My brothers ball python was possibly bit by a live feeder mouse.

[cubby31682]

My brother has a male ball python, and yesterday while I was over there we fed him and the other 2 ball pythons that he has. Anyways he feeds them live feeder mice. And Buddy the one I am concerned about, gets fed in his cage that is the only place he will eat. Well we put a mouse in for him and as soon as he grabbed it and started to twist around it, from where I was sitting it looked like Buddy was getting bit by this mouse. I know that can cause and infection, as well as making him stop eating live mice. We didn't want to take the mouse away from Buddy because by the time I told my brother what I saw and the time it took him to get to the other side of the cage the mouse was already dead and Buddy was getting in position to eat it. After Buddy was finishing up his dinner Sean (my brother) noticed some blood on Buddy and on the mouse when I looked I told Sean that, that was where he was bit. It was maybe a drop of blood if that. If it was more than that Sean would have taken him out right away and take him to the vet but as soon as Buddy got done he hid under his little branch thing that he loves and Sean couldn't get him. With Buddy you have to leave him alone for an hour after he eats or he will bite you. I left before I found out anything. I haven't been able to talk to him yet today to find out if anything happened such as if it was the mouse that was bleeding or if it was Buddy. I don't know what I can or should do. Any advice would be very helpful and appreciated.

Sorry this is so long. I wanted to give the full story instead of half of it. I also couldn't stay due to a heat advisory and I was worried about my cat being locked up in the house with the air off. When we left home yesterday before I went to my brothers it wasn't that hot out. So I had to leave and check on my cat.

Katie

[magcpen]

It is so hard to not cheer the mouse on. Isn't there ANY type of alternative to live food? I love mice! As for advice, I assume that Pythons have pretty good wildlife survival skills and other than a tiny bit of discomfort, I don't think you should worry too much, just make sure your brother knows what happened (I had trouble following, you did tell him, right?) and if he seems to display any odd behavior, or seems to be in pain, just encourage your brother to take him to the vet, or at least give him a call.

P.S. Poor, poor, poor mouse. I know it's the natural order but still....

[wolfsoul]

I also don't agree with feeding live. Frozen is much better. Freezing kills the parasites that might live on/in the animal. A snake can get these parasites. Prepared snake foods also have all the essential nutrients and are much healthier.

As far as the snake getting something from the mouse, I'm not certain. Rats can carry strepticocci (sp?) bacteria and can give someone "rat bite disease" or "rat bite fever." But I have no idea about mice. Obviously any wound can get infected. I'd suggest putting some antibacterial substance on it that is safe for snakes. And I'd also suggest to stop feeding live. I don't know about mice but I know that rats can kill snakes. I wouldn't be surprised if a mouse could kill a smaller snake. (My rat would definatly kill a snake. He's vicious lol).

[cubby31682]

I did tell my brother every thing I saw. My brother is very good with his snakes and does take them to the vet once every 2 months just for a check up because they are all still young. All of them are still under a year old I do believe but I am not sure.

The only other thing we could feed them is frozen mice, it's either frozen or live. Buddy was eating live before Sean got him so we have to keep him on that we did try frozen at one point when he was sick but he refused to eat them.

Katie

[cubby31682]

Wolfsoul I didn't see your post before I posted. Sean would never feed his snakes rats. His vet has told him before only to feed frozen or live mice. Buddy will not eat frozen and when my mom buys the mice she only gets live mice and the other 2 snakes wont eat frozen now either. While I was growing up we had 3 snakes that only ate live unless they were in shed or sick. I know that the mice they buy are breed just for feeding from a very good pet store. They are not my snakes and I can't tell my brother what to feed them all I can do is talk to him.

[magcpen]

It's a shame that the snakes won't eat frozen mice now.... it does seem a bit more humane. I'm really sorry if I'm being insulting at all, I just feel bad for the mice, being thrown into a cage to be devoured by a python.... well, it was nice to hear about a mouse not being so defenseless, and I hope the snake will be okay. Oh, by the way, my friend has a pet snake and she told me that she feeds it goldfish, I mean that's still not great, but better.... will the snakes eat those?

[monkeyluver]

Hmm I never heard of frozen feeder animals. My best friend has a snake she feeds live mice to. I always hated it but she says "Their food is live in wild so what's wrong with eating live food in captivity" and I have to agree with her.

[cubby31682]

Goldfish? Is it a ball python? My dad always told us to feed them feeder mice. We have always listened to him. I have never heard of gold fish but I think he would have to buy alot more of those to feed the snakes. His one snake which is a female eats 3 to 4 mice in one sitting and he feeds her 2 - 3 times a week Buddy and Soby are both males (we think) and they eat once a week and they eat about 3 mice in one sitting. Yesterday the Soby only ate 2 mice Little Budda ate 3 and Buddy ate 1. But I will ask him about gold fish.

Katie

[kingrattus]

I have cared for many snakes with wounds & the only thing I found that worked great was "Polysporn" Just wash the wound with water, dry it & then rub some Polysporn onto the cut & it should heal fine

[Tonya]

Two of my snakes will eat frozen, one of them will only eat live pinkies. I hate feeding them live mice. I get especially sad when the snake doesn't eat them right away so the pinkies wander around the cage hopeless.

[magcpen]

Aw, Tonya, you're going to make me cry.

[CathyBogart]

A: Any snake can be trained to eat frozen food, it's a matter of determination. When the snake gets hungry enough it WILL eat!

B: Even if you are feeding live it is just common sense to stun the animal before putting it in with the snake. The stunned animal will still move and thus tempt the snake, but will not bite the snake.

Magpen: It depends on the snake. Ball Pythons will not eat goldfish. Your friend probably has a garter snake or a water snake.

In the wild, my snake would eat live frogs. That doesn't mean I'm about to start feeding her live frogs because it's "natural".

[kingrattus]

I see nothing wrong with feeding live animals. Frozed animals r lesser of a quality (I hope that made sence). I'm required to feed live mice, rats, hamsters, fish & frogs to my turtle because everything is ok with the animal & nothing is broken down/damaged due to freezing.

& feeding just fish isn't healthy, the rept. need stuff from mamales too. like fur, bones, skin & other stuff.

& yes I agree its not easy feeding cute cuddly animals to another animal. But I think cows r cute & I love beef. I alst think chicks r cute & super fluffy & I eat eggs. I don't see too much difference, but thats just me. But there is a huge difference in a pet & dinner. but dinner should be treated with equally respect as a pet is.

Just my opinion.

[luckies4me]

Do you really call this natural?


Snake lives in tank, owner buys rat/mouse and throws mouse/rat into cage. Rat cannot escape because there is glass all around him. Snake catches rat/mouse who has no means of escaping and dies.


That is NOT natural! In the wild the rat/mouse would at least have a chance of running away. For animals that are stunned and not eaten, they just died for nothing.


I will NEVER feed live food unless it is insects. My brothers corn snake was ripped in half by rats, and while working at the vets a Boa was brought in who was literally devoured by a rat. It's not just bad for the rat/mouse but potentially harmful to the snake as well. This snake was missing his tail to about a third way up his body, was bit in both eyes, his bottom jaw was gone, and he had four huge holes in his body where the rat ate him alive. Thankfully through surgery and a lot of intensive care the snake lived..............total vet bill: over 2,000 dollars!


As far as frozen animals being less quality that is just simply not true. Snakes live long lives being fed frozen, and are most often times healthier not being subjected to mites etc.


As far as a Ball Python eating mice, what on earth are you going to feed it when it reaches maturity? A mouse will simply be a little speck of food to a snake that big.

[CathyBogart]

Frozen mice are NOT of lesser quality. They are not less nutritious either.

As for the fish, IT DEPENDS ON THE SNAKE! Garter snakes eat fish, ball pythons eat gerbils (In the wild), Eastern Hognoses eat frogs, Mud snakes eat sirens.

So, if all you care about is "natural", I suggest you start feeding live gerbils.

So, depending on the snake feeding fish can be very healthy. Feeding a garter snake mice would probably result in death by fatty liver disease.

I disagree with feeding live because it is less humane for both animals involved. I have fed live in the past, but I ALWAYS stunned the prey. It's just common sense.