Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The other day i went to the pet store to get my brb's weekly meal, but they didnt have any hopper sized rats or mice so i opted to try and feeder mouse, but a small one. when i fed it to the BRB he was unable to subdue the mouse. they scrapped a few times and i decided enough was enough. when i inspected polyeidos afterwards i saw he has a gash on his head. i put some neosporin on it and let him be for a day, but its still there. i am wondering how healing works with these snakes, does it take along time to recopperate, and can i expect scaring? i feel really bad and am chalking it up to expeirience, but everyone wants a clean looking snake and a scar would be upsetting.

Igywigie,
....Did your snake telepathically communicate with you that it was named Polyeidos? BTW is that pronounced po-lee-eh-dohs? Small cuts and scars usually heal well and after a few sheds leave no mark. A very small smear of antibiotic ointment every couple of days may help the healing. I feed live mice to most of my little BRBs and they never get injured by them. Every once in awhile one will not want to eat and the mouse will nip at it and I seperate them and feed the snake the next time I am feeding. When they grab a live rodent the rodent usually only struggles for a couple seconds.
Jeff

>>The other day i went to the pet store to get my brb's weekly meal, but they didnt have any hopper sized rats or mice so i opted to try and feeder mouse, but a small one. when i fed it to the BRB he was unable to subdue the mouse. they scrapped a few times and i decided enough was enough. when i inspected polyeidos afterwards i saw he has a gash on his head. i put some neosporin on it and let him be for a day, but its still there. i am wondering how healing works with these snakes, does it take along time to recopperate, and can i expect scaring? i feel really bad and am chalking it up to expeirience, but everyone wants a clean looking snake and a scar would be upsetting.

thanks jeff, actually its "poly-A-dos(prounounced like the spanish number two). its greek for "many eyes" which is eqivilant to a wise man, i jus think my brazilian looks like its got lots of eyes on it, with the circles and all. good i hope his little head heals, but for now i gotta find a place that i can get hopper sized mouse or mice, they are hard to come by.

Igywigie,
...Polyeidos was a character in Greek mythology who could read minds.
Jeff

>>thanks jeff, actually its "poly-A-dos(prounounced like the spanish number two). its greek for "many eyes" which is eqivilant to a wise man, i jus think my brazilian looks like its got lots of eyes on it, with the circles and all. good i hope his little head heals, but for now i gotta find a place that i can get hopper sized mouse or mice, they are hard to come by.

yes he was, i was in greek myth 190 when i realized what i wanted to name my snake

haha now i get it, that joke tottaly went over my head at first. yes somehow the name just popped into my head when i walked by the tank.... it was weird

>>haha now i get it, that joke tottaly went over my head at first. yes somehow the name just popped into my head when i walked by the tank.... it was weird

..but I can't hear. None of mine have real names. It takes me months to name my critters but I must admit my BRB's just have names for identification such as WWF1 and LMF02.

Linda

>>>>haha now i get it, that joke tottaly went over my head at first. yes somehow the name just popped into my head when i walked by the tank.... it was weird
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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

I have tried pretty much all of your suggestions except for killing stuff myself and then offering it (which I really can't see doing on a regular basis). My question is can I get away with feeding her alot of large live mice or maybe small rats?
Thanks.

phiff,
...I raise my own rats and most of my adult BRBs eat live small rats for most of their meals. Some of them get frozen thawed or fresh killed large rats. I know most of the conventional wisdom says to only feed frozen and thawed but my snakes have been doing great for years eating live rats small to medium small rats. Rats less than 3.5 ounces, at least the tame ones I raise cannot hurt snakes that are larger than 3.5 feet long. If you have a problem with killing the rats you may have to only buy smaller ones. Using fresh killed dead rats as a step towards getting them to take frozen and thawed ones is often the best trick to get them to take them frozen and thawed. Rather than the big change from live rats to frozen thawed make smaller changes from live to live small rat followed right up with another one the same size and color fresh killed for several feedings and then see if it will take frsh killed alone and then make small change from there to frozen thawed but warmed up nice and warm and rolled in fresh rodent bedding to get the right smell. etc.
Jeff

>>I have tried pretty much all of your suggestions except for killing stuff myself and then offering it (which I really can't see doing on a regular basis). My question is can I get away with feeding her alot of large live mice or maybe small rats?
>>Thanks.

np

I'd highly reccommend transitioning your snake over to pre-killed. It's safer and healthier for the snake and you can avoid this issue in the future. I've seen way too many pictures of snakes mutilated by live feeder animals. Plus, it's cheaper.