Photos courtesy of Ravnos
I recommend that you do not feed live prey to your boas or pythons. Below are pictures of a boa that was bitten by a rat. Even if you watch your snake closely during feeding, a rat can still injure it. Some bites can be fatal. By the time you notice something happening, it may already be too late.
Snakes in the wild do kill prey, but captive snakes face very different conditions.
1. Wild snakes are not confined in close quarters with prey or forced to eat or defend themselves.
2. Most wild snakes die very young for many reasons. Nature does not play favorites. Sometimes the snake kills the prey; sometimes the prey kills the snake.
3. Live prey often carries parasites. Pre‑killed prey can as well, but freezing and thawing is the best way to avoid internal and external parasites.
4. It is more humane for BOTH animals to use frozen‑thawed prey. Rodents are God’s creatures too. A quick, controlled death is far more humane than a long, stressful struggle in a snake’s coils.
Here is a link to Boa‑Constrictor.com that shows additional rat bite photos:
News Page 4 | Stöckl – Die Nr. 1 Boa constrictor Seite im Internet
Photos courtesy of Ravnos
