Reptile & Amphibian Forums

since my breeding project hasn't gotten off the ground yet, i still by my feeders from a friend (who happens to own the local pet store). anyways, i have a habit of cycling feeders...my pygmy doesn't eat often, so when he neglects a fuzzy for a while my blue tongue will 'inherit' it.
my question is; can i use this cycling on a freshly killed hopper if it has been killed by my cobra? will the venom be harmful to anything else that might eat it? i feed only live, but the skink will take anything, and it seems wasteful to toss it when...but at the same time i don't want to jeopardize the health of any other animals for the sake of saving $1.
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currently have:
snakes:
1.0 ball python (snake'n'bake)
1.0 reticulated python (mousetrap)
venomous:
1.0 pygmy rattlesnake (gordon)
0.1 mozambique spitting cobra (fluffy)
lizards:
1.0 nile monitor (dick)
0.0.1 egyptian painted agama (george)
0.0.1 blue tongue skink (skinky)
0.0.1 red sided skink (skinky jr.)
0.0.1 desert horned 'toad' (grinch)
fish:
0.0.6 red belly piranhas (milich, teo, sonya, kwanda, kasim & neclord)
mammals:
1.1 dachshunds (gus & heidi)
5.3 misc. cats (ho-hum, freak, pritchett, ghost, church, gypsy, flypsy, & hand)
1.0 child (michael).

i was under the belief that snake venom can be digested. i think it has to be in the blood stream to have a negative effect.
hell, steve irwin has been hit in the mouth by countless spitting cobras, and he's not dead yet.
but i'd look it up to be safe.

Venom worries aside, unless you know your entire collection is free from an illnesses or diseases (and carriers thereof), I wouldn't hand the food around like that. You're taking a risk by doing so.

I would freeze that feeder and offer it back to the same snake later.