Ball python with nose chomped by the mouse he was eating.
Photo showing the top of the face of the same snake as above, showing hole through nose. When he came in, his whole nose was covered in a thick scab. He could not breath through his nose at all. You can see the above wound in the divot on his lip. Carefully soaked the scab until it slid off and he healed up very nicely.
On Feeding Rodents to Reptiles
Many people seem to think it is best to feed ‘natural’ or live prey to their snakes. The only problems with this are
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You have to keep the rodents, feed them, house them etc. Growing rodents for food is a full time job when your stock needs more than one size. Some want pinkies, some need large rats.
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The live rodents have the tendency to not want to be eaten so fight back. The pictures at the top of this page show 2 of our snakes that cane in with bites. The red tail was healing, but the poor ball python had huge scab on nose and could not eat for a while. It has taken him a while to realize that his food will not fight back now and as his nose healed up now takes his thawed rats just find. (he is a bit shy, wants privacy to eat)
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If the snake does not eat right away the chances of the rodent attacking them grows. So you either put rodent food in your snake cage or stand there and be sure they get eaten before they eat the snake.
Every snake that we have gotten that “will only eat live” has switched over to the frozen/thawed, usually without too much trouble. Getting the rodent a bit warmer than ‘normal’ (without cooking it) and using tongs to wiggle it around seems to do the trick. Many seem to prefer food that does not fight back.
So, we carry a wide variety of frozen rodents and will be happy to help you if you want help switching. Our ways are not the only ways, but they work for us.
The above photos show snakes we got in that were healing from rodent 'attacks' the red tail healed up but still has scars. The Ball Python, once the scab was carefully soaked off healed up nicely, you have to know what to look for to see the damage now. He was afraid of even the frozen rodents for awhile, but is now eating. (He does like to watch them for a bit to be sure that they are not moving thugh.)
Please see the 'Price list' page for full list of prices and sizes
