Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I always watch if I feed live to my snakes. I fed a small rat to one of my pastel males that was refusing f/t and the snake got him great, but when he wrapped the rat up it bit his side. I immediately thumped the rat and he let go. The skin is broken and is only open about a quarter inch. What should I do? No blood or anything. You can just see pink below the mark. The snake didn't even flinch when it happened and he acts like the mark isn't there. Any ideas on what to do would be great.

When a rat cathes one my snakes I use neosporin ointment.
I will apply it once a day for about a week.

After my snake sheds you would never know it was bitten.

The Neosporin suggestion is about the best you can do.

I feed only live. When I feed a snake, I do so using hemostats. When the snake strikes the rat, I let go and watch to make sure the rat does not try to bite the snake. If the rat tries to bite the snake, I simply put the end of the hemostats in the rat's mouth to protect the snake. This takes minimal extra time due to the short amount of time that it takes the rat to begin to die.
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Happy Herping,
Jody Barnes
Royal Kreationz

My snakes aren't fat, they're big boned.

I've had one snake get a nasty bite in the head. I had to pull the dead rodent's teeth out of the snake because the snake couldn't get loose on it's own. A dab of generic triple-antibiotic ointment, and it healed up quickly without a mark.

The snake did eat the rat once I detached it.