Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. I just fed my healthy 10 year old ball python two white mice from the local pet store. Anyway, when I dropped in the 2nd mouse, right before my snake grabbed him, I noticed a growth on the mouse. It looked like a lump but it was under the fur. It may have been a tumor or something. Anyway, now that my snake ate it, I am wrried he will get sick and die. Anyone have suggestions? If it was a tumor, will my snake be okay?

Thanks.

I'm sure he'll be fine. Wild snakes eat carrion. The digestive system of most animals can break down many many things.

Thanks. I know carrion is dead and rotting flesh or something like that, and I know mice are prone to tumors, so I am sure they eat it in the wild all the time. I just hope whatever it was won't hurt him. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Thanks. If anyone else wants to give advise, please do.

The tumer/growth probably wont hurt your snake. May not be the healthiest thing for him, but I doubt it'd harm him. If it were me, I would find another source for feeders. Just from personal experience, the misformed feeders I've seen usually come from poor breeding conditions. Either that or start taking a real close look at what you're picking up first, find the healthy looking ones with perky ears, bright eyes and that are hard to catch (full of protein!).
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

Sorry for all the replies I am leaving. Just wanted to mention in response to this that the petstore is a major pet store chain that I get the mice at, and I know they aren't the best sometimes, but my only other option here is a dirty pet shop near me. Very dirty. I will just keep a better eye on what the store gives to me for now on.

Don't worry. Tumors are not poisonous, toxic or whatever else you may be thinking.

A tumor is simply a mass of cells that are essentially dividing/growing uncontrollably. They can be made up of just about any tissue in the body. Every cell in the body has a type of "kill switch" encoded in it's DNA. The basic priciple is that one of two things will trigger the "kill switch": either the cell will reach a certain age and trigger it OR it will begin dividing rapidly. Cells are only supposed to divide at a certain rate for a cetain period of time. This is the bodies way of protecting against tumors and cancer.

If the kill switch is damaged or lost during cell division and the cell survives you end up with a cell that can divide many times (sometimes very rapidly) basically without anyone at the controls. Each of the cells it creates during mitosis will also have this ability (or disability-depending on how you look at it) meaning that the mass of cells will begin to grow exponentially. Cancer treatments tend to focus on those cells (and tissues) in the body that grow the fastest and this is the reason some people lose their hair during chemo therapy (which isn't restricted to the use of radiation treatment).

So, now that I went off on that tangent.....your snake will be fine. Consuming a mouses tumor basically means your snakes ate a little extra tissue of some kind whether it was cartilage, skin, fat, or even bone. Don't worry.

Now if it's belly turns pink and it's eyes turn blue you've got other problems.........j/k!
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Sometimes, things are exactly as they appear...sometimes.

Thanks a bunch to all. I am hoping he will be fine. I know with live food I run the risk of parasites, so I hope that is not what will happen, but it did look more like a growth of some sort on the mouse's side. Of course, i didn't feel it or anything like that. It also looked like there may have been a little cut on the mouse there, so maybe he was bit by another mouse and what I saw was something that had to do with that. Either way, I am glad to here my Fenton should be fine. And if his eyes turn blue, I will let you know. lol.

Thanks!
Sara

One more thing I wanted to add. Thanks for the scientific explanation. It was very educational. I really do appreciate it!!