First Fresh Kill experience (WARNING - graphic detail) - Page 5

Linds · 08-25-03, 12:20 AM

I know that I've been bitten by mice more times than I care to count, and often it did break the skin. If it can break my skin I'm sure it can do a number on an eye or mouth. I've never *knock on wood* had any accidents so far from feeding live, nothing more than snakes getting scratched scales by their little feet. Hehehe... foul smelling marshmallows with little legs and whiskers

reptilesalonica · 08-25-03, 12:56 AM

I wouldn't leave ANY rodent unsupervised with my snakes.
Teared skin on snakes occurs when they left unsupervised from the owner and the snake don't grab them immediately.
I give alive only to my Hots and if i see that the snake won't grab the mouse in the next minute, i remove the mouse, and try again after 2 days.
Btw, i breed mice 1 & 1/2 years and never a mouse that were born in my place bite me or tried to do so.
Only the mice that i bought 1st time, to start with, were bitting on me.
I grab my mice from the tail and they are tame as it was a hamster or gerbil.
~Greg~

MouseKilla · 08-25-03, 07:00 AM

Live prey unsupevised is just unspeakably stupid. I would feel sorry for any animal whose keeper is that foolish. I've never been bitten by a mouse either but I have almost been bitten by the snakes a couple times when I didn't drop it in quickly enough. I had WC garter snakes when I was a kid that I fed goldfish. I liked to taunt them with the fish and let them catch them in mid-air. That was fun until the one I had that was short an eye for some reason (and appearently short some depth perception) missed the fish and took my finger instead. He had my right index in past the first knuckle and it freaked me out, and it freaked the snake too as I panicked and began flailing him around. Once I calmed down I got him off with no harm to either of us and learned a valuable lesson about teasing hungry snakes.

Linds · 08-25-03, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by reptilesalonica
I wouldn't leave ANY rodent unsupervised with my snakes.
Teared skin on snakes occurs when they left unsupervised from the owner and the snake don't grab them immediately.

I'm going to have to disagree. I have never experienced any tearing, but I have experienced superficial scratching, and it takes but a second... much faster than anyone can intercept. All to often they will constrict and tie the leg in with them or the second they constrict the rodent starts kicking, before you have a chance to grab the leg and keep it from kicking. I agree, rodents shouldn't be left unsupervised with any animal for any length of time not even a second, until they are good and dead.

I've been breeding the little stink bags for years now as well, and even though I pcik them up by the tails, sometimes the little hoppers still manage to curl around and bite.

Invictus · 08-25-03, 11:59 AM

There have been pictures posted on this very bulletin board of blood pythons killed by adult mice. I have also seen, in a pet store here in Calgary, an 8' BCI that was MANGLED by a Guinea Pig. I'm talking scars 6-8 inches long, and not superficial ones either. To say that the prey, be it mouse or rat or guinea pig, has no chance against its predator is foolish. They have a VERY good chance.

MouseKilla · 08-25-03, 12:34 PM

Seriously? A mouse???? I can believe the guinea pig thing those things have big teeth, I don't gamble with a rat any bigger than a fuzzy myself. I would like to know the circumstances surrounding a mouse killing any snake that's big enough to eat it. I'm trying to imagine it, I mean if it happened it then it happened but I would like to hear how. Seems to me there must have been something strange happening and some EXTREME negligence on the part of the keeper.

Linds · 08-25-03, 02:23 PM

The incident of the blood being killed by the mouse was due to a stupid human error. They left the mouse (against claims otherwise) in with the snake unattended... snake wasn't hungry, mouse was. Death by supervised live feeding is not very common, however even with supervision, injuries can happen.

MouseKilla · 08-25-03, 03:04 PM

Just as I suspected, sheer negligence. Still that blows my mind that a mouse (foul smelling marshmellow) could KILL any snake big enough to eat it. I've only ever had 1 injury to any of my snakes and I take full responsibility for it, in fact I felt very guilty about it. I had under-estimated the danger rats pose and fed a big one live to my clumsiest snake, a 5 ft eastern king who seems to just go blind with greed when he smells food. No ambush hunting for him, he just flies about with his mouth gaping open, snapping at anything and nothing. Well needless to say he only got enough of the rat at first to make it bite back, he had the rat by the tail as I recall and the rat took a chunk out of him. The king quickly regained the advantage and had a good meal in the end but I felt terrible about the injury. Since then I don't risk it with the rats but as I said I haven't seen anything in the hundreds of mice I've fed to my collection that made me think there was any simillar risk with them. That's a really strange story though and I guess I have to believe it happened even if it's hard to believe and even harder to believe someone would admit to allowing that to happen.

Invictus · 08-25-03, 08:05 PM

I'm not doubting for a second that there was negligence involved. But the fact is, the mouse still obviously stood a good chance against the blood, didn't it??

PoiSoNouS · 08-25-03, 08:18 PM

My first fresh killed was a very sad experience for me...
i killed it myself to give it to my first snake, wich was the only one I got back then...
The saddest thing is that the snake didnt took it.. feeling that i just killed a mouse for nothing made me feel SO BAD

MouseKilla · 08-25-03, 09:51 PM

Obviously the mouse found a way I just don't understand how. Maybe the snake actually died of natural causes, the keeper didn't notice, dropped the mouse in, left, and then returned to find the mouse chowing on the dead snake then mistakenly attributed the snakes death to the harmless mouse. Sound implausible to you? Yeah, me too. But so does the mouse killing it. I don't know, it all makes no sense. Ok wait, maybe the guy was so stupid he bonked the snake first then dropped in the live mouse. There we go that's what happened. Mystery solved.

reptilesalonica · 08-26-03, 05:15 PM

Quote:

I've been breeding the little stink bags for years now as well, and even though I pcik them up by the tails, sometimes the little hoppers still manage to curl around and bite.

To me, hoppers are the one that are more tame.
If i must be cautius by any mouse, this must be the male of a colony who protecting one of the females that have just drop a litter.
Males are protecting furiously their babies against anyone.
I respect that and on cases like these, i take what i want from the colony with tweezers.
'

Quote:

Death by supervised live feeding is not very common, however even with supervision, injuries can happen.

Yeap, since there's a prey and a predator interacting in the same scene, always you can smell the danger in the air.
Btw, my Ball is the best snake predator i ever have seen.
Many times when he strikes for the quail, he kill it with his body while his head is ready in an 'S" posture a few cms back, ready for a second strike, if he feels it needed.
He know what he does, takes his precautions

~Greg~

Lisa · 08-26-03, 06:00 PM

Mice bite hard. the can draw blood too. these little buggers can chew their way out of plastic enclosures when they can get a grip on things. tearing through skin is no problem for them. this is why when i'm handling them i use gloves so i can just reach in and grab away.

MouseKilla · 08-26-03, 06:53 PM

I grab them like a handful of potato chips, never had a problem myself and neither have any of my snakes. I don't use tongs or gloves and only use a hook to handle my one crazy snake. I find that you're more likely to be bitten if you are reluctant or allow yourself to be intimidated by an animal. That's my experience anyway, maybe you are just being cautious.

LdyDrgn · 08-26-03, 07:27 PM

I have also seen boas and Royals torn up by mice. Granted, they were probably left unattended, but mice CAN kill snakes if the snake isn't in the mood to eat.

Invictus: Rabbits are a lot harder to kill. My ex b/f used to whack them with a hammer, wait for the nerves to stop twitching, then we'd bag and freeze them. He never wanted to twist their necks because he is much stronger than he looks. Growing up on a farm in the middle of nowhere does that to you, LOL. Had he done the twisting thing, we would have a bunch of headless bunnies...hehehe Now I just order from RodentPro....