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Another reason to not feed live

B

bullfrog100000

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The frickin' rat bites you!!!!!!! OUCH!!!!!
Right by the nail so it bleeds really good.

Anybody else been bit by a rat, or am I just lucky?
 
Biting rodents get dead fast...even if they weren't intended to be feeders. (played hell on the stock levels at the shop, lol...but it reminds me of a fun story. ask me about it in chat sometime)

If they bite, and run...you have no option but to smash them, so they don't get away :dgrin:
 
HH... you will recall in the thread where I couldn't get my BP to eat that it refused the same rat twice. (By the way, it ate once in the rack :) ) OK, well... it was kinda cute, and we figured it "earned it's right to live" since the snake didn't want it. We were going to let it go but our neighbor wondered if it would survive in the wild... since it had been fed by humans, and only by me introduced to a predator, which it wasn't afraid of. Ok... so she decided she needed to find it a home... fine. Then she went on military AT for 2 weeks. Who do you think is babysitting the same rat???? ME! That is the rat who bit me. So I can't very well feed it to my snake, it's too big now anyway.
Weird thing is we pick it up some and are in it's cage feeding, cleaning, etc... so why now??
See... it all started cuz I got a snake that doesn't eat F/T!!
Ask me if I'll get another snake that doesn't eat F/T.
 
Yes, I do recall that...but I didn't say anything about feeding it to your snake, lol - - I just said that biting rodents get dead fast. It's reflexive, I really can't prevent it. Well, occasionally I can...but only once or twice. Then SMASH
 
Rats are nasty. I have been bitten by mice but the rats always draw blood.
I have one live feeder left and I really wish she would take f/t.
Not only do I need to worry about a bite but the damn noise they make when grabbed drives me nuts!
 
Wow. I raise my own rats and the only time I ever have biting issues is with a couple of my moms is when they are deep into pregnancy or when they are nursing pinks/fuzzys. Otherwise they are pretty intelligent sociable critters.

Biting/aggression is a trait that passes down. I have had my own rat colony for about 3 years now and I have culled out the biters long ago. One thing that really helps is interacting with them every day or two starting when their eyes first open. You do that and they trust you and accept you as one of their own. I know everyone dont have time to do that, but I got a 12 year old youngin who really helps me with that aspect.

We have had many pet rats over the last couple of years. 2 were so sociable and wanted human attention so bad that they would regularly escape their cage and come find you where ever you were in the house and want picked up and played with. My favorite girl, Cookie, on countless occasions I would awake in the middle of the night to find her sitting on my chest staring at me. I actually cried when that rat passed away.
 
I have been bitten a few times expecially when I used to breed them. The best one recently was quite funny. I had this little female who was beyond cute, that even I couldnt feed her. So I started handling her even before she was weaned and getting her used to me as I had done with my first "pet" female Scarface(terrible name for a gril I know lol, but she was awesome, all white with black eyes and a black line on her face). Well I brought her with me one day to my friends house who also breeds rats to show her off. I opened the box and she lept out and latched on to my hand(she jumped like almost a foot lol). Needless to say she is "no longer with us" and has moved on to the land of Retic. Then there was the adult female that latched on and took an instinctive ride into the wall as I pulled my hand away quickly and then into the land of Granite burmese lol. I have said for many years that reptiles are the least dangerous part of owning reptiles. I always get bit by food, or cut by caging or trip on hooks and such. Its quite funny. Dan M.
 
shrap said:
Wow. I raise my own rats and the only time I ever have biting issues is with a couple of my moms is when they are deep into pregnancy or when they are nursing pinks/fuzzys. Otherwise they are pretty intelligent sociable critters.

Biting/aggression is a trait that passes down. I have had my own rat colony for about 3 years now and I have culled out the biters long ago. One thing that really helps is interacting with them every day or two starting when their eyes first open. You do that and they trust you and accept you as one of their own. I know everyone dont have time to do that, but I got a 12 year old youngin who really helps me with that aspect.

We have had many pet rats over the last couple of years. 2 were so sociable and wanted human attention so bad that they would regularly escape their cage and come find you where ever you were in the house and want picked up and played with. My favorite girl, Cookie, on countless occasions I would awake in the middle of the night to find her sitting on my chest staring at me. I actually cried when that rat passed away.
Click to expand...

I didnt really read your last post before I posted but my rat scarface was like that. She used to sit with me on the couch and watch tv, comes outside and play in the lawn, or just chill around the house with me. She would play with my dog...which freaked my dog out lol, and was always so sweet. She would sit on my shoulders for hours while I did house work or cleaned my car out...whatever. She never once went to the bathroom on me or on the floor, and wouldnt touch your food unless you offered it to her. She was awesome and I was soooo upset when she died. I have long tried to find one like her again, but have yet to be able to. Unfortunately I never bred her, should have to pass on that lineage. She was one of a kind. Its sad to bond with the food animals, but it happens every once in a while. Dan M.
 
My problem is I can too easily "bond" with an animal. I just don't like cute fuzzy things dying in my presence, or because I put it in the snake cage. If I just bring it home, pop it in the cage and it gets grabbed... fine. But once I have to take care of it and see it's personality and how cute it rearranges it's bedding, etc then I feel bad about "killing" it.
Seems like rat bites are a common occurance, good, I don't feel so bad now. LOL. I bet a rat could do some damage to a snake if the snake didn't eat it right away, etc.
 
Way back when I first got into reptiles I said there is no way I can kill an animal. HA! Now I have killed mice, rats, guinea pigs, gerbils, Rabbits, Chickens, Pigeons, doves ect. No pigs yet, but if need be I'd probably do it. I find its best to bring it home knowing what its for and not thinking about it as a pet. Obliviously take care of it, the better the feeder the better your animal will be, but dont spend any unneccesary time around it. Also I go for really ugly rats, like the all white ones with the red eyes, I hate those and its easy for me to feed them. Also think about which life you value more...your snake or the rat and if the answer is the rats then keep rats and get rid of the snake. I am able to keep both without a problem and many that I kept originally as pets have gone to the chopping block. I absolutely hate the hassle of frozen which is why I chose live or p/k depending on the snake. All my animals are great eaters and I bet some would switch to f/t but I dont want them to. Also on the subject of leaving a rat in with a snake dont do it!!! I mean I leave crawlers/almost weanlings and such in with my 07 rocks, but those dont bite so its fine....plus the rocks eat with no issues at all (one is quirky but even she is eating good now). Once a rat has been weaned it poses a threat to a snake and they have been known to kill snakes in the past, so be careful. Obliviously under supervision its not as much risk, if the snake doenst want it take it out, or if the rat tries to bite the snake you can take it out and p/k it. Dan M.
 
We have had many pet rats over the last couple of years. 2 were so sociable and wanted human attention so bad that they would regularly escape their cage and come find you where ever you were in the house and want picked up and played with. My favorite girl, Cookie, on countless occasions I would awake in the middle of the night to find her sitting on my chest staring at me. I actually cried when that rat passed away.
Click to expand...

My hairless rat, Fuzzy, was JUST like that! I would be sleeping and wake up to her nesting in my hair! One time I left a roll of papertowels on top of the desk/counter thing (where we kept her cage)... she got out and unravelled ALL of the papertowels and stuffed them in her cage! She was soo proud of herself; you could tell! LOL

She also LOVED my dog! I got rid of all my rats when she died. Man I miss her!

12-7-2005-072.jpg


gonzo.jpg
 
Love the pics.. I know this Rat does amaze me. I put a flat totally folded small(sandwich size bag in his cage one night because we hadn't gotten him a proper cage yet and he was in the bottom of and old kitty litter tub w some screen on top and wholes punched in it. He would get it soo wet every night (since we also didn't yet have a proper water bottle) dumping and burying his water dish that I thought well I'll just throw this flat bag on top of everything so he has a place to get up thats dry . I came back in about an hour, and found the coolest thing! He had taken that very flat folded bag, and and made himself this super cool house. It was a perfect cylindrical shape about 4" across and 3" deep/tall, w/ a doorway /walkway he also had made from the still attached paper! He also had a rear entrance w/ Little walls coming out from it for his walkway.. I was so impressed. What an amazing creature!
 
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