuff in it, but less stuff. (neomycin sulfate, inactive ingrediant is petrolatum).
She didn't seem to mind at all, and actually it looked like maybe she knew I was helping or something. :oops:
I hope she feels better, but did I do the right thing with the Band-aid cream?
And has anyone else had a mouse or rat make lunch out of their snake? :(
People on feeding videos on Youtube want to call the snake evil for eating the mouse, but man, how many times does the mouse get bitten when it eats IT'S food? :( Never. Snakes have it hard. :(
Share stories, maybe, to make me feel better?
Thanks guys.
Shellie

I know i feed live to my adults because that wont take anythign else but have you tried f/t or prekilled to perhaps prevent a bite ? I have to tend to my adult boa every once and a while and it can be a pain espically if shes still in feed mode half to be very careful. but with live im always keepin close eye because of that. i had one incadent a few weeks ago where the rat lets just say basicly explained to my boa about what it thought about being and no it wasnt a bite lol.

Mouse bites are harmless. They rarely break the skin and when they do its minimal.

Clean it up and itll heal first shed.

Yes, actually, I feed two of my snakes F/T. The ones I got from NWSP (local store) don't take f/t. I have tried and tried and tried.
:(
So, yeah, I feed frozen to some of my snakes, but these two will not accept that. It's a bummer :(
Thanks for the replies though. :D

Clean the bite with sterile saline (contact lens solution) & use the band-aid brand cream, it sounds fine. If the bite is likely to get substrate dust in it, I would move your snake onto paper for a little while until the wound scabs over.

Unfortunately this stuff happens with live feeding. Sorry to hear it happened to your snake, though!

I agree move the snake to paper towels while healing...sounds like you did fine. Whenever you feed live just check to see where the head is. We have had to put our tongs in the mouses mouth at times. Not harshly ...just gently to keep the mouse from biting the snake. We do not try to harm the mouse anymore than what the snake is doing on its own.

In the future you can order Clorohexadine (sp?) from Reptile Basics....it is awesome to use for cleaning your bins. You can also use this for cleaning any bites or boo boo's that any of your reptiles or dogs/cats etc. may get. This is often given by vets for cleaning wounds...you just dillute it with water.

If your worried, a little poly/neosporin(no pain reliever, of course) should take care of it, but from everything I've read a mouse bite is usually superficial.

Try to get your snake onto F/T's to prevent scares :P

She sounds like she'll be just fine. But remember, when feeding live, dont' take any chances. If the head is out of coils, have something for the rat or mouse to bite on. Like, a pencil, pen, plastic, something besides your snake. Thats what I do.

I keep chopsticks handy, to use when my snakes have bad strike & coils.

Thump it in the head :x stun it and then feed it no worries about bites then.

sent by two homing pigeons!!

Does anybody know what to look for when watching for infection of the bite? I'd say "keep an eye on the wound" to the OP, but I don't actually know what an infected wound on a BP looks like.

me either, loonunit. I know from human infection to look for redness and swelling, but you can't see redness on a BP and by the time swelling got noticeable it could be pretty far in progression. :oops:

Rodent bites seems to be a very common occurrence for people feeding live.

I know my biggest balls all have a battle scar or two from bites, but I don't love them any less for it.

I do watch my live eaters carefully though, and I'm always ready to intervene if I have to. I have found it necessary to put something between the mouse/rat teeth and my snakes a few times, but it seems with mine, one bad strike and mommy intervene is enough to make them more careful the next time.

I know my big mojave girl went on a hunger strike for 3 months, what finally got her eating again were live rats. Her first one she hit perfectly, but the second was a little sloppy. She was at a very awkward angle, and I could not keep the rat from chewing on her side no matter how hard I tried. It never broke her skin, but I was a wreck! However, she learned her lesson, and after that she always maneuvers the rat so she can grab the head first.

In snakes and other animals, what I watch for in a wound is not red, but white. I have found a reddish wound is fairly normal, but if the red area turns whitish, it's usually an infection. If you keep her bite clean and covered by ointment, she should be fine.

Gale

So i was feeding my ball python a live mouse and she had a good strike but not a good grip. She was holding it for a long time and i couldn't see the mouse head or limbs so i couldn't tell if anything was happening. Then she let go and the mouse got out all bloody (kinda gross actually). She then bit its body and just coiled tight to kill it. As she was doing so the mouse head had a coil around it but the mouse started biting her. After she killed it she moved it for re adjusting and then while smelling around for the head she bit herself!! She opened he mouth and bit down on her neck and sat there for a bit. That in itself scared the poo out of me and i don't know if thats a common thing. After she ate it I saw the puncture wounds she gave herself and a spot on her back where i assume the mouse scratched/bit her. A couple scales were up and it seemed a little red underneath. I'm not sure what to do or to be worried. She has not injuries to her face, eyes, mouth, or vent. Her wounds are 1. her neck from biting herself, 2. a scratch spot 3. a bite spot from the mouse. She is not bleeding out on any. I'm not sure if this is normal (especially the biting herself thing) and I'm not sure what I should do or if she is hurt or anything.

Please help
Thanks :)

She'll be fine. :gj: