i have a ball python and it is about 2 1/2' long and its been eating small rats for about 4 months so today i decided to get a medium rat. i did as i normaly did and put the rat in a box then put the snake in. the snake struck and the rat bit my snakes eye. im not to concerned consitering snakes hardy use their eyes, and its not bleeding, it just has some blood in it. the snake is acting normaly like it always does. but now i have a incapasitated rat. its squeeking and it cant walk, it is scooting around. but now the snake wont eat it and i think i should put the rat out of its misery.

Oh the trials and tribulations of the bull python.
A friend of mine had a VERY large bull python, basically had it own room in the basement (converted closet)

Problem was when it comes time to move NOBODY wants a huge snake.
Kill the rat, drown em.

ok. put the rat down. i couldent stand to see it rolling around like that. i threw it in the snakes chage incase it decides it wants to eat.

are you sure it was a ball python? they dont get all that big.

No I am not sure what kind it was I will ask him.
Sucker was about 9' long, very illegal from what I understand.
I know jack about snakes, other than his waas big and it stinks :)
He had a hell of a time finding a home for it, ended up a pet store owner got it...

Audio 1 First thing you need to do is grab mister rat and break his neck. Throw him in a bag in the freezer for the next feeding time. He is not going to eat.

P.s. You should read my registry in my sig and heed may advice.

The eye is definately a concern and i recommend getting to a vet. If the eyeball itself has not been punctured they can save the eye. If it is punctured the eye will not be able to be saved, but the vet will be able to prevent further infection, and provide a general antibiotic.

What to do now is get the rat out of the cage. Get the python out and place in a large rubbermaid tub while you clean and sanitize your cage. You really don't want an infection they are not fun. Put the snake back into a simple set up : water dish, newspaper on the floor, a hide if you have one that is non-porous. A clay flower pot with an enlarged hole in the bottom works well and is less than a dollar.

After your cage is clean go back to the python and give him a warm bath water around 80ish. He will be very shy about his injury, so you may want some protection, let him swim a bit and generally make sure his face is clean, but be gentle. For the injured areas give them a rinse with a light saline solution, or leave alone if you have an appt. tomorrow. The vet will likely provide a chlorhexidine or novalsan solution for you.

get it taken care of now and you won't have a problem

future feeedings should be with mice, and always try to get your animal to eat pre-kill for this reason. Rodents are available frozen at most pet stores. Often the Balls are finicky eaters, and will only take live, or fresh kill (break it's neck). It is safer and more humane for the mouse. I once saw a Reticulated Python eat a goat. Not pretty.
I feed all my breeders mice and they are 3 year old snakes one is 5

A bit on snakes vision.
It is often a myth that snakes do not see well. They actually have very acute short range vision.
Primarily they sense the presence of other creatures by it's movement causing vibration in the ground(very sensitive belly)
They identify this by the use of their tongue and the jacobsens gland.
Snake such as pit vipers and the family Boidae (basicly Boas and Pythons) Have the use of heat pits which sense the presence of heat, giving the snake a thermal readout. Similar to how The Predator sees in that eighties? movie.
The eyes are used to detect motion and define targeting ability for the snake.

Without vision they often thrash untill they hit their prey or scare it away. Kinda hard to handle to because they are often very shy on the side of the injury. Particularly with the more timid pythons such as the royal/ball.

But enough of my chatter. Go take care of your critter. If you need help ask, I'll watch the thread.

well i went to get the rat out and what do you know, he is eating it. so after he is done eating ill wait a while and clean the snake like you said and clean the cage as said then ill see how it looks tomaro morning

From the title, I thought the rat drank some coffee:)

That's a good sign if he decided to eat it. Such would indicate to me that the wounds severity may not be that bad. If you are lucky you will find that it was on the flesh surrounding the eye not the eye. Keep me posted.

yeah it doesnt seem to be the actual eye. i had him/her(not sure) out and i washed it with some saline and clen everything and i was looking at it and it isint really the eye, its more above the eye and the eye itself was moveing and looked good. its just a little red like a bruse or something. its kind of hard to tell though because its in the latter part of a shed. so ill keep a close eye on it and see what happens

Cool, just keep it clean. No more tears works well as a flush. Raise your cage humidity to the 50 to 60 percent range to eliminate the patchy sheds. I recently lost the eye in a Brazilian Rainbow Boa due to a low humidity environment and retained spectacles (eye shed) I tried so hard to save her eye, but I guess you can't save em all. Now we use very very long tongs to feed as she is near 7 foot. Very large for her species, and those teeth hurt.

yeah, the put store sells frozen rats and mice. how do you get a ball python to eat a frozen mouse. do i pop it in the microwave to heat it up or what? then drag it accross the bottem of the cage like it was walking around or what

DON'T USE THE MICROWAVE it is a very disgusting and messy experience.

If I am using frozen I usually just pull it to thaw a while before feeding time. You want to make sure it is very limp so as not tohave a frozen core still.

Now getting a Ball to eat frozen for the first few times can be a bit tricky. I like to heat the head of the mouse up with the basking bulb to give a good heat sinal, then just wiggle in front of the snake. Sometimes the snake will eat better at night, or in their hide. I usually suggest a fresh kill, because they know it's fresh. Kinda dramatic, but I usually grab the mouse by the tail, grab it's neck with the tongs and jerk sharply at a 90 degree angle. The mouse will then start it's death throes , this is when I ofer to the snake.

You may have to continue live for a while, but offer a dead to "train" the snake, they will usually eat it after catching and eating the live one if offered promptly. Just remember in the future to use average sized mice, and observe the mouse if it is live in the cage with the snake. It will be another year or two before your snake can eat a small rat easily, actually kill is more of a concern than the eat part.

I have treated several snakes with serious rodent damage. One Boa had to have 16 cm removed from his tail, and had a dozen other spots where his bone was showing. Surprisingly he fathered a clutch of little red-tails this year. and is doing great

thanks for all the help. i really appreashiate it. ill keep you informed on this situation

Any time, I am glad to share any knowledge I have learned over the years.

No infections are not fun. I inherited my brothers 8' Columbian Red Tail Boa. He has a bad mouth infection, I have to give him shots every 3 days for a couple weeks now.

Also have a rat living in a box that he wouldn't eat. I've been feeding it catfood to keep it alive until his mouth gets better.

Stomatitis (mouth infection) are a pain!!! If you are on an injection series I am sure you have seen the vet, But watch the areas around the teeth and the jacobsens gland. If you see any lumpy cottage cheese looking stuff starting to form in the sockets clean it out or have itcleaned out immediately.
I am not sure of what they are treating your boa with. Likely Baytril. If the above described stuff starts growing in the mouth sockets suggest to the vet a stronger antibiotic like Amakacin. Then again you said every three days for the injection, so it is probably one of the stronger drugs already.

On the rat, remember that whatever you feed to it you are in turn feeding to your snake. To get a good nutritional balance (your snake is depleted on vitamins after antibiotics) I suggest a diet more natural to a rodent. Seeds, grains, some dried fruits and veggies.

Hmm I just re read that post, and I take it you are feeding the snake cat food????? I have heard vet's recommend this in the past, but it is truly not a good idea. There is a ton of processed junk in commercial cat and dog foods.

While like us cats and dogs are somewhat tolerant to the ton of added salt and preservatives, they will kill a reptile over time. Also I have found that prolonged tube feeders often lose the feeding instinct altogether. They become accostomed to never having to work for that full feeling. A average adult snake in the wild only makes one to two kills per month. Also they can easily go several months without feeding with no ill effects. Mine are typically brumated for three months at a time without feed. For animals not being cycled for breeding we only feed every other week, and certain snakes often take themselves off of feed for a month or two with no ill effects.

He won't starve, and that mouth will heal up quickly. Snakes have amazing regenerative abilities, Which is also why they are held so very sacred to most ancient religions.

No, feeding the rat cat food, not the snake.

Yeah I went to the vet a couple days ago. They scraped his mouth out a lot, also gave me some flush stuff and some silver sulfadiazine to put on his gums.