feeding rats with tumors

Looking for some feedback from other breeders that produce there own rats. Does anyone out there have experience with feeding there animals rats that have tumors? Is it ok or unhealthy for snakes?
Thanks, chris

While many are benign mammary tumors (my vet said they are common in rats and mice), I wouldn't feed any prey item to my snakes that isn't healthy appearing. Why risk it?

A rather large one on a female frozen feeder I bought (first photo)
Another on a female pet mouse I had euthanized (second photo)

Kathy

If the tumors are simply aberrant hyperproliferation of tissue, then it should not matter. Even if malignant cancers, it should not matter. What gets absorbed in the gut are small molecules post-digestion. Ions. Lipids. Vitamins. Amino acids (typically up to tripeptides). That sort of stuff. A deconstructed tumor soup is not going to be harmful in that way because what gets absorbed are the components and the components are of the same categories regardless of originating from a tumor or the tissue they dedifferentiated or proliferated from. Based on this, choosing not to feed these is more emotional than anything else. If you do not choose to feed these, that is of course not a problem aside from tossing out some meals you paid for.

My only (distant) potential concern would be tumors of some viral origins. Yes, there should be a very (very) low potential for zoonotic transmission between such distant animals, so I probably would not personally worry, but that is the only (again, distant) concern I would want to mention.

This is assuming nothing in the way of a causal chemical compound, of course.

I agree with Nick. I have fed animals with tumors and the only issue I had was that some tumors are so vascular that they create a huge bloody mess if they rupture, either during the strike, constriction, or eating.

I find tumors among my female adult breeder mice fairly regularly, and I feed them off as soon as they finish nursing the current litter. Not going to do the snakes any harm, and apparently doesn't bother the mice too much as far as their normal behavior.

This is an interesting question, as rats and mice are, as has been said, very prone to tumours. I think that I wouldn't worry too much about small ones, but would avoid large ones as per your first photo - even though they are likely non-communicable, large tumours often contain centres of necrotic tissue and pus and I can't imagine that would be great for anyone's digestive system.

The OP hasn't replied, but I'm glad to know that the tumors most likely would not be harmful to snakes.

I wasn't happy to find the large rat with the tumor in my bag of feeders, but the vendor gave me a generous credit. The mouse was one that I had as a pet - she was gravid when I bought her; unknown at the time. After she gave birth, and the babies were weaned, she started to develop the tumor. It got big relatively quickly, and would break open, leaving blood everywhere.

Anyway, thanks for the info, everyone. I still wouldn't feed one of these to my snakes though; because as mentioned, there could be necrotic tissue, and bacterial infection present as well.

Kathy