Kicked/ripped from inside??

[Kysenia]

I have 3 left in my collection that wont do f/t and still get live, each time I feed live I have something to prevent a bite if the snake gets off on the strike, I supervise the kill and if it is a less then ideal hold I will take a pen and keep the mouth off the bp....i use a pen cause it fits perfectly in the mouses mouth .....i dont shove the pen, i just gently keep the mouses mouth off the bp......until the time of passing occurs. Just a thought...

[rabernet]

Does Neosporin cause scales to fall off? I can't remember. Something about water-based vs. oil-based antiseptics.

It doesn't cause scales to fall off, it causes the outer layer of the scale to slough off. No big deal, but disconcerting to someone who doesn't realize what's going on.

[Wh00h0069]

Btw, I just offered my new BP a F/T large rat, and she didn't seem to know what to do... I left her alone with it about 5 minutes ago, so we'll see what happens.

A large rat is a very large meal for most ball pythons. Depending on her size, I suggest going with either a small / medium or a medium rat. Good luck.

[pavlovk1025]

I have 3 left in my collection that wont do f/t and still get live, each time I feed live I have something to prevent a bite if the snake gets off on the strike, I supervise the kill and if it is a less then ideal hold I will take a pen and keep the mouth off the bp....i use a pen cause it fits perfectly in the mouses mouth .....i dont shove the pen, i just gently keep the mouses mouth off the bp......until the time of passing occurs. Just a thought...

When I feed live I do the same but I never thought to use a pen. I just grab the mouse/rats paw if it's kicking and clawing and hold it or if the mouth is getting close I grab the rodent by its ear. Actually got tagged the last time I ever fed live. Ill remember the pen thing now, thanks.

[J.Vandegrift]

It's more than likely blood from the mouse when it was being constricted.

[Lolo76]

A large rat is a very large meal for most ball pythons. Depending on her size, I suggest going with either a small / medium or a medium rat. Good luck.

Yeah, I thought it looked way too big! Unfortunately the saleslady was clueless (it's supposed to be a reptile specialty shop ) and their scale only weighed in pounds, so I had to guess. I ended up just tossing the large rat, since she wanted nothing to do with it, and I'll get her a small/medium live one next. Should I wait another 5-7 days, or try again right away? Thanks for the replies!

P.S. She weighed a little over 1700g last week, so she is a pretty big girl...

[Lolo76]

It's more than likely blood from the mouse when it was being constricted.

I didn't see any marks on her afterward, so that could be what happened - hopefully. I could have sworn the blood appeared as she was eating, plus I did see the mouse kicking inside of her... but maybe I just didn't notice until I saw her swallowing? Anyway, I am going to try getting her on F/T soon, probably once I get the new girl settled.

[Muze]

Could it be the mouse bled from its nose while she was constricting? That happened with one of my hatchlings the second week I fed.

[TimmyG]

I mainly go the frozen but when I have to give live I do the constriction myself. Its the same as if you fed live to your snake and takes maybe 1-2 minutes. This is'nt for everyone of course but I find its effective and so does my local petshop manager who also has a few snakes. I just make sure I cover my hand with some cloth incase I bet bit but hey, better me bit then my BP

[stargazed85]

I actually just fed pre-kill to my bp yesterday for the first time and she ate both mice. I was so geeked She had not ate in about a month in a half due to a bad RI, so I thought to try to switch her from live to pre-kill while she would be hungry. Worked like a charm No more live My pet store actually kills them for me. I don't have the heart to do it.