Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My ball python was bitten on the head by a rat this evening. I read that putting an antibiotic like neosporin or iodine on the wound would help prevent infection. Is this true or do i need to take him to the vet?

He seemed a little dazed after being bitten and tried to eat the rat under water in his bowl. Is he going to have perminate psychologic damage from this and be scared of rats? I am asking because he wouldn't eat dead prey so I hope he isn't discouraged from live.

Any and all help is appreciated,
Thanks in advance

I have only had one snake get bitten by a rat and he's fine for the most part. There is still a small scar, but overall he's fine. I used neosporin also to treat it, with some time and a few sheds it'll mostly go away. Just be careful with the next few sheds to make sure the old skin comes off completly around the bitten area. What other methods have you tried with feeding? I used to feed live also, now I feed fresh killed, I use a c02 chamber I made, all the snakes I own that have never taken frozen, take them after the chamber no problem. Hope this helps. (in the pic if you look at his head you can see where he was bitten)

Keep it clean with betadine or iodine - neosporin will work too make sure it's not the kind with pain releiver in it.

Wether he will have problems feeding after this really depends on the snake - some become hesitant for a while, some refuse all together and some continue eating like nothing happened.

Best of luck with him!
-----
Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

10.35.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.1 Lizard rescued from feline
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

______

Edited on January 17, 2006 at 22:50:38 by phwyvern.

I had put on the neosporin before I had read your post Tosha... I went back and looked at it and realized that it had Pain Reliever in it. Is it bad for my snake? Should i try to take it off and find some without pain reliever in it?

Thank you all for the help

Yes, I would wipe it off. Pain killers work different in snakes than they do in humans. I wouldnt think it will cause any damage, but you should wipe it off and put some on with out. It will help prevent infection, and speed healing. Hope he still likes to eat! I have only had one get bitten, and no she will only take a rat if I surprize her with it. She will be in her hide and if I dangle it out she will just see it and not smell it, and once she bites she wont let it go no matter what it is... but if she can smell it first, she wont eat ANYTHING for 24 hours. Oh well, she pounds mice like m&m's.

Ben