First bite - please help!

[Crazy4Herps]

I'm waiting on a shipment of f/t, and I don't trust buying f/t from the pet store, so I bought a bunch of live mice. I'm not really particular about feeding live, as long as it's mice, not rats. I supervise VERY closely.

So, one of my babies got bitten. Prospekt, the little 07 ball. It got her after she grabbed it. Thankfully, it isn't bad at all, just a little nick. She's not bleeding freely, but there is blood there. Once she was sure it was dead, she pulled it off of her and is now preparing to eat it.

I think I'm going to let her finish eating and leave her to digest, maybe peek in on her tomorrow. When she's done digesting, I'll check it out and put on a little Neosporin. If it seems serious or if it gets any worse, I'll bring her in. I've got an incredible herp vet here that knows us quite well since I took in the rescue beardie.

Does this sound okay? She seems perfectly fine, I'm just a worry wart. I think I've read far too many horror stories about feeder rodent incidents. Better to be safe than sorry.

[mainbutter]

For sure don't use anything with painkillers, double check that. I've heard of people using painkiller-free neosporin.

In the wild these guys get nicks all the time. Just think about it, I'm sure you've gotten cut and scraped as many times as I have in my life and really it's no big deal.

Rodents CAN do serious life threatening damage, but it's pretty easy to spot a serious wound from a little nick. In addition, the serious wounds usually come from when the snake doesn't defend itself and gives the rodent free reign to just bite and bite and chew and chew.

Your plan sounds pretty good to me.

[psycho]

Well if it's a little bite some noesporin would help she will also go through many shedding cycles frequently to try to heal the part where she has been bitten...if it doesn't heal fast...but if it's big then a visit to the vet might be necessary!

[Crazy4Herps]

Thanks, guys! She finished eating and is now roaming around her cage. I can't seem to find the spot where she was bit. The lighting in here is pretty dim in here (the others are still feeding), but I think she's going to be okay.

[Danounet]

If you are gonna feed live. Use rats, young rats are very "innocent" and most dont even fight back much. Mice are nasty, specialy the older ones.

[rabernet]

Snake scales are designed to protect them, and it sounds like it did just that! It didn't sound from your original post that it was very serious, although I know it can freak you out.

[BPelizabeth]

If you are gonna feed live. Use rats, young rats are very "innocent" and most dont even fight back much. Mice are nasty, specialy the older ones.

I always thought it was the opposite? The rats are the ones that are nasty and the mice are not.

What are your guys suggestions feeding live.....should you pre kill it?

I feed live mice and and DO NOT leave them in the cage. We feed w tongs and watch until it is dead. I dont leave it in there wandering around. But I can say a mouse last week grabbed onto my snake, didnt hurt her but let me tell you I no longer feel bad for them.

[Crazy4Herps]

I always thought it was the opposite? The rats are the ones that are nasty and the mice are not.

What are your guys suggestions feeding live.....should you pre kill it?

I feed live mice and and DO NOT leave them in the cage. We feed w tongs and watch until it is dead. I dont leave it in there wandering around. But I can say a mouse last week grabbed onto my snake, didnt hurt her but let me tell you I no longer feel bad for them.

The main reason I don't feed rats is because my two rat-eaters are not fully converted, and I hate being stuck with live rodents, I don't have time to care for them. When I feed live, I feed mice because I know for a fact that they'll get eaten.

This is the first time any of my snakes have been bitten, so I don't have much to compare to, but I have worked with rodents in the past. I've been bitten by countless mice, but never by a rat.

But then again, you have to consider that mice aren't capable of much damage, while rats are. I think that, no matter how friendly the animal is, if it's being constricted by a snake, it's going to bite if it can.

I don't pre-kill either, simply because, as I've said before, I've worked with rodents and can't find the will in me to bonk one.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I had a large burmese years ago that was bitten pretty badly by a huge rat. The rat first bit me as i tried offering it to the snake. It big my finger and its top incisers went to the bone. I jerked my hand and it flew into the cage already mad. My burm immediately grabbed it but it was able to get in one good bite as it was being constricted. This was a bad bite. Just one bite and there was flesh sticking out from the split scales.

My vet was immediately called. He recommended to only use bacitracin. Said neosporin usually has other additives in it that are not good for open wounds. Especially on animals. The bite healed nicely on its own, applying bacitracin twice a day and within a few sheds, was not noticable.

The bite your snake recieved sounds very minor. Snakes have an incredible ability to heal as long as the housing and conditions are correct. Usually even bad bites or wounds that leave a scar will eventually completely disappear in time.

So like everyone else said. I wouldnt worry about it. There really isnt even a chance of infection as long as the wound is not open and their bedding is clean. A small bite like that will just close right up and the scales around it will make it very hard to see.

[OhhWatALoser]

i think above they were saying that a rat the same size as a mouse is not going to be nearly as aggressive. at that size they barly know whats going on. i have a ball python that will only eat live, she gets bit sometimes but they heal after the next shed. i have had to smack a few rats when she grabbed them the wrong way tho and they had free range to bite the crap outta her, i didn't take chances, couple flicks to the head stuns them, sorry but your not biting my snake.

i think most problems are when the snake doesn't eat and the rat chews on the snake because theres no food