Deep bite from a feeder mouse!:-/

Damn it! Stupid little feeder mouse bit the hell out of Cleo my female pied. Pretty damn deep!:-/ I put some antibacterial ointment on it. Hopefully it heals quickly!:-/


J.Miles

that sucks! I'm sorry to hear that! hope she heals quickly! I am glad all my guys are on f/t for this reason!
good luck!

Yeah, I'm gonna switch them over. She's pretty young, and hasn't been switched over yet. I guess it's about time!


J.Miles

What size prey and what size snake? How were you feeding?

Live and learn.

I've been there brother, and I still have a BP that only eats live and let me tell you when I drop that prey item in there I am on edge. But I am doing everything I can to get her F/T.

I would use betadine over neosporin. Also, was the feeder well fed and watered? As well as appropriate size? You didnt dangle/stun/ or othewise scare the feeder prior to offering? There is nothing wrong with live when done properly. So peeps, don't let this scare you off. F/t has its risks a well.

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Originally Posted by mario16

I have three that or on live and will not switch for nothing but I do is I put the rat in a bag and spin to make them dizzy. Might sound bad but it works for me

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I've tried that but it has never worked for me. It seems to stress the prey and when they come around they are more likely to be aggressive and agitated than if you gently drop them in to the enclosure.

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Originally Posted by mario16

I have three that or on live and will not switch for nothing but I do is I put the rat in a bag and spin to make them dizzy. Might sound bad but it works for me

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That is the exact opposite of what you should do. A frantic/confused prey is dangerous for your snake. All you need to do is place a well fed and watered CALM prey item of appropriate size in the enclosure

Well if it is in the enclosure more than 30 seconds the dizziness wears off and you are left with panic stricken feeder. Panic=dangerous.

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Originally Posted by mario16

I'm trying to see how your prey become more aggressive than before when they can't even move from being dizzy but I just was giving a suggestion that's been working for me.

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Because scared and panicked animals are dangerous animals.
You place an unstunned/properly fed and watered/calm feeder into an enclosure, all they're going to do is explore or groom themselves.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Because scared and panicked animals are dangerous animals.
You place an unstunned/properly fed and watered/calm feeder into an enclosure, all they're going to do is explore or groom themselves.

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This is, also, a good recommendation to the OP. I have never seen a mouse get immediately aggressive. How long did you leave the mouse unattended in the enclosure? Mice don't usually bite until they've been left so long they get hungry or bored. There's nothing wrong with live feeding when you're careful.

Bite could have been while the mouse was being constricted. My snakes get minor bites and/or scratches from rat teeth all the time while feeding live but it has only ever happened during the strike/constriction.

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

Bite could have been while the mouse was being constricted. My snakes get minor bites and/or scratches from rat teeth all the time while feeding live but it has only ever happened during the strike/constriction.

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That's true! There's not really anything you can do about it either. The mouse is too close to get it off!

just get a pencil or stick and if ur snake dont coil it right be prepared to use the pencil or stick to put in the preys mouth .. use it as a bite tool

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Originally Posted by steve_r34

just get a pencil or stick and if ur snake dont coil it right be prepared to use the pencil or stick to put in the preys mouth .. use it as a bite tool

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Good idea in theory, but every time i've had my snakes get bitten is not from me not getting the tongs in there (which i do, i don't leave the room while live feeders are in snake tubs) but from the snake coiling wrong and actually coiling the rat's head into their body where the rat bites and then can't let go because it can't breathe. Without uncoiling the snake from the rat, it's impossible to get the tongs in there.

The most important part of feeding live is not not feeding live, but doing it responsibly. This means not 'stunning' the prey, or banging it into counters or tables or spinning it around, but giving the feeders time to rest, eat, drink, and groom before you put them in with the snake. Place them in gently, holding them under the tummy. Keeping feeders calm and quiet is really the most important part of feeding live. Also not leaving the prey in for too long. The reason snakes get chewed on is because the rat gets hungry or thirsty and not because the rat is mean. Making sure your snake has clean water when there's a rat in there and stashing a few pieces of rat food in there is also good practice, especially if the rat may have to be in there longer than strictly necessary.

just a weird idea.....


there is this one strain of white lab rats that has a different character. they are described as fat and lazy and they like alcohol. while regular rats wont readily drink alcohol, these will.

so basically you could let them have some vodka with their final meal and you get one really drunk and sleepy rat. i told you its a weird idea.

for interfering in case of a bite using a stick or something, i already posted it elsewhere, but i would suggest this:

http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Stee.../dp/B000NNT2EY they are also good to have in the kitchen, when you cut vegetables, or for scuba diving, to protect yourself from sharp corals and against agressive fish.

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

i told you its a weird idea.

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You spelled stupid wrong.

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

just a weird idea.....


there is this one strain of white lab rats that has a different character. they are described as fat and lazy and they like alcohol. while regular rats wont readily drink alcohol, these will.

so basically you could let them have some vodka with their final meal and you get one really drunk and sleepy rat. i told you its a weird idea.

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Everything that goes into that rat is going directly into your snake. I have no idea how alcohol affects snakes. At best this idea is...we'll say odd...at worst, if alcohol is poisonous for your snake, it's lethal.

No upside for a lot of potential downside.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

Everything that goes into that rat is going directly into your snake. I have no idea how alcohol affects snakes. At best this idea is...we'll say odd...at worst, if alcohol is poisonous for your snake, it's lethal.

No upside for a lot of potential downside.

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if a small quantity of alcohol would be deadly for a BP, they would be extinct. take, for example, humans. our digestion is much faster and we dont eat 10% of our body weight in a meal. yet when a human eats a pound of raw meat, there is enough fermentation going on before digestion really kicks in to drive blood alcohol levels to 0.1 or 0.2 per mille. since snakes have a slower metabolism and digestion and eat a larger quantity of raw meat at once, allowing for more fermentation, they got to have a certain tolerance to alcohol. alcohol, like acetic acid and lactic acid and formaldehyde are such common products of anaerobic fermentation that all animals with a stomach will have some resistance, some tolerance.

i told you its a weird idea, but if there is a downside to it, this isnt it.

I'll save my vodka for a martini :D

Wow...

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

if a small quantity of alcohol would be deadly for a BP, they would be extinct. take, for example, humans. our digestion is much faster and we dont eat 10% of our body weight in a meal. yet when a human eats a pound of raw meat, there is enough fermentation going on before digestion really kicks in to drive blood alcohol levels to 0.1 or 0.2 per mille. since snakes have a slower metabolism and digestion and eat a larger quantity of raw meat at once, allowing for more fermentation, they got to have a certain tolerance to alcohol. alcohol, like acetic acid and lactic acid and formaldehyde are such common products of anaerobic fermentation that all animals with a stomach will have some resistance, some tolerance.

i told you its a weird idea, but if there is a downside to it, this isnt it.

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You're assuming fermentation happens in reptile digestion the same as it does in mammalian.

Snakes have body chemistry capable of dissolving bones, which humans really do not. Seems to me that this would create a situation less hospitable to yeast and other, similar microorganisms.

And even assuming your original supposition is correct, there'd still be the alcohol from fermentation PLUS what you've added to your rat, and who knows if a snake could tolerate that added level?