Rats biting snakes

[LLLReptile]

I feed live because it's easier and I have ready access to feeders, and have done so since I got my first ball python 21 years ago - I can count on one hand the number of bites my snakes have experienced in that time. To be fair, one of those was a horrible incident when I was a kid leaving a rat in overnight, and I can assure you the best method to prevent bites is to keep the feeder well fed and watered beforehand.

The few bites I have seen where the rat/mouse actually made contact with the snake, there was either no broken skin/scales or the wound was so small it disappeared by the next shed. The only time I am concerned is when the rodent's mouth is by the snake's face, and generally only for the babies. My big girls are BRUTAL when it comes to eating - the entire rack rocks when they strike and when I do check on the rat, it is usually already gasping for breath 5 seconds after being grabbed. As another poster mentioned, these are predators and when given the chance, they are VERY good at it!

-Jen

[BrandiR]

No


You don't want to freak the rat out at all. You don't want to spin it, club it, smack it, talk trash to it, or anything that puts it into defensive mode before dropping it with your snake. You want it to be as clueless as possible. Ball pythons hunt by AMBUSH. You don't want the rat going in there thinking something is up.

The care sheet doesn't say anything about trash talking! I trust your judgement and experience, so I'll stop doing that.

[BoostedMX3]

I reserved my trash talking for after she coiled when the lil bastard mouse was on its final breath haha.. I still have 2 lil prick marks from that thing..

Not to get to off topic here as this seems to have generated lots of responses but I bought two mice this last weekend.. Fed one and the other is in a lil critter keeper.. Not to find of these things do I threw in a lil aspen dumped some of the food from. The pet store in and filled a shot glass with water..

This booger has been putting food in the water idl if it has been drinking it tho.. I'm not planning on keeping mice on any regular basis so I don't plan on buying one of those bottles. But do mice/rats typically dirty their water if givin a bowl?

[Capray]

It also depends on how good a hunter your snake is. If she doesn't tag it right on the nose, or doesn't restrain the neck somehow the rat can and sometimes will bite. If you have and old snake, or a wobbly spider it's much safer to feed her frozen thawed rats.

[BoostedMX3]

Man iPhone autocorrect is horrible..

N e way from what I have seen with spider wobble at the shows it's pretty obvious.. However my pastel's parents were a normal and either a bumblebee or lemon blast. If mom was a bee could she have inherited a small bit of wobble?

I haven't seen her go nuts like spiders but when she has her head up she will shake/sway ever so slightly..

[glk832]

If you read worried thump it and daze it then feed it

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk 2

[BoostedMX3]

If you read worried thump it and daze it then feed it

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk 2

Doesnt seem very humane.. IMO its either healty and live or p/k with co2 or a quick neck break.. I hate rodents but still respect life..

Reason I want to feed live is because I feel its only fair to the snake that if I'm going to keep it captive to at least let it hunt..

[reptilegirl07]

One and only time I fed live was to a burmese, large rat, appropriately sized or SMALLER. Ravenous appetite.
Snake grabbed the rat right away, rat chomped down on his back when he was coiled.

It got infected and he was put on antibiotic injections. He didn't make it.

[Willow88]

large rats pack a bad bite....no matter how big you are

[satomi325]

If mom was a bee could she have inherited a small bit of wobble?

I haven't seen her go nuts like spiders but when she has her head up she will shake/sway ever so slightly..

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

The wobble is only linked to the spider gene. So if your snake does not have the spider gene, it doesn't have that type of wobble. A wobble in a non-spider morph could just mean an incubation error.

If you read worried thump it and daze it then feed it

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk 2

Yikes.....

large rats pack a bad bite....no matter how big you are

Which is why you don't feed large live rats...
Medium would the the maximum appropriate size for a live feed.