Ok, so I went to the Taylor, MI reptile show today and bought some live feeders. They were a very nice Medium, small, and two weanling rats for my 3 ball pythons. Ive always known there were risks feeding live, and I've seen some poor grabs but today there was disaster!

The medium rat to my biggest girl went ok other than the rat seemed to take forever to die. The small rat to my Charlie, however, went terribly wrong. The bottom jaw of the rat caught in his coil as he constricted her. There wasnt anything i could think of doing because as soon as i touch him he constricts harder. So I guessed the only thing I could do was let him do his thing and try my best to tend to him afterward. While he was ingesting the rat I got glimpses of a small puncture wound on his belly about 2-3 inches from his head. Its not very big and looks sore and red but there is no blood. I put a tiny bit of neosporin on it as i vaguely remember reading about that somewhere. Was this ok for me to do?

From this point on I am no longer feeding live to my snakes. Aside from this terrible experience Ive been feeling bad after feedings. In the last few months Ive been feeding rats because the only mice I can find are just too small. I love the rats compared to mice, they are cool little animals, but their scream when the snake gets them nearly brings tears to my eyes. My girlfriend and I always plug our ears before the strike. I had bought 2 weanlings to feed to my smallest female, but I couldnt bring myself to feed the 2nd baby.

Sorry for the huge post, but there is a point, I have a couple questions. Is there anything more I can do for Charlie with his wound? The rat wasnt chewing and there isnt any blood so I feel hopeful. Second, I now have a weanling rat who is smaller than some mice I have seen. I cant imagine this rat is more than a few weeks old. Will I be able to keep him alive? I dont know much about rearing rats and I plan to do some researching. Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.

Jared