Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i always worry when i feed my balls about being bitten by the rat. i was wondering has anyone had a bad experience with a rat biting a snake and what effects its had on it? i will switch to frozen but im sure it will be a challenge.

most bites will do nothing to a snake......at times it will bleed but it doesn't hurt them much.......well.....doesn't hurt us anyways.....

the only bite I fear for a snake is if a rat or mouse or whatever would actually get ahold of the eye and pop it...and ruin it........

in 16 years of breeding and feeding live it hasn't happened yet....(knock on wood) and I hope it never does.....

I did have a baby ball get killed by a small mouse this year from multiple bites and actual skin eating by the mouse of the snake...but that was one mean little mouse I supose and one fearful ball.........usually they both stay in the cage with no problems if the snakes don't eat them.....hopper mice are usually not that mean .....

and I have seen a medium large rat kill an 11 foot retic once 20 years ago or more............not my snake.again...that was a mean rat and a scared retic......

just watch them and don't leave overnight unsupervised.....
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JYReptiles

Scales-N-Tails Reptiles ltd........Pa

I breed rats and I have fed my balls live, frozen thawed, and prekilled (fresh). I personally do not kill the rats myself (self proclaimed sissy), so I would say more often than not I feed live. As the other posters have mentioned...frozen thawed is the safest way to go, but if you are going to feed live...do it supervised! Also, IMO I feel that a live meal is best a tad bit too small rather than too big.

Now my dumerils eat F/T all the way...but that is another story

This pic is not a ball...but I think it is fitting!

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3.12 Normal ball pythons
1.0 Pastel ball python
1.0 Plains Garter
0.1 Rosy boa
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
1.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
-----My list is too long, so I'll stop here!
*Amy*

I'm sure you've seen the pictures of the Ball, Retic, Burm that had a rat put in it's cage, and left there overnight. To come back to the Horror of the Rat turning on the said snake.
Feeding Frozen thaw would take care of that problem, for sure.
But, I have to many snakes to even consider using that method.
For me it is just a big mess and waste of time.
This is what I do:
I put a live rat (depending on size of the snake being fed)in with the snake(s) I am feeding. I watch for a feeding response.
80% of what I am feeding, attacks and consumes the rat as soon as I place it in the container with it.
For the other 20%, I mark that container and go back and check on them when I get finish with the entire collection.
At no time, NEVER do I leave a live rodent in with a snake more then it takes me to go thru the entire collection.
If they have not taken the prey in that time, I remove the rodent, and attempt to feed them at another time.
In all the years of using this method, I have not had one rodent turn on a snake.
Now, before all you jump on me for not using Frozen. I've tried.
But it just takes to much time to thaw, offer, re-offer and throw away uneaten rodents. It was a waste of both money and time. All my Balls eat rats. Live rats. From hatchlings to adults. I don't offer them mice. Never. Then I don't have to have all the worries of trying to "switch" them when the time comes.
If you have a small collection, then I feel frozen is fine. But once you get a collection of some size, I feel frozen is out the door.
Just my thoughts.
Ron
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Ron Billingsley
www.ronbillingsleyreptiles.com

I never leave my one and only unsupervised, but one day she did get nipped. Only damaged one scale. There was a little bleeding. I went to the local pharmacy and got povidone iodine (book I have recommended it) and washed her in clean water and applied daily until the sore was gone. About 1 week. After a shed you can barely even see the spot.

--April

i think my ball has grown afraid of rats because it stopped eating from one day to the other. Im thinking it got bit and became traumatized from there on because she becomes aroused and starts stalking and coiling when the rat is introduced in her tank but once she gets within striking range or if the rat moves up to her shell freak and run and do the ball bython defensive "ball". Same happens with pre-killed. i have only had success with really small rats and pups and she will still displays this behavior.

sorry forgot to ask is this common? has this happend to anyone out there?

out of the fifty or so bp's I have at the moment, i'd say probably 5 display the same actions sometime. these are the ones that seem to only eat on a bi-weekly time frame but they seem to use every bit of the rodent and only pass minimal amounts of stool. When they are hungry, their feeding responce equals that of every other snake in my collection. some snakes don't need or want to be fed that often. the ones I have that prefer to go longer periods between meals don't even get offered food more than once every 2 weeks and then if they refuse they get to go another 2 weeks. usually by week 4 there is no hesitation and the rats are consumed very quickly. I to use 90% live feeders and the other 10% is fresh killed by me. If you are using live and feel a little uncomfortable, I'd also suggest to feed rats on the smaller side as ball pythons immobilize grabbed rats and smaller dont' stand a chance.

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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
1.0 Spider Ball python (Ballroom pythons south)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
1.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
0.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

I had a ball python when I was a kid through adolescence.

This was back in the late 80's, when it was still standard practice with snakes to use heat rocks (doh!) and to feed primarily live prey.

Well, anyhow my ball ended up dying due to a rat bite that was inflicted during constriction. The bite didn't break through the scales, but some internal organs must have been punctured, as there was a bloody stool the next day, and a dead snake.

So moral of the story is this, heat rocks are bad, as were the 80's, as is feeding live unless it is avoidable!

-Dan

i have just rescud a bp with severe rat bites, it has skin missing from a strip totaling in length at least 75%of its back
plus all the damage to other aeas, notably the rostrum and the sides
some places were chewed down to the bone others were just the surface. either way the physical damage is severe, and it has been 2 months since i first saw this snake in the petshop, and it still hasnt fully closed the wounds.
this was a combination of live feeding and negligence.
so yes there have been cases. someone else has the link to the pic of a rat chewed ball. i am sure they can pass it along.

>>i have just rescud a bp with severe rat bites, it has skin missing from a strip totaling in length at least 75%of its back
>>plus all the damage to other aeas, notably the rostrum and the sides
>>some places were chewed down to the bone others were just the surface. either way the physical damage is severe, and it has been 2 months since i first saw this snake in the petshop, and it still hasnt fully closed the wounds.
>> this was a combination of live feeding and negligence.
>>so yes there have been cases. someone else has the link to the pic of a rat chewed ball. i am sure they can pass it along.

Here is that link it is not pretty so if you don't want to see this do not click on the link.
live feeding gone bad from Proexotics
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1.2.0 ball python (aragorn, arwen,`eowyn)
1.0.0 100% het pied (frodo)
1.0.0 columbian boa (squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
0.0.2 whites tree frog (trevor, kirmet)
0.0.5 pacific green tree frogs
3.2.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy
"snakes are kind of like potato chips, you cant have just one"