Should I?...........Would you?

[Ironhead]

I noticed a small bump on the back of one of my feeder mice last week. As I checked it out today, the bump has tripled in size. The question is.....would it be wise to just euthinise the critter and disspose of it, or go ahead and use it as food for my BP?

[BallKingdom]

I'd probly not use it as food, but keep a close eye on it to make sure it is ok.

[Jeanne]

OK, you are going to have to make that decision. But, here are the facts as I got them from my vet.

First, your mouse has a tumor, weather or not it is cancerous is another story, but it is not relavent.

You can go ahead and feed that mouse off if you wanted, but only if you are sure your bp can handle it. I once asked my vet about tumors seen in mice and rats, he said, even if it is cancerous, it is fine to feed them off because once it is in the stomach, it gets broke down and does not affect the snake. Hope that helps.

[RPlank]

I feed off any rats that have tumors. No ill effects. If you decide not to feed it off, I wouldn't use it as a breeder. Don't want to pass those genes on, at the least.

[Ironhead]

Thank's for the input........Look's like she will be involved in his next meal.

[Wizill]

That explains what the heck was popping out of the last rat i brought home from the store. Unfortunately by the time i noticed the growth, the snake had swallowed nearly half of the rat.

[invadertoast]

When I kept pet rats, four out of five females that I had at one time had tumors. One was the mother and hers got to be the size of a tennis ball, and her three offspring all had them too but to a lesser extent. I've read they're really common in rats, especially females.

[pimp_n_python]

go for it
feed it off
the tumor won't hurt your snake