Wild mice

[evan385]

My question is not whether or not it is safe to feed a wild mouse a ball python. They eat wild mice/rats in the wild. Yes I know they could get into poison etc. I appreciate your concern but please, as I said whether it's okay to feed a ball python a wild mouse because of poison etc is not my question. However I do have other concerns that I would like addressed. Also please don't just read the title and post. I just caught a mouse outside in the feed tub with a deli cup. He's about the size of an 18 day old rat pup. This is one of the mice that frequently gets into our feed. They always get into the feed every night and sometimes during the day too so I know they don't go far with a regular source of food which is why i'm not worried about poison. I have not done anything about this because they don't eat very much and I have a picky eater that seems to prefer mice and i've been trying to catch one. He hasn't eaten in about a month because though i've been offering baby rats he doesn't seem interested. I figured he was only interested in rodents that are alert and moving because he's eaten a small rat. But maybe he just prefers mice because I never had him turn down a mouse. Can I feed him this wild mouse live? Because he's never eaten anything but live. I put the deli cup in the tank, and the mouse seemed more or less frozen from fright so I don't know if he would even get close enough for a strike. Any thoughts?

[Skittles1101]

Unless you want to risk parasites, which wild rodents often carry, I wouldn't personally do it...poison would be the least of my worries...

[Kaorte]

I personally wouldn't do it. You don't know what diseases or bugs that mouse is carrying. I wouldn't want to risk spreading anything to my pets if I can avoid it.

In the end, it is your call. I would just rather get some live mice from a feeder breeder.

[akjadlnfkjfdkladf]

I'm not going to lie, I really don't know weather it's safe or not but my friend once caught a wild mouse and fed it to his king-snake. The snake died within the next day or two.

I wouldn't try it.

[evan385]

I'm not going to lie, I really don't know weather it's safe or not but my friend once caught a wild mouse and fed it to his king-snake. The snake died within the next day or two.

I wouldn't try it.

I've caught a few before, I fed my female a few of the same wild mice that get into the feed without any problems whatsoever. No parasites. Since i've had my scale and been weighing her she seems to gain about 20 grams every week. But then again the ones I fed her were frozen first. So should I try F/T then? At the least I could feed it to her if he won't take it along with two more rat pups.

[Skittles1101]

I've caught a few before, I fed my female a few of the same wild mice that get into the feed without any problems whatsoever. No parasites. Since i've had my scale and been weighing her she seems to gain about 20 grams every week.

My seemingly healthy normal male had hookworms when I got him. No signs or symptoms, only did a random fecal test and it came back positive. Not all parasites show signs. Unless you have fecals done regularly after feeding these wild mice then you can't really know for sure. Again, it's going to be up to you in the end, however you should be aware that wild rodents carry parasites.

[mr.spooky]

yes, they eat wild mice/rats in the wild, and have from the day that they were born.
*i might be talking out of my ass here* but it seems to me that they (the wild ones) probabaly have imunities to deseases that your captive bread snake might not... think of when the europeans came to america (the name we call it today)..
they brought deseases and stuff that theirimune system could handle, but it wiped out thousands that werent use to it.
spooky

[evan385]

My seemingly healthy normal male had hookworms when I got him. No signs or symptoms, only did a random fecal test and it came back positive. Not all parasites show signs. Unless you have fecals done regularly after feeding these wild mice then you can't really know for sure. Again, it's going to be up to you in the end, however you should be aware that wild rodents carry parasites.

Wouldn't freezing them kill off the parasites? Parasites need a live host. That being said I would have to assume that freezing the mouse would kill off the parasites.

[Rhasputin]

No. Don't do it.

You don't know what the mouse could have eaten, or could be carrying. Not only do you risk the safety of your pet, but also the safety of yourself. The mouse could have eaten poison for all you know, and you could be introducing that poison into your snake's system.

It's best to stick with domestic mice.

[Skittles1101]

Wouldn't freezing them kill off the parasites? Parasites need a live host. That being said I would have to assume that freezing the mouse would kill off the parasites.

They have to be frozen for a certain amount of hours before they could be "deemed" safe, and I'm sure the amount of time varies for each parasite. I've heard 18 hours, but who knows, there could be parasites that can survive that. I understand what your saying, just throwing out my opinion. It wasn't cheap to get rid of my normal males hookworms and it was difficult to medicate, and IMO it's not worth the "free" food, because it might not end up being free in the end.