Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine came by with a few large squirrels that he shot a while back, but didn't feel like cleaning (gutting and skinning). Knowing that I keep boids, he brought them by, frozen, for me. My question is will the lead shot from his shotgun harm my redtails?

Thanks
Adam

When you shoot a game animal with shotgun "shot", you have to remove the shot before cooking/eatiing. If YOU ingested one, it's not the end of the world because you have a high metabolism and the shot would pass through quickly and your system would excrete most of the lead quickly.

Your snake has a low metabolism and food sits in it's system for much, much longer than in yours. The potentian for toxification is much higher.
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2.1.0 Kidletts
0.0.1 Ball Pyhton (Rex)
0.0.1 Okeetee Corn (Maizey)
0.1.0 BCI (Ruby)
0.1.0 Cat (Ginger)
1.0.0 Pughuahua (Ranger)

Very bad....
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C.E.Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps

H.s.suspectum /cinctum
KSB Normals -Albino Het/snow &Anerys
Rubber boas
Candoia Paulsoni
BCL's
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Leopard Gecko's
Pacman Frog's

I would think it wuldn't be a great idea.... BUT

I have an adult female Panamanian Hypo, and non-hypo Boas..

The person I bought them from was feeding them squirrels he had shot in his yard with a BB gun...

He had them for 3 years, very healthy.. I received them very healthy.. they are about 6 years old now, and have eaten F/T rats from the day I received them.

Not saying this means it's ok, or that you can get away with it... just sharing my story.

I thought it was pretty strange myself... lol

With the quality of rats so high these days, and the prices so low, I don't see the point in taking the chance...

Another thing is what kind of poisons that Squirrel had ingested... that's a big unknown that can do the snake in quick.

Best wishes.. Joe - Bci Joe

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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

BB's aren't made of lead. They're brass or something.

Of course some shot is lead-free now too.

pellets can be copper, brass, lead, nickel, plastic, and more..

later -Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

Yeah not only that but squirels are nut eaters...and those nuts could contain toxic levels that your snake may not be able to handle.

Why are acorns poisonous?
Acorns contain a substance called gallotannin. In the rumen, gallotannin is metabolized to gallic acid and tannic acid. Tannic acid causes ulceration of the mouth, esophagus, and gastrointestinal tract. Tannic acid is especially toxic to the renal tubules, and renal failure tends to be the hallmark of this disease. In the fall, this substance concentrates in acorns and increases the risk of animal poisoning when acorns are ingested.

Plus the squirrel could have parasites and worms...

Hope this helps, Andy

haha I am just playing. That was an excellent point and great information.

Hope it helps, Andy

Wild animals of any kind could have various problems such as internal/external parasites, diseases, poisons not too mention the buckshot you indicted may still be inside. Much less of an issue for humans since we normally gut and cook our "wild" food.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Then no wild game for my animanls...

Thank you for your enlightening info and for the ability to have access to it like that...thanks