big bloody mess

**blueberrypancakes** · 08-19-2011, 10:54 AM

Jackson made a mess of his meal. He just ate, so I'd rather not disturb him... but I also don't want to leave the blood. What do you do in this situation?

***wwmjkd*** · 08-19-2011, 10:58 AM

it's one of the reasons I always use a separate, bare enclosure to feed all my snakes (with paper towels of course). I'd take him out and clean the enclosure immediately to prevent bacteria from building up.

lastly, not to harp on you, but please take care of the mite problem immediately. far more important than feeding right now.

best of luck.

***Alexandra V*** · 08-19-2011, 11:18 AM

If you have a mite problem, I'd take care of that first as wwmjkd said. It's one of those things that you really need to nip in the butt before it gets out of hand.

As for the blood, usually it's not a problem. I have the same issue sometimes. I keep all my snakes on paper towels and feed in the enclosure, and if there's only a little bit of blood I usually leave it until I need to clean the cage. If it's TONS of blood, like you could recreate the chainsaw massacre movie with it, then I'd clean it out as soon as possible (i.e. give him 24 hours to digest a bit, then remove him and clean out the cage, put him back in)

**blueberrypancakes** · 08-19-2011, 11:24 AM

yeah, i've sprayed him down and cleaned him off and cleaned out his tank really well last night. as soon as i get home i'm ordering PAM, I guess they don't actually sell it in actual stores? ooh, do they maybe sell it at vet offices? havent tried that yet. I am certainly not being aloof about this issue at all- I'm actually pretty freaked.
i didnt know whether or not to take him off his regular feeding schedule, so i asked someone i knew with a BP and they said to keep him on schedule as long as he would eat. so i did... and now I'm super worried that I did the wrong thing, but its already been done

thanks so much for your help!

***Alexandra V*** · 08-19-2011, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by blueberrypancakes

yeah, i've sprayed him down and cleaned him off and cleaned out his tank really well last night. as soon as i get home i'm ordering PAM, I guess they don't actually sell it in actual stores? ooh, do they maybe sell it at vet offices? havent tried that yet. I am certainly not being aloof about this issue at all- I'm actually pretty freaked.
i didnt know whether or not to take him off his regular feeding schedule, so i asked someone i knew with a BP and they said to keep him on schedule as long as he would eat. so i did... and now I'm super worried that I did the wrong thing, but its already been done

thanks so much for your help!

When I had a mite problem (with my boa... sigh, gotta love shady pet stores!) I kept her (and all my other snakes, I was treating them for the mites too just in case) on the same feeding schedule as normal, and am now completely mite-free. Don't worry about it, just give him a day after the meal and then clean it out. No worries!

**Inknsteel** · 08-19-2011, 11:59 AM

No reason at all not to feed. If your bp is still taking food, keep offering. I know some will refuse if you have mites because they'll be itchy and stressed from the little bugs, but there's nothing wrong or harmful about feeding while your snake has mites.

Definitely order a can of PAM online and follow the instructions to the letter. That stuff will knock out the problem quickly and completely...

**blueberrypancakes** · 08-19-2011, 12:13 PM

Well thats a relief! He is still super active and not soaking in his bowl yet... so I think I've caught it pretty quickly. Is it like reptile fleas? Fleas are a beast to get rid of...

**PitOnTheProwl** · 08-19-2011, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by blueberrypancakes

He just ate, so I'd rather not disturb him

I dont see why people make this a huge issue?? I handle all my snakes before, during, and after feeding. I dont "over-do" it after they eat, just remove them from their tubs and clean the rat poo out, lay clean towels and put their hides and water bowls back in. It is not a big deal. I have one big girl that I have to wipe down as well because she tends to bleed out her rats by squeezing all of the fluid she can out of them.

**blueberrypancakes** · 08-19-2011, 02:14 PM

well, mostly I'm just a new owner and i want to do everything right. Its like people always say you'll coddle your first child and by the third you'll be happy to hand them over to the babysitters. Jackson is my first baby and I want to take care of him correctly, by the bookish kinda way. I know what I'm capable of and as an inexperienced new owner, I just don't wanna screw it up.

**PitOnTheProwl** · 08-19-2011, 02:18 PM

I totally understand and we area all still learning as we go

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