2 dumbish questions

ok, I know folks tell me to use tongs or similar to hold the rats for feeding. I usually hold it with my hand on the tail....however it wasnt Nag that bit me, it was the dran rat! LOL

do I need to go to the doc for a pet store feeder rat bite? it bit me 3 times, and all cause I was trying to wash it off some before I gave it to Nag.

second question - when I pick up live rats, by the time I get them home, they have dirtied themselves with urine and feces. This was the first time I ever tried to rinse them off before feeding cause it was drowning in poop. I made the water a reasonable temp and didnt dunk it, but the darn thing bit me 3 times. Do I need to worry about cleaning the rat off before feeding?

also, for those of you who feed in something different than their tanks, would you mind tell me why, and what you use for feeding?

There's got to be a better way than what I am currently doing :rolleye2: *grin*

You might need a tetnis shot if you haven't had one recently.
About washing it off, I don't know... I guess it wouldn't hurt if the thing is coated in feces.

Moved to feeders forum.

As was said make sure you are up to date on your tetanus shot (it must be updated every 10 years) and clean the bites thoroughly.. keep them clean to prevent infection.

There is no need to clean the rats before feeding.. snakes are made to digest everything in (or on) the rat.

I have 30 some snakes (not really sure how many exactly anymore LOL) and I feed all of them in their cages all the time. I do not recommend taking your snake out of it's familiar territory and tossing a live rat at it. Some BPs will just get freaked out by this, and may be at a higher risk of being bitten by their meal.

dont hold a live rat at feeding time. simply put it in the enclosure and let your snake do the rest. if the snake is not interested in it after a few minutes or the rat is becoming defensive or stressed then take the rat out of the cage.

Also, holding a live, scared rat(that shouldn't be any bigger than a smallish-small) by the tail is just going to make it even more stressed and apt to bite whatever it gets ahold of first. That is not a safe way to feed live to snakes and will ultimately lead in someone getting hurt(obviously this has already happened, thankfully just to you).

All of my snakes(save for the 3 baby corns, since it's hard to monitor them inside their hides) eat live from the security of their hides, inside their own homes. They have no problems feeding this way, and they do know when feeding day is. I also can handle them when I need to and don't have any issues with them.

how do you guys transport your rodent to the snake's cage without touching it?

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Originally Posted by Kizerk

how do you guys transport your rodent to the snake's cage without touching it?

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in a brown paper bag or cardboard box. i hate to touch rats as i dont know the temperment of the rat since i dont breed my own. so its much easier for me to scoop it into a paper bag, etc. i sure would hate to get bit by a rat. yuk.

You might invest in a pair of leather workgloves. Very handy to have around both snakes and rats.. I've got several pairs.

hey thats a good idea. maybe i should ask my parents for a pair for Christmas. LOL. woule be handy to have around for the monitor also. that little, 20 inch lizard has some sharp claws.

I transport my mice using a fishing net. I also feed in a seperate tank.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Also, holding a live, scared rat(that shouldn't be any bigger than a smallish-small) by the tail is just going to make it even more stressed and apt to bite whatever it gets ahold of first. That is not a safe way to feed live to snakes and will ultimately lead in someone getting hurt(obviously this has already happened, thankfully just to you).

All of my snakes(save for the 3 baby corns, since it's hard to monitor them inside their hides) eat live from the security of their hides, inside their own homes. They have no problems feeding this way, and they do know when feeding day is. I also can handle them when I need to and don't have any issues with them.

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Great post; that sums up what I was going to say. :)

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Originally Posted by mr~python

hey thats a good idea. maybe i should ask my parents for a pair for Christmas. LOL. woule be handy to have around for the monitor also. that little, 20 inch lizard has some sharp claws.

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Yeah.. and now I want a pair like the bite gloves we have at work (for dogs) they're really thick and cover most of my arms. Nice for the occasional wayward large boid. LOL Only reason I don't have any yet is they're $65. Sometime!

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Originally Posted by Kizerk

how do you guys transport your rodent to the snake's cage without touching it?

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In my hands - not sure I understand the question, maybe?

But I drop the live prey in the opposite end of the enclosure from the snake. I don't hold it by its tail waiting for the snakes to strike them.

And a small/small rat is very small - about a three week old weaner, really. And that's the largest your snake, even as an adult really needs.

Yeah.. a bite from a small rat isn't really that big of a deal usually. Large rats are not great food for BPs. Hey a full grown angry rat scares me.. I wouldn't want to toss that at any BP.. lol

We use a plastic container that we bought at the dollar store put air holes in and it's what we use to take the rats from the rat room to the snake room and also what we go out and pick up mice for the ones that don't eat rats we have bigger versions that we use to take the snakes to the vet in Jo may or May not have posted a pic of them in some ohter post if not I can take a pic of them and get the photo up here later.

This is what my hubby (Mike aka McAdry) is talking about. All of $2.00 at any dollar store, WalMart or the like. Just melt in some vent holes and you've got a handy, sturdy live rodent carrier, a snake carrier for vet trips or cleaning enclosures, etc. (these come in a ton of sizes from $2.00 to $10.00).

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...nsportCage.jpg

Now as to the rat bite. If it bit you that deeply and that much it was totally stressed out. If you are restraining a living rat while it is also facing a hunting snake, it's going to bite you. If you are dangling it upside down by the tail (other than a quick transfer from the container to the enclosure), it's going to flip upright and bite you. This is normal, to be expected and something you really should not be doing to a living prey animal. You don't want to be inhumane to prey creatures and you don't want your snake facing a stressed, aggressive rat. Hopefully you are using appropriately sized rats that should not be capable of inflicting great damage anyways.

You do need to be careful of those bites. Rats, especially bigger ones, can inflict deep and dirty bites. If you did not immediately flush it with hot water you need to. Flush as in under strong running, hot as you can stand it water for a significant amount of time (not just seconds). Pat dry and apply a triple antibiotic...leave open to the air unless your hands are in food, raw meat or a dirty environment (like cage cleaning, etc.). Keep an eye on it and if you don't have a current shot, get one (you need it anyways LOL).

Mike and I handle and feed off a lot of live rats, some of our breeders are huge. We rarely ever get bitten. Rats do not bite if they don't have a reason to, so changing your handling of them is likely to deal with that very easily for you.

My last bite caused my finger to swell up, burn and change to a blue purple color for a couple days. I just took some Anti Biotics and soaked in Hydrogen Peroxide 3+ times a day as well as keep it covered. The infection rats can give you is the main problem

Actually you're only supposed to use peroxide once on a wound as it apparently eats away at healing flesh. Triple antibiotic ointment is a better bet for a healing wound.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Actually you're only supposed to use peroxide once on a wound as it apparently eats away at healing flesh. Triple antibiotic ointment is a better bet for a healing wound.

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Never heard of that. We just moved a month ago so not everything is unpacked yet and peroxide is all I had on hand. I used rubbing alcohol for a while and the burn was just too much

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Originally Posted by mr~python

in a brown paper bag or cardboard box. i hate to touch rats as i dont know the temperment of the rat since i dont breed my own. so its much easier for me to scoop it into a paper bag, etc. i sure would hate to get bit by a rat. yuk.

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ya, YUK it HURTS LOL

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

This is what my hubby (Mike aka McAdry) is talking about. All of $2.00 at any dollar store, WalMart or the like. Just melt in some vent holes and you've got a handy, sturdy live rodent carrier, a snake carrier for vet trips or cleaning enclosures, etc. (these come in a ton of sizes from $2.00 to $10.00).

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...nsportCage.jpg

Now as to the rat bite. If it bit you that deeply and that much it was totally stressed out. If you are restraining a living rat while it is also facing a hunting snake, it's going to bite you. If you are dangling it upside down by the tail (other than a quick transfer from the container to the enclosure), it's going to flip upright and bite you. This is normal, to be expected and something you really should not be doing to a living prey animal. You don't want to be inhumane to prey creatures and you don't want your snake facing a stressed, aggressive rat. Hopefully you are using appropriately sized rats that should not be capable of inflicting great damage anyways.

You do need to be careful of those bites. Rats, especially bigger ones, can inflict deep and dirty bites. If you did not immediately flush it with hot water you need to. Flush as in under strong running, hot as you can stand it water for a significant amount of time (not just seconds). Pat dry and apply a triple antibiotic...leave open to the air unless your hands are in food, raw meat or a dirty environment (like cage cleaning, etc.). Keep an eye on it and if you don't have a current shot, get one (you need it anyways LOL).

Mike and I handle and feed off a lot of live rats, some of our breeders are huge. We rarely ever get bitten. Rats do not bite if they don't have a reason to, so changing your handling of them is likely to deal with that very easily for you.

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ya know, I never truely thought about the rat being stressed out before. your explanation makes sense though. I suppose I was really stressing the poor little guys out and never knew it.

I think my problem began when I thought...hmmm....if the live rat can hurt the snake, if you hold onto the rat by the tail it cant hurt the snake. logical at the time. that in turn led me to holding on to the rat at feeding time, and probably the cause of the bites.

so you all just put the little buggers in the cage and let it wander around till the snake strikes (or lack of interest, which ever comes first) ?

about the bites...I did clean them out with antibiotic soap in hot water, and followed that up with some rubbing alcohol and neosporin and a band aid. so I should be safe there (had a tetnus (sp?) shot in may of 04, so I'm good there too.)

one more question...when I go to the pet store to get the rats, they put the rats in containers like large yogurt containers, or OJ cartons....could the confined space also be stressing out the rats,. and if so, will a simple fix like in the photo someone posted with a larger container make it easier on the rats to be transported?

thanks for your patience folks, I really apreciate it. also sorry for posting this in the general BP forum, I never knew this one was even here:rolleye2:

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Originally Posted by Gurgie

I think my problem began when I thought...hmmm....if the live rat can hurt the snake, if you hold onto the rat by the tail it cant hurt the snake. logical at the time. that in turn led me to holding on to the rat at feeding time, and probably the cause of the bites.

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It will up your chances of getting bitten or the snakes chances of getting bitten actually. Stressed rats bite. It's one of their first and most effective defenses.

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so you all just put the little buggers in the cage and let it wander around till the snake strikes (or lack of interest, which ever comes first) ?

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Yep we put the nice calm and appropriately sized rat (we feed nothing over a small and that's only to our big adult snakes, the rest get weanlings, pups, and down in size from there) in with our snakes at the furthest point from the snake. That allows the snake to hone in, decide it's strike strategy and go for it. Some of our BP's strike downward from on top of a hide, others lurk from the hide and nab the passing rat, others go into strike position and stay still till the rat wanders by and still others actively go nab that rodent before it takes 2 breaths.

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one more question...when I go to the pet store to get the rats, they put the rats in containers like large yogurt containers, or OJ cartons....could the confined space also be stressing out the rats,. and if so, will a simple fix like in the photo someone posted with a larger container make it easier on the rats to be transported?

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Yes it does most likely. Also confined and scared rats can turn on each other and will also urinate and defecate excessively. We just take that container or a larger on if getting a lot of live feeders (which we rarely have to buy anymore), put in a light layer of bedding and off we go. It also stops any rodent from chewing out on the way home (it's NOT fun to chase an escaped mouse through your car LOL). Depending on the quality of your live feeder supplier you also might want to consider housing the rodents for a day or two, feed them very well, lots of access to water bottles and let them de-stress and be in a nicer condition for feeding.

I keep the mice for at least a few days afetr buying from the petstore. This way I can make sure they're not sick, fatten them up a bit and this way they get nice and comfy and not hungry by the time they become snake food.
I keep rats as pets and can't wait for my other snake to grow a little so I can start breeding rats instead of having to buy mice this way.

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Originally Posted by versustheworld

I keep rats as pets and can't wait for my other snake to grow a little so I can start breeding rats instead of having to buy mice this way.

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You can feed any age snake rats - just depends on what size rat is appropriate for your snake's size as well (pinky, fuzzy, pup, etc).

I was thinking about my Cali king who's still too small for even a rat pinky.