Feeder rat dead

And by that I don't mean my snake, I got the feeder rat last Saturday and noticed my ball python was starting to go into shed but still I tried to see if she would eat but she didn't so I took her out put her back in her tank and put food and water in the feeding tank for the rat as I usually do until my snake seems ready to eat or willing. Today I walked through my bedroom where the feeding tank is and noticed the rat was dead I don't know how or even why it was dead it had food and fresh water I keep the tank clean with soap and water this is the first one to die on me. Any ideas?

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Originally Posted by IllumiBunny

And by that I don't mean my snake, I got the feeder rat last Saturday and noticed my ball python was starting to go into shed but still I tried to see if she would eat but she didn't so I took her out put her back in her tank and put food and water in the feeding tank for the rat as I usually do until my snake seems ready to eat or willing. Today I walked through my bedroom where the feeding tank is and noticed the rat was dead I don't know how or even why it was dead it had food and fresh water I keep the tank clean with soap and water this is the first one to die on me. Any ideas?

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How big of a rat? Maybe old age?

Rats are pretty durable, but, they have a few things that will kill them fast.
Heat, Dehydration, and Chemicals

Overfilling the water bottles was a common issue in my Lab. If there is no air in the water bottle then it can create negative pressure on the sipper tube. On hot days it is bad news if it is not spotted quickly...

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

Rats are pretty durable, but, they have a few things that will kill them fast.
Heat, Dehydration, and Chemicals

Overfilling the water bottles was a common issue in my Lab. If there is no air in the water bottle then it can create negative pressure on the sipper tube. On hot days it is bad news if it is not spotted quickly...

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All of the above.

There are also nasal irritants and the like that can cause an excess of mucus or an easy path to an imbalance of naturally occurring nasal bacteria that can quickly drop an otherwise healthy rat.

Being as small as they are, they go REALLY quickly.

Paul

Stress, you tried to feed it an then put it in a tank without it's colony. Or, did it eat any of the food? Then you have heat. If the tank got over 80 you'll have a few dead rats.

Did it come from a pet store? Tell them it died (take it with you) an get another or see if the store had a die off.

Maybe it's a good thing your snake wasn't hungry.

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Originally Posted by 303_enfield

Stress, you tried to feed it an then put it in a tank without it's colony. Or, did it eat any of the food? Then you have heat. If the tank got over 80 you'll have a few dead rats.

Did it come from a pet store? Tell them it died (take it with you) an get another or see if the store had a die off.

Maybe it's a good thing your snake wasn't hungry.

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It ate some bread that I had giving it but the rat food I don't think it touched any of it it's one of those mixed foods with corn pieces and my room is pretty cool so I don't believe it was a heating issue I bought it from the same pet store I usually get them from but I will be going back tomorrow and asking about it I am glad she didn't eat it if it turns out there was something wrong with it but it seemed healthy it was chubby not sneezing I heard it running around this morning so it had to have died within the last couple hours it might of been stress related

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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

How big of a rat? Maybe old age?

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It was a medium sized rat looked maybe less than a year old

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Might be a good time to transition to F/T if possible.

Also, ditch the seperate feeding tub. It's old school and proven counter productive over time.
There's literally ZERO benefit to feeding tubs

A medium sized rat does not drop dead easily or quickly with reasonable care. My guess (as a former pet rat keeper & breeder of many years) is that it was sick,
& I'd for sure mention that to the pet store, though it's hard to prove at this point. Rats in pet stores* can be exposed to various illnesses & when under more stress
(like trying to feed it to your snake) might have been the "last straw". You might not have noticed that it was congested, etc. Live rats also pose some risk to us
too, by the diseases/pathogens they carry, so I second the suggestion to get your snake feeding on f/t...it's safer for your snake AND for you.

*In the past, I've known some pet stores that bought their rodents from local suppliers, & one time when the mgr. actually checked out their source in person (after
buying their rodents for a while) they discovered to their horror that their rodents were being raised in a shed that failed to keep out wild rats (etc) too, under dirty
& horrible conditions...you never know, but you might get some hint if you know what to look for in the rodents themselves...like if they're scratching (have lice) etc.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

A medium sized rat does not drop dead easily or quickly with reasonable care. My guess (as a former pet rat keeper & breeder of many years) is that it was sick,
& I'd for sure mention that to the pet store, though it's hard to prove at this point. Rats in pet stores* can be exposed to various illnesses & when under more stress
(like trying to feed it to your snake) might have been the "last straw". You might not have noticed that it was congested, etc. Live rats also pose some risk to us
too, by the diseases/pathogens they carry, so I second the suggestion to get your snake feeding on f/t...it's safer for your snake AND for you.

*In the past, I've known some pet stores that bought their rodents from local suppliers, & one time when the mgr. actually checked out their source in person (after
buying their rodents for a while) they discovered to their horror that their rodents were being raised in a shed that failed to keep out wild rats (etc) too, under dirty
& horrible conditions...you never know, but you might get some hint if you know what to look for in the rodents themselves...like if they're scratching (have lice) etc.

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I use to own rats too for years but they weren't feeder rats some of them had sneezing but they still didn't die on me I mean eventually they did after 3 years but that is their life expectancy

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

Might be a good time to transition to F/T if possible.

Also, ditch the seperate feeding tub. It's old school and proven counter productive over time.
There's literally ZERO benefit to feeding tubs

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It isn't a tub it is a separate tank and everyone has their own opinion on where or how to feed their snake I choose to feed her in a separate tank just because it is easier to clean up after when the rat poops all over and also if I end up having to keep it for much longer like when my snake goes on feeding strikes

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You sated the rat ate some bread. Did the bread have any mold (or the feed) on it? Moldy bread causes tremorgenic mycotoxins. It will kill rats, dogs, pigs an the like. Lost a heifer cow years ago because of it.


Could just be bad luck. I'm glad your snake is ok.

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Originally Posted by IllumiBunny

I use to own rats too for years but they weren't feeder rats some of them had sneezing but they still didn't die on me I mean eventually they did after 3 years but that is their life expectancy

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Before I kept snakes, I got a couple pet rats (sisters) from a pet store. Shortly after getting them home, they both got sick, then they got sicker. Took them to a very
surprised* vet...we tried 2 different antibiotics on them for a couple weeks but they both died anyway. The vet suggested I not keep rats as pets, due to the diseases
they carry which are often communicable to humans too. (*surprised because many ppl don't spend money, like the cost of vet care, on a $2 rodent, when they can just
buy another for much less.) BTW, that pair was not my first pet rats...I'd had a family of rats some years before, all of which stayed healthy, but not from the same
source (& not even in the same county).

My point is: there are sneezes & then there are sneezes...not all the same cause. Can be allergies (reactions to the type of bedding, etc) or something serious. Rats can
carry leptospirosis & all sorts of goodies that we might need to pay attention to.