Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a pair of lepidus that are now being housed together due to a cage having to be repaired (waiting on a part). Both of them will only eat live. If one snake bites and kills the mouse, would anything happen if the other snake eats that same mouse?

No problem with the snake eating a mouse envenomated by another of the same species but you stand a good chance of looseing one from a cage mates feeding responce.

I keep my leps in pairs and trios, but I feed all of them in sepearte containers on f/t rodents. And I still average 1 bite per year, usually to the head of the snake.

I strongly recommend feeding them separately and f/t rodents. Why risk it? I have a collection of over 30 leps consisting of wc & cb and most of them feed voluntarily immediatly on f/t mice.

Most of the babies I produce feed readily on f/t or at least wean off live quickly.
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Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
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Conservation through Education

Ditto what Tim said.
A) Feed seperately
B) Feed f/t

With as much as my hots (and non-hots) mean to me, I'm sure yours mean just as much to you. Why risk injury and parasites by feeding live? Hopefully it's not "because it's cool to watch."

At the VERY least you should stun them first, and if you are moving the snakes between enclosures you should be able to move one to a safe plastic tub and feed it, or keep it there while you feed the other in the enclosure.

Keeping hots is all about protocols and procedures. Not following them means losing a prized snake, losing a hand, or losing your life.
Houston Area Reptile Enthusiasts

I doubt it could hurt the other snake but a missed mouse and the fangs entering the skull of the other snake could be bad. Buy a plastic tub and feed them seperately. Tubs work great.

At the very least, you should feed one in a container and the other in the cage, but it's better to put both in containers so the cage doesn't smell like mice when you put them back. This is especially true if they will only eat live for some reason. You can sometimes get away with feeding together if you're feeding prekilled and supervising closely, but live food with 2 snakes in the cage is really asking for trouble.

Check the second set of containers on this page. Very handy.

Snake-Safe Containers
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

How about just not feeding the snakes until you get the part you need to fix the other cage?
Unless its going to be months a few weeks isnt going to hurt anything.
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Jason

And oops to the mods....apparently my sig pic is to big and forgot to delete it before I posted.
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Jason