Most balls that feed on live will get bitten to some degree during feeding. Most of these bites are harmless and will rarely do more than minor damage to the scales - some will get tagged pretty good but again - a little antiseptic and the snake should be fine.



With that being said - a majority of the snakes that I get into my rescue through the various vets in the area - come my way due to rat bites. Untreated wounds that have festered into something more than what the owner wants to deal with - eyes that have been scratched or bitten, tongue injuries, etc., The worst one I got was a large female that the rat had literally bitten through the bottom of her mouth - the owner was at least smart enough to kill the rat and take the snake (with rat still attached) to the vet. But was unwilling to pay the bill and continue with the treatments.



Very few of these injuries are from snakes being left unattended with their food item - they happen in a split second and sometimes go unnoticed - most of the time the snake will get injured, finish it's meal and go into it's hide and you won't see it until it's too late.



How a snake will react after being bitten is dependent on the snake - the one I described above went on to eat fine - I have had others that would have starved to death if I hadn't fed them pre killed food.



Again - MOST of the time injuries are nothing - but don't be fooled into thinking that because you vigilantly watch each feeding your snake will go uninjured.



Hope this answered your questions.
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Tosha

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