Ohhh... poop

[happysmile88]

I just fed my ball python a nice appropriately sized live rat (she's not a fan of frozen or pre-killed). Problem is, she bit the butt end and thankfully, she wasn't bitten by the rat. When she squeezed the rat, poop just came squirting out and pretty much covered half of her face.

Should I clean her face immediately? Is rat feces going to harm my ball python in any way, when it's smeared all over her face?

 

[Aviara]

If you can do so without disrupting her or risking a regurgitation, you can clean it off. Most of the ball pythons I've owned and worked with are pretty head-shy, so you need to be careful. I don't see it being extremely harmful if you can't get it cleaned off unless there is an open wound on her face. Rat feces isn't the most sanitary thing in the world but it's also not that dangerous in that situation.

 

[The Snark]

No sure if this is helpful. I asked around at the snake farm and the best response to this was a grin and a shrug. Quite literally, they are of the mind 'oop: happens' and they completely ignore it. None of their 60 or so pythons seem to have developed any problems with feces contact.

 

[lancej]

Unless your snake is already sick, it will be just fine. When you have no hands and arms and eat animals whole, getting poop on you is just a fact of life (lets not forget about all the poop that is swallowed). Wild animals don't have the weak immune systems that we do.

 

[Najakeeper]

You can wipe his face gently with moist paper towels.

The snake will be just fine but I don't think the rat will survive, sorry for your loss...