The reason I said anything at all about this is because the origional post says "I think the rat may have bit at him". If you are feeding live, you should keep a vigilant eye on the feed until the mouse or rat is dead -- completely. If the prey bit at your snake, you better know it. If you aren't going to watch what is happening with a live prey item, then don't feed live. That's what I'm saying. If you guys and gals wanna feed live, more power to you if you can do it sucessfully with no injuries to your little ones. But please oh please, don't take your eyes off that prey until its dead.