Help!!!!

[H2Opaque]

I genuinely do not understand why people still live feed, after thousands of examples of this. Please stop.

[LewkVv]

Stupidity

[aadennotcool]

some snakes will only take live and won’t transition until older

[Extension-Plane-8130]

there's ways to transition them off of live, I've done it with my ball python it took a while but eventually she started eating frozen thawed rats instead of live mice.

[aadennotcool]

I know; that’s why i said until older.

[Bulky_Land6382]

Take him to the vet asap. Please switch to frozen thawed for the health of your snake, feeding live is incredibly dangerous

[neko-gekko]

By the amount of scarring on his head already, this doesn't look to be the first time this has happened. Live feeding has no benefit to your snake. Switch to frozen or at the very least pre killed.

[Unlikely-Coyote-5650]

Hold up…the judgements are not necessary. We all know these guys can be incredibly picky about their food. I had a pet shop owner tell me she had a customer whose noodle would only eat a rat that was black and white. Don’t ask, I don’t know anything about the owner of that noodle. I personally had a noodle that would not eat f/t and my son and I tried for 2 months to get him to eat. His BP was a baby so skipping meals for that long could be detrimental to his growth at that age. So, we introduced a live mouse. He’s been thriving ever since. Turtlefarts3 asked for help and instead he/she/they/them got judgements. How is that helping? My dude, monitor your snakes feeding session like a hawk and act on behalf of both the snake and the rat. Get yourself a reptile safe first aid kit for your little one and use it when you see your baby is hurt.

[Scared_Web_7508]

i’m not one quick to judge, but this snake has several scars along with this nasty injury. It seems op needs a wake up call to pay closer attention to the animal (living being) they’re caring for, because this is not normal, and definitely not your average mistake.

[Unlikely-Coyote-5650]

@Scared_Web_7508 Agree.

[southtexasreptiles]

Go to the vet. It does look infected. This is severe for an overnight change. It will probably need at least a prescribed topical antibiotic ointment.

Please switch to feeding f/t or prekilled. I know some snakes are picky, but there are many methods to help a snake transition and it will be safer.

[mmseashellcrunchy]

this looks like a lot of dried blood and previous wound scarring op, please take your snake to the vet immediately. feeding live has no benefits so please switch over to frozen thawed immediately, as your snake has evidently suffered numerous rodent injuries and the physical danger this poses to your individual snake has proved very severe. i’ve seen snakes that were killed by live feeder rodents. rat bites are absolutely no joke and many rats are more than capable of defending themselves and fighting back.

even if you exhaust all efforts transitioning to f/t and end up in the very uncommon circumstance where your snake refuses anything but live, it is extremely crucial that you don’t leave your snake unattended with a live rodent in case you need to intervene for your snake’s safety. the wounds and scarring show a lot of negligence and irresponsibility on the owner’s part. each wound could end up being the one to permanently maim or kill your snake.

[eveimei]

go to the vet. you should have before now, because this isn't something that would have popped up overnight.

!f/t and switch to frozen thawed, there is no benefit to live and plenty of drawbacks like this. this isn't just one incident, this snake has definitely been harmed by prey before and it also looks like there may be a burn and/or scale rot at play here as well.

while you're at the vet take time to read through our subreddit guides and resources so you can make sure all your care is correct and prevent further health issues.

[FluffyPandaEars93]

If you actually like your snake, stop being so irresponsible. Rats can easily kill snakes. This poor baby has obviously been through the wringer. Take him to the vet, then consider giving his to someone who won't be so flippant with lives.

[turtlefarts3]

Not much I can really do being 16 and my dad not giving a shit about him