Feeding live mice and rats is dangerous... Wives tale?

[bcampos]

They eat live in the wild right?

[Jenn]

Always live. All my snakes. Never a bite or scratch.

[JeffFlanagan]

Out of 82 snakes all fed live over about 9 months, I've had one snake grab a rat badly and take a deep bite to the head.

The rat was a medium and the snake pretty big. I dabbed on some antibiotic ointment and it healed right up.

It scared me enough that since then I only feed well-fed small rats, and have never had a problem again.

[OhBalls]

WHat???!!!! How can you watch a rat eat a hole in a snake! when you drop the rodent in, either the snake takes it or it doesn't. When a rodent is dropped into the cage it does not just immediately charge and attack the snake!

To date, many have voted.... nobody has experienced bites severe enough to scar except for those who "have heard of horror stories"

This was in a pet store...NOT in my care....the snake was wrapped around the rat, caught in the side, and was biting the snake....enough to leave a hole...I never said anything about the rat charging ot attacking....I did however have a few choice words for the store

i took that snake home with me because I couldn't stand to see it in those conditions...he was left unattended by store employees and the snake paid the price

[Mike Cavanaugh]

First off let me state....I have nothing but respect for Adam and his snakes as I am fighting with myself over whether I should drop some of my tax refund on a pin from him. That bieng said here is a picture of my het pied as I dont really like bieng called a liar because I didnt post a pic!

HOw did this injury happen? It looks like the entire section of skin in this picture is messed up (including all the way to the left of the picture. JUDGING BY THE PICTURE, IN MY OPINION, This couldn't have been from one bite, it had to be a series of bites. Where were you when this happened? What exactly happened? I find it hard to believe that this much damage could have happned when the snake was constricting the rat. When a snake strikes a properly sized rat, it completely over powers it. As it squeezes, if the rat were to bite, it would only reach one spot of skin... It looks like there is a LARGE damaged section here. please give more details.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Actually I did say I have had snakes bitten and scratched by rodents - myself first hand experience - yes I absolutely know how to properly feed my snakes - these things don't happen over night or by feeding too big or the wrong food item or from a hungry mouse - it takes but a split second for a panicked rat or mouse to grab onto your snake and do some damage.

Anyway - here is a mouser girl that I had get bitten - yes I was watching diligently when it happened - she grabbed the mouse - wrapped it and everything seemed to be fine - until she unwrapped to start eating and I noticed her bleeding - that was two years ago - you can still see the scar on her face - a little more to the left and she could well have lost an eye as it is she has a hard time shedding her head and whistles when she breaths.

http://jetpythons.com/IMG_5416.JPG

You had a MOUSE cause that damage? just judging by the size of a ball pythons head, and the size of a mouses little teeth, that must have been a tiny python, and a LARGE mouse at the time of the incident...

[Tosha_Mc]

You had a MOUSE cause that damage? just judging by the size of a ball pythons head, and the size of a mouses little teeth, that must have been a tiny python, and a LARGE mouse at the time of the incident...

At the time she was about 1200 grams - the mouse was an average sized adult If you want specifics - she would eat 5 or 6 in a feeding - this was the second one placed in with her so she was in full feeding mode - took her less than two seconds to spot it grab it and coil.

[Inferno]

i dont feed live, for the main part it is illegal in my country unless the snake will not eat anything else and its life is in danger if not fed live prey. but i have done in the past when i thought it was nescesary with non feeders. i would feed them all live if it were legal. 80% of what i feed is prekilled by me at the time i feed them the other 20% is frozen/thwed.

when i have fed live ive watched the snake and the prey intently untill it has fully killed it and there have been a couple of times when ive had to use my tweezers to stop the rat from biting the snake. i would never leave a rat or mouse unnatended with any of my snakes its not worth the risk

[Ginevive]

I feed live. All of my snakes respond to live rats, and kill them, and eat them. I put the rat into the snake's tub, broadside to the snake. I hate to read/see where people dangle the rat/mouse, face-first, into the cage. Why put it so that the prey item's mouth is the first thing that the snake will grab onto!?
Here is how I do it. The rat is placed broadside in the tub. I observe discreetly. Snake grabs rat, constricts. If I see that the rat's head is "free" and technically able to twist around to bite the snake, I quickly insert a thin radio antenna and hold the rat's jaws away from the snake until it expires. Then, I discreetly shut the tub and let the snake eat in peace.
I watch. If the snake does not appear to be in a feeding mode (though this really never happens) I remove the rat after about 5 minutes. I heartily believe that many injuries are sustained when people leave a prey item IN with a snake that is NOT in the mood to feed. Rat/mouse gets inquisitive.. starts chewing on big rubbery object (snake..) I can honestly see how this could happen.
Feeding live is fine if done with care. I do Not think that people who are extremely squeamish about touching feeders, should feed live without calming down first. Your nerves will cause the rat/mouse to become more nervous, especially if you're dangling the poor thing by the tail. You're already setting things up for the rat to go into the tub stressed and nervous.. not good. Do I think that injuries Can happen during live feeding? Sure. Do I blame keepers for ALL injuries sustained by snakes like this? No. But I said my piece, and this is my end feeling. If you feed live responsibly, great. If you feed f/t or prekilled, great. If it works for you and is done responsibly, live and let live!

[firehop]

If you read my original post I never said it happened during constriction. I said I put the rat in the cage for a total of 30 seconds and he attacked the snake. I had just put the rat in the tub and put another one in the tub under then reopened the top one to see this happening. I will drop 2 at a time then recheck.

HOw did this injury happen? It looks like the entire section of skin in this picture is messed up (including all the way to the left of the picture. JUDGING BY THE PICTURE, IN MY OPINION, This couldn't have been from one bite, it had to be a series of bites. Where were you when this happened? What exactly happened? I find it hard to believe that this much damage could have happned when the snake was constricting the rat. When a snake strikes a properly sized rat, it completely over powers it. As it squeezes, if the rat were to bite, it would only reach one spot of skin... It looks like there is a LARGE damaged section here. please give more details.