OK to feed this rat? Need advice soom

Today is feeding day and I was out of rodents. I went to a local pet shop and bought 2 frozen small rats and while thawing one out it started showing these spots. Are these mites? If so, is it safe to feed to my BP or should I take it back and head to the other pet store to get another?

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I wouldn't feed it. When in doubt don't do it.

That looks just like something I've gotten before when I bought my rats from a local supplier. It's hard to tell from that distance, but the ones on mine turned out to be spined rat lice. According to the people on the forum I asked, it would have been fine to feed, and many rats have a couple on them, but the fact that the rat was covered in them meant that the rat may have been sick and not grooming itself. I never knew if it would have been safe to feed or not, because I took it back to the store and got my money back. Personally, I always try to be as careful as I can.

Nope....barf city. I'd let my snake go without for another week and get quality feed. Would you eat a steak if it was your only meal for a week and noticed it wasn't quite right? Exactly.....


Quick edit....yes in the wild blah blah blah snakes eat far worse I'm sure. This isn't the wild.

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Originally Posted by Shann

That looks just like something I've gotten before when I bought my rats from a local supplier. It's hard to tell from that distance, but the ones on mine turned out to be spined rat lice. According to the people on the forum I asked, it would have been fine to feed, and many rats have a couple on them, but the fact that the rat was covered in them meant that the rat may have been sick and not grooming itself. I never knew if it would have been safe to feed or not, because I took it back to the store and got my money back. Personally, I always try to be as careful as I can.

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Thanks for the advice...after looking more into it, they do appear to be lice. I'm going to return them and head to the other pet store. Petsmart is right down the road so i went there first. They looked very clean at the store, but guess not so much. I'll head to Petco and see what they have. I've fed Petco mice before and they were clean, so maybe the rats will be the same.

It looks like lice. It's ok to feed because they are species specific.

It can be fed if its been frozen for at least three weeks.

All the fuss ended up being for nothing. This was my first attempt to switch to rats and he wouldn't take it. He struck at it twice but wouldn't take it. Now I have to figure out how to get him to take the rat.

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Leave it in his enclosure overnight.

I already threw the first rat out. Should I offer another before bed and leave that one in overnight or just wait till next friday?

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I would just wait til next week, it won't hurt and hopefully he'll be good and hungry. :)