ANOTHER rodent bite on my snake. >.<

[shelliebear]

I fed Nergal today. I did what everyone suggested on here and found the rat's mouth and stuck the tongs in it.
Unfortunately I was too late--he had wrapped around it in a way that I couldn't find the head very easily. When I found its mouth finally, it had given him a nice bite on top of the head. I think it might have gotten his eye too--it doesn't look right.
WTF!!! I'm so mad. Petco doesn't sell large enough F/T mice, or small enough F/T rats.
I don't know what to do! I want him to be well fed, but the only properly sized food item I can get here is live. >:/
I can't stop him from coiling wrong, either--which is what he did today, he struck it from an odd angle AND curled himself around his head...which is where the rat's teeth were. Any other advice?? I don't know what to do...
Also, I keep checking on him every 5 minutes, I'm so nervous. Not very much blood ever came out but he has a small amount of swelling on his head (enough so it's noticeable after you look for a second). I applied band-aid cream two times already, after it dried out on him each time. What should I do?
I'm nervous to take him to a vet, because I don't know if any of the ones around here work with snakes--and I'm assuming they'll give him Baytril, which I know can eat holes through the snake's skin if injected incorrectly (i.e. sub cutaneous).
I'll keep an eye on his swelling. Is there anything I can do to keep it down?
I feel like a failure of a snake owner.

[dr del]

Hi,

Can't you order online and keep them in a seperate mini-freezer in the garage or anything similar?

I can't think of much else.

Except maybe feeding multiples of the smaller F/T food.


dr del

[shelliebear]

Hi,

Can't you order online and keep them in a seperate mini-freezer in the garage or anything similar?

I can't think of much else.

Except maybe feeding multiples of the smaller F/T food.


dr del

No, I can't. My mom is terrified of mice and rats and won't let them in the house (except for the 3 minutes they're inside for feeding time). I can't keep F/T in the freezer either.
Once I get my own place that problem will be solved. For now I'm stuck trying to find another solution. grrr

[Exotic Ectotherms]

So your BP will eat F/T right? Why don't you just pre-kill the rat?

[iCandiBallPythons]

stun the prey first and offer on tongs or hemostats, whichever you have

[shelliebear]

How do I stun it?
Lol, I'm not allowed to P/K them. I just told her on the phone that people on BP.net do that and it helps and she said "Ew! No thank you. Not here."
Maybe I'll become a traveling homeless girl with her pet snakes...I'll get a wheelbarrow and pu the tanks in it....lol. not really...but ugh.

[shelliebear]

I'm not grossed out at all by P/King them. I'd do it no problem (I want to be a nurse or midwife after all!). It's the people that live in my house that object, excluding my fiance who is also fine with it.

[BAMReptiles]

or you could jsut pre kill it and not tell her? or the snake could get bitten again

[angllady2]

As cruel as it sounds and as hard as it may be at first, stunning might be best for you for now.

The object with stunning is to hit the rat hard enough to subdue but not kill it.

I've had to do it a few times and it isn't easy, but when it come to the safety and happiness of my babies I do what I have to.

I found that a quick sharp rap to the head with my feeding tongs does the trick, the rat goes stiff for a few seconds, then goes limp. It will still be breathing, and may twitch a little, most of my snakes will snap a stunned rat in seconds.

If you don't think you can deal with stunning, try P/K. If the rats are small enough you can do this by cervical dislocation. Lay the rat on a hard surface and grip the tail. Place a pencil or screwdriver on the neck just behind the head. Then simultaneously push down with the pencil and give the tail a sharp yank. This usually results in instant death. Be aware however, on rats that are much beyond the wean stage, or roughly 1 1/2 times the size of a mouse, this method does NOT work well and I don't recommend you try it. For rats that are larger your best bet is CO2.

Gale

[shelliebear]

How hard do you have to hit them with the feeding tongs? (to stun them) I have 10" ones that aren't too heavy but I could see how they could mess a rat up.
Do you have to hit full force? Should I just let my fiance handle that one if I'm not sure I'm strong enough to hit hard enough?
PK or stunning don't gross me out at all. I think I'd be fine with either one. The circle of life isn't always kind. But still it goes on, and on...