Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Its a stupid error on my part but I just fed my 2month old guyana a live small mouse inside its cage and have repti bark as its substrate.Well, i was keeping an eye on the guyana while it was swallowing the mouse down and noticed a small piece of bark was swallowed by the guyana and ingested it before I could get to it.Im not going to make the same mistake again in feeding it in its cage with the repti bark.Is there a chance that it will experience digestive problems or may it just pass through??any suggestions would be greatly appreciative!!!

There is always a chance that it will cause damage or worse, but more than likely not.

They don't eat off of paper plates in the wild and ingest all kinds of stuff. If their system can digest bone I am sure their system can handle reptibark.

One thing that happens in the wild that I feel should not happen in captivity is live feeding, that was more dangerous than the reptibark. This is just my opinion to not feed live food for so many reasons.

Hope this helps.
Joel Thomas

Thanks fof the info.Thats what i was thinking about boas in the wild prob ingesting all types of stuff when they go for the kill in the wild but i just want my boa to be all good.It refuses frozen rodents thus far since ive had him.Ive tried everything from making shure that the rodent was warm to making a small cut to expose the flesh to the guyana.Im guna keep on tryin to feed her frozen but in the mean time im going to keep its belly full to what it wants for now.I closely monitor the mouse when i put it in the guyana's cage and i dont leave it in the cage for a period of time but i havent had a prob that cause this guyana is an avid eater for shure.If i notice the guyana is experiencing any symptoms from the ingestion,i guess ill have to make an trip to the vet.

It is not hard at all to convert them to eat pre-killed, you will need a long hemostat or long tweezers to wave the food item in front of your animal, the best way to do this is to skip a meal or two and then offer food. Moving the prey item will often times promote a reaction strike.

If you don't have either of these tools then offer the food pre-killed and leave it over night, most times it will be gone in the morning.

Trust me that it is much better to feed pre-killed to prevent injuries that can lead to infections and in some cases death.

Be well.
Joel

I know the risk of feeding live but i dont think the risk is too bad.ive had plenty of corn and king snakes before and have fed it a mix of frozen and live with no problems.I just like the thrill of seeing the furry little things being constricted alive.call me sick but im just fascinated by it.thanks for your input though.

Hope you stopped (as in already) using reptibark. You yourself proved it's not safe. Forget you're fast enough to save a snake from a nasty rodent, you're not. If you can't save it from reptibark, what chance do you stand against a live rodent? Do you stand there armed and ready? You should, if you ever have to. You say you're out of ideas, so better have a real big stuck ready to whap that rat or try pre-killed, or dipped in chicken broth, or moving it like a rodent with the hemostats on the top of the prey item like a ball python keeper, or leaving it overnight, or feeding after dark in the boa's room.
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Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com

repti bark is safe to use,i just learned that you gotta feed it out of the cage so there isnt a worry of ingestion.Man,you guys are really anti live rodents.im still going to feed it live from time to time but mostly stick to frozen like ive done before.And there really isnt much risk of a rodent harming the snake if as soon as you drop the thing in its cage,the snake doesnt give it chance of a day and encapacitates the rodent.

Incapacitates the rodent? Yes, but it only takes one accident to do irreversible damage. For example, kind of like not using a condom during sex one time out of ten, are you going to trust that it won't be that one time you don't that conception occurs because having sex unprotected less often lowers the chances of it? All a snake has to do is grab that rodent in that moment they incapacitate the rodent (as you stated) and hit it wrong . Get the midsection, or the hind end of the rat with the first bite, leaving the mouth resting against the snakes body or whole head or upper body free to try and save itself, and wahlah.
Why are people die hard about feeding Prekilled or Frozen Thawed? You care about your animals, you want what is best for them, regardless of the interest in watching constriction of prey, right? That is the basis for all these folks and their concern. I've adopted animals with intensive scarring due to feeding of live prey. I've fed live myself and now kill all the prey items prior to feeding due to an 'accident' that occurred WHILE I was watching. You should do a google search on bite damage, while true that the most horrific damage is done while the keeper is away leaving a snake with a live rodent, serious damage can still be done in an instant. Would you think it cool if your snake ended up with one eye? Or a huge missing chunk even after healing from one gouging bite? I wouldn't think it was worth it myself.
This has been debated forever. I think being a domestic pet, it should be treated as such. I don't feed my dog cats, or my cats birds... I feed them bagged food. Although I'm sure my cat would be thrilled, I'd prefer to avoid the mess and personal psychological damage! LOL! However, it is your snake and your choice, we just want you to know the dangers and that despite your overlooking feeding, it could happen... does happen.
Your snake will be fine, the bark should pass through as others have said. Also, feeding in an alternate tub will work if you prefer to keep using repti-bark.
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Steph S.
Boas...
1.1 Albino boas (Loki & Hope)
1.4 07 Het. albino boas (Petty & Lady,Sierra,Madeline,Lola)
0.1 Reverse stripe poss. het albino (Cookie)
0.1 Salmon/hypo (Scarlet)
0.1 Anery poss. het snow (Missy)
1.0 Anery (Reno)
1.0 Probable Super Salmontine(Kahn)
0.1 DH Sunglow (Bonnie)
1.1.1 Hypo het anery
1.0.1 Het. Anery (Guy & ?)
0.3 Normals (Ophelia, Sasha, & Lulu)
1.0 Surinames (Solomon & Surreal(deceased)
1.3 Hog Isles (Mr.Orange & Peaches, Tang, Isis)
0.0.1 Central American (Sassy)
1.0 ATB (Satan... seriously!)
Pythons...
2.1 GTPs (B., Monty & Jewel)
0.0.3 BPs (MJ, Precious, Houdini)
1.2 Carpet Pythons (Jackson, Charlotte, & Cassandra)
0.1 Blood python (Akaia)
Misc.
1.1 Mandarin Ratsnakes (Jack & Jill)
1.0 Boxer/Pitt Mutt (Tyson)

This poor critters life is going to change from this day forward. I can't believe someone else has not already pointed out this incredibly important fact to you! Your snake will never ever have a normal fart again as long as it lives! This is a dramatic turn toward lower self esteem and embarrassment that is far beyond comprehension for the average human.

A normal fart has a sound like this; "phhhhhhrt" or perhaps on a different day more like this; "THPPTPHTPHPHHPH"! However no matter the normal sound, your critter will now have to kiss that "normal" fart sound good bye. Of course the new sound is going to be new or original sounding to everyone in proximity of the little fella when he farts. It's kind of like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Sure it's unique, but unique is different and the same goes for those in the snake world. So you have really done it now. You can forget about ever breeding that animal. I mean what self respecting Boa Constrictor is going to be willing to breed this "non-farter", in the normal sense of the word. Your Guyana will likely need counseling and years of therapy to overcome the new pathetic little sound he will be forced to make. The sound you ask? Yes, after ingesting that ReptiBARK, the definitive sound that your Guyana will make today and forever more will be a little whisper of a "woof". As in "woof woof". Now, for being such a careless critter keeper, I suggest you spend the rest of your day laying by your dish, exactly as your Boa is doing no doubt...
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Boaphile Home
All Original/Boaphile Plastics
The Boa Network

I love reading your spoof posts!!!!! Always good for a laugh!!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats