Quote Originally Posted by cchardwick View Post
Sorry to hear that the rat popped open, that's one of the reasons I like to do fresh kill with CO2, that would never happen. You may want to check on the date on that rat and maybe get a fresh batch, I think they last about six months or so.

I find that when a snake coils a rat or mouse it goes into a 'trance' mode for a minute or so. When it constricts I can move the snake around without fear of getting bit, especially my aggressive snakes or very large reticulated pythons, they just tend to coil a bit tighter if I touch or move them a bit. If they constrict and fall in the water its easy to pick up the part in the water and move them out right away. I'm always afraid they will drown anyway so I always move them out if they happen to fall in when feeding.

I also love my ARS rack system, if I get a nasty mess like that I can just swap out the tubs, the water dish is a disposable Dixie cup and there are no decorations at all except coconut husk substrate. It takes me less than five minutes to clean them up. With that messed up rat I'm guessing you could probably wait an hour or so before cleanup without a problem.
I know it was fresh because I buy my rats one at a time from the local pet store, not in bulk. They had just gotten them in the day before I bought it. It's too late. She's long since abandoned its carcass in the water bowl. She pulled away into her hide as if to say, "Ew. I'm not eating that now." I just have to wait until either my boyfriend gets back or my one-month-old goes to sleep (I've been trying for over an hour) before I can start cleaning.