# feeding wild mice to my snake



## rett82 (Apr 19, 2009)

This might sound like a stupid question, but can you feed wild housemice to your pet snake? I have a mouse in my living room that i have seen a couple of times now, so i have just set a trap.
Can i take it out of the trap and give it to my bredli? or will it be carrying potential diseases for the snake? 
I saw a video footage of my husbands boss feeding a wild mouse to his lizard about 6 months ago which i thought might of bee a bit risky.
Thanks in Advance.


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## Stompsy (Apr 19, 2009)

I wouldn't. If you do and your snake gets sick, you'll really regret it. Better to be safe than sorry.


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## pythons73 (Apr 19, 2009)

Its not a stupid Question,their shouldnt be any harm feeding it to your Bredli,There was someone on here that caught quiet a few years ago,100 s and fed to his reptiles without any affect.If you have too then their shouldnt be any dramas..


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## DonnB (Apr 19, 2009)

You can always freeze them for a month or 2 to rid it from potential disease.


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## seumas12345 (Apr 19, 2009)

pythons73 said:


> Its not a stupid Question,their shouldnt be any harm feeding it to your Bredli,There was someone on here that caught quiet a few years ago,100 s and fed to his reptiles without any affect.If you have too then their shouldnt be any dramas..


 
Why would you even give that advice? There is no point in risking passing all sorts of nasties on to your snake for the sake of a few dollars... Snakes are so cheap to look after that if a person can't afford the few dollars a week (or $10-$20/week for a few snakes) then they shouldn't be keeping them at all....

Oh great, I've seen people car surfing on youtube and survived so it's ok to do... When I was younger I would do double the speed limit and never got caught so it's ok to do... I've heard of people do robberies and they got away so it's ok to steal...

My point being all of the above are stupid things which most normal people know not to do because of the risks, including feeding wild rats! Just because one person might have done it doesn't make it ok to do.


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## seumas12345 (Apr 19, 2009)

Moreliac said:


> You can always freeze them for a month or 2 to rid it from potential disease.


 
But why even risk it for the sake of $3 or $4 dollars a week? If someone is that poor then I question how they afforded the snake in the first place, and if they could even afford a freezer. Seems like they should be saving those pennies for something to eat! 

Anyway this pretty much covers the same points: http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/herp-help/wild-rats-103493


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## Sami66 (Apr 19, 2009)

I'm a very new snake owner and it is something I wouldn't do. Mice do carry diseases and will eat anything they can in the wild. I used to have pet rats and would have had no problems at all feeding them to my snake (if I had one then) as I knew what they actually ate. What if a mouse has eaten ratsak. Thats another consideration.


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## AM Pythons (Apr 19, 2009)

i wouldnt u cant tell what it has eaten, a friend found a nest of mice babys and tried to give them to me...no thanks.


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## Lewy (Apr 19, 2009)

tatt2tony said:


> i wouldnt u cant tell what it has eaten, .


 

That's it!!!! what if it had just had a gut full of ratsak???????????????


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## christo (Apr 19, 2009)

Lewy said:


> That's it!!!! what if it had just had a gut full of ratsak???????????????



That would be my concern as well. Mice chew on everything, you just don't know what is in their systems. Probably not worth the risk.


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## mrmikk (Apr 19, 2009)

Just buy some cap. raised mice for snake feed, it's not worth the risk.


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## Pineapplekitten (Apr 19, 2009)

ok, so what if you found a pile of wild mice babys a day old and gave them to your breeder rat to care for till they grew up. 

after worming them and freezing them would it be safe? i jus found some and have just put them with the mum to see if she'll care for em.


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## missllama (Apr 19, 2009)

no point in taking a chance for one lousey mouse
i wouldnt use wild mice or rats, they are filthy as anything better to just get ur rats n mice from a reputable breeder just incase


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## rett82 (Apr 19, 2009)

Thanks everyone for your great advice, i think i will throw the mouse in the bin or bury it.....if i even catch it!


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## rett82 (Apr 19, 2009)

seumas12345 said:


> But why even risk it for the sake of $3 or $4 dollars a week? If someone is that poor then I question how they afforded the snake in the first place, and if they could even afford a freezer. Seems like they should be saving those pennies for something to eat!


 
Settle down a bit will you. At what point did i mention that it was to save money?? Im sure if i couldnt afford the $12 per fortnight to feed him i could cut back on something to stop him from going hungry. 
If i was as poor as you seem to think i am i would turn the temp down and let him sleep for a few months...that would save the money.

I just thought it would be cool to give him a natural snack between feeds!! He's over 5 foot long now, 1 little mouse wont fill him up anyway.
Geez...you make me sound like a begger....cant even afford to buy a freezer!!.....i have a big freezer, and guess whats in it??.....some frozen medium rats.

And as for pythons 73, he was only offering his opinion, which i asked for and appreciate.


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## da_donkey (Apr 19, 2009)

juliedamian said:


> ok, so what if you found a pile of wild mice babys a day old and gave them to your breeder rat to care for till they grew up.
> 
> after worming them and freezing them would it be safe? i jus found some and have just put them with the mum to see if she'll care for em.


 
Why would you bother even trying all that, sounds like alot of work and still risking passing on any number of parisites.

just stick with the CB clean stuff and leave the wild ones for the wild snakes.

P.S i would get rid of your breeder rat now cause who knows what the wild mice have passed on to your rat. ( has the breeder eaten the wild ones yet) 

donks


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## Pineapplekitten (Apr 19, 2009)

nope she hasnt eaten any last time i checked she was feeding them. i have wormed the mum and which she would pass onto the babies. i thought it'd be ok since they are only a day old.

i did it cos the 2 breeder girls i have only breed every 3 or 4 months and have like 5 babies so i am getting rid of them anyway. one has stopped breeding alltogether. anyway thanks donks


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## pythons73 (Apr 19, 2009)

Hey seamus12345,they asked for advice and i gave a opinion.I didnt say YES feed it to your snake,did i.Everyone has a opinion,doesnt mean you have to follow it.I actually said that their was someone on here that caught a few hundred and fed to his reptiles without any dramas,DOESNT mean that i will...


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## daeman (Apr 19, 2009)

rodents themselves are actually very clean animals. its the parrasites that they carry wich are the problem. provided they were wormed, fed a good diet for a few days to a week and were somehow washed to ensure any mites fleas or other little hanger oners were killed. then there technically shouldnt be any problem.
is it worht the effort or risk? i guess thats another question.


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## christo (Apr 19, 2009)

In truth most domestic rats and mice would come into contact with wild ones frequently anyway (how many rat breeders could honestly say they have never had wild rats or mice in their house/shed). I know whenever I have bred rats and mice that wild mice have come in and taken a bit of the food. So long as the rats are frozen for a while to kill parasites (most of which wont be passed on to snakes anyway), there shouldn't be much of a problem. The issue is more to do with what the rodents have been eating IMO (too hard to control what wild mice have been eating).


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## seumas12345 (Apr 19, 2009)

rett82 said:


> Settle down a bit will you. At what point did i mention that it was to save money?? Im sure if i couldnt afford the $12 per fortnight to feed him i could cut back on something to stop him from going hungry.
> If i was as poor as you seem to think i am i would turn the temp down and let him sleep for a few months...that would save the money.
> 
> I just thought it would be cool to give him a natural snack between feeds!! He's over 5 foot long now, 1 little mouse wont fill him up anyway.
> ...


 
LOL settle down bambi! Few things you failed to see, 
a) the big  after the comment meaning I was having a laugh when typing it (meaning the whole saving pennies to eat and cant afford a freezer were exaggerated comments to give me something to chuckle about at 6:30 in the morning)
b) I said "*if someone is that poor*" and "*seems like they*" which doesn't point the finger at you. You only asked the question about feeding wild, you never stated that you actually fed wild... My comment was in no was directed at you, intead obviously a generalisation about people who feed wild to their snakes to save money... So you shouldn't be taking offence to any of it.

It still comes down to the fact that anyone who saw the  would know that I was making the point that it's not worth risking to save a few dollars and I was having a few creative laughs along with it... Just like I am now  (see the smiley faces...)


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## seumas12345 (Apr 19, 2009)

pythons73 said:


> Hey seamus12345,they asked for advice and i gave a opinion.I didnt say YES feed it to your snake,did i.Everyone has a opinion,doesnt mean you have to follow it.I actually said that their was someone on here that caught a few hundred and fed to his reptiles without any dramas,DOESNT mean that i will...


 
Are you kidding me? LOL

"Hey dude, stupid question but should I go carsurf?"
"Its not a stupid Question,their shouldnt be any harm carsurfing,There was someone on here that carsurfed quiet a few years ago,100 s of times and did it without any affect.If you have too then their shouldnt be any dramas.. ."

You're telling me that isn't telling someone that there is no problem doing it? Because that is your exact comment just in a different scenario... LOL


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## Emmalicious (Apr 19, 2009)

Stay on the safe side. Don't do it.


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## funcouple (Apr 19, 2009)

you can feed anything you like to your snake, its yours. but think of this before feeding anything that you find/catch. do you know what it has eaten? (may of just eaten poison), dose it have worms or any other narsties? (most rodent breeders worm and keep their rodents in clean tubs and feed quality healthy food). sorry to say this but if its because your trying to save money or dont have enough to buy safe rodents, sell your snake


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## zulu (Apr 19, 2009)

*re feeding*

I fed a wild mouse to a young diamonds years back,gave the snake a tape worm,then ivamec didnt work to rid it of tape worm,so i had to give it drontal,never again.


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## Cabotinage (Apr 19, 2009)

juliedamian said:


> ok, so what if you found a pile of wild mice babys a day old and gave them to your breeder rat to care for till they grew up.
> 
> after worming them and freezing them would it be safe? i jus found some and have just put them with the mum to see if she'll care for em.



or you can get them frozen with no hassel of worming them and all probably works out cheaper too


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## Pineapplekitten (Apr 19, 2009)

how can it work out cheaper, i found the mice... and already own all the wormer an mite sprays. and to some people some effort is no big deal. thanks for the advice


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## Hooglabah (Apr 19, 2009)

juliedamian said:


> ok, so what if you found a pile of wild mice babys a day old and gave them to your breeder rat to care for till they grew up.
> 
> after worming them and freezing them would it be safe? i jus found some and have just put them with the mum to see if she'll care for em.



lol if they are mice she will eat em rats love mice


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## Hooglabah (Apr 19, 2009)

its cheaper cuz you dont have to feed frozen mice or rats or clean thier cages


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## elapid66 (Apr 19, 2009)

whats the big deal just feed the thing what ever some people are just to fussy


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## Pineapplekitten (Apr 19, 2009)

she hasnt eaten them shes feeding them every time i check on em. what a good mum


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## Australis (Apr 19, 2009)

Moreliac said:


> You can always freeze them for a month or 2 to rid it from potential disease.



Like others mentioned, you cant freeze away rat sack.


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## pythons73 (Apr 19, 2009)

Australis said:


> Like others mentioned, you cant freeze away rat sack.


 So if you feed a rat with ratsack and it dies,you can freeze the rat and a few months later its suitable to feed to a reptile-[whatever] with nil affects...


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## Australis (Apr 19, 2009)

hmmm.


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## jordo (Apr 19, 2009)

I used to feed wild mice to my mac, they were always frozen for a few weeks first to kill parasites. IMO wild mice would be leaner and therefore more healthy for your snake than captive bred but you can never totally eliminate the risk of whether the rodent has eaten anything that may harm your snake, so it depends on the situation. I was very rural at the time so regarded it as pretty safe.
BTW - haven't read the thread and might not follow this up either so have fun


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## Lewy (Apr 19, 2009)

pythons73 said:


> So if you feed a rat with ratsack and it dies,you can freeze the rat and a few months later its suitable to feed to a reptile-[whatever] with nil affects...


 
Ok then ???????????







Australis said:


> hmmm.


 
Agree Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


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## Mitchell1995 (Apr 22, 2012)

A friend of mine has blue tongues. And when ever he finds snails he puts them in a container for a week with carrot and water. After that week he feeds them to his blue tongues. That way he knows they haven't eaten anything dangerous. I think you can do something like this, catch them feed them for a week so theres no bad stuff in them and then they should be ok. Sent using iPhone


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## Python-Lover4lyf (Apr 22, 2012)

Guys calm down lol she already said she's not gonna feedher beloved bredli the wild mouse on the very first page and it's still going. :facepalm:


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## Ramsayi (Apr 22, 2012)

Python-Lover4lyf said:


> Guys calm down lol she already said she's not gonna feedher beloved bredli the wild mouse on the very first page and it's still going. :facepalm:



Errrrrrrr it would pay to have a look at the post dates.


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## Python-Lover4lyf (Apr 22, 2012)

yeah i know ... lol just doing it for my own ammusement


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## cwebb (Apr 22, 2012)

My god you lot are like a bunch of 13 year old girls, stop bickering!


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## Python-Lover4lyf (Apr 22, 2012)

Haha ^ agreed *hoping you didn't mean me :shock:*


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## dragonlover1 (Apr 22, 2012)

DonnB said:


> You can always freeze them for a month or 2 to rid it from potential disease.



freezing mice doesn't get rid of disease,just freezes disease


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## Darlyn (Apr 22, 2012)

3 year old thread, I'm assuming that mouse is long gone.
Frozen or not.


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## Python-Lover4lyf (Apr 22, 2012)

hmmmm


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## dragonlover1 (Apr 22, 2012)

elapid66 said:


> whats the big deal just feed the thing what ever some people are just to fussy



you obviously don't care about your reptiles and shouldn't have any if you aren't prepared to do the best you can



pythons73 said:


> So if you feed a rat with ratsack and it dies,you can freeze the rat and a few months later its suitable to feed to a reptile-[whatever] with nil affects...



rubbish- poison lasts through freezing


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## boxhead1990 (Apr 25, 2012)

got a possum in my roof that wont be quiet you can have it if you catch it lol


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