Messed up a feed...

My poor girl. (Cinnie ball) I gave her a rat that was just barely small enough for her, and it was really skittish besides - my mistake. There was a 10 second battle and it took her multiple attempts to wrap up the rat. The rat had blood in his mouth when it was over, I think she got bitten a few times. (there was a lot of tumbling and I misplaced my forceps - by the time I was ready to go in and help, she'd already gotten a handle on things).

She's not big, probably just under 300g. I left her alone and she finished the rat and is now digesting.

Here's my question: should I pester her and disinfect the wounds? Or leave her alone to digest?

(I understand this is my fault. I've tried f/t and f/k - she really needs a rat to run around to show any interest and she completely doesn't buy the rat dance. She needs smaller meals in the future and that's all there is to it, but this was the closest my supplier had to the right size and would be for a few weeks)

Are you sure the blood wasn't the rat's?
I have had snakes squeeze so hard the rats have bled everywhere...and their eyes almost popped out. It's brutal...and I often feel bad.

I might switch to f/t for that reason soon.

Originally Posted by Kingofspades

Are you sure the blood wasn't the rat's?
I have had snakes squeeze so hard the rats have bled everywhere...and their eyes almost popped out. It's brutal...and I often feel bad.

I might switch to f/t for that reason soon.

I'm not certain. I decided to get her out to have a quick look over her and I couldn't find any punctures - which was something of a shock after what I saw (it looked bad and I was pretty worried).

I would really love to go f/t with her, but I think she's going to make me wait until she's big to do it if she ever does it at all.

I agree with Luke. It's very possible that the blood came from the rat. It happens occasionally. I feed only live, and just feed slightly smaller than what I would if I fed F/T. If she's used to being handled, it shouldn't be a big deal to take her out and look her over for injuries. Every now and again I have to handle a snake shortly after feeding for one reason or another and it's really no problem.

Hope that helps,
Shelly

It was probably from the rat. I see that a lot when I feed live. They are having their insides squeezed and that is a release for the blood of ruptured organs. When a rat bites a snake there will be little blood unless it is a large rat with big teeth and it gets a good deep bite, but that will be on the snake and tank not in the rats mouth. If your snake does get a wound just clean it the best you can and put neosporin on it. Put in a clean tub with moist paper towels so nothing can infect it. After a couple of days it should be ready to go back into a regular tub with bedding. I have seen a wound that would need stiches if it was one of us and this method took care of it to where it was hard to find the scar.

I'd just leave her be, and let her digest. They're pretty dang durable, and if she did take a tag or two, it'll be gone within a couple of sheds.

By the way, long time no talk stranger. Hit me up via PM sometime.

I would give her a quick one over like you did and check her again every week. If you start to notice any bites, dab with some triple antibiotic cream withOUT the added pain relief.

I agree with all others. The blood was most likely from the rat. I have had rats bleed from everywhere...have had their eyes pop out, their stomachs split open and organs hanging out, rats that have bitten themselves instead of the snake. I also suspect its easy for them to bite their own tongues in such a situation, and that can look pretty intense in their mouth.

It can be stressful to feed live, but sometimes it is necessary. Just keep tongs in hand, and feed small enough to make you comfy.

I agree with everyone else. That blood was probably the rats. Snakes dont bleed like warm blooded animals. If it was a large meal I would wait to mess with her because you dont want her to regurge. If she was able to ingest the rat then it probably wasnt too big. In most cases if its to big after the kill they will leave it because they know they cant ingest it. Some rats have more fight in them, not just bigger ones. And if you do end up with a bite Chlorhexidine solution is good stuff. You can get it from vets, or I got mine from reptile basics. Good luck

Yeah she looks totally fine again this morning. (I checked her to make sure she didn't regurge or have any swelling). I also took a peek in her mouth to make sure there were no bites there either. That rat was super-edgy and the fight felt like it took ages, I can't believe that she got away unscathed, but it looks like she did.

*whew*

Thanks everyone for the responses. I haven't been on the forums in ages, and after some big moves I'm down to just the one (very young) snake. It's been a good while since I've embarked on live-feeding adventures, too since up 'til now everything I've had for the past 2-3 years has been good with f/t. The live-feeding lessons I've learned are slowly coming back - good times.

Thx again