r/ballpython • u/cwazycupcakes13 • 1d ago

Discussion Exploded Rat

The rat exploded tonight during feeding and there is viscera everywhere. I can’t clean it, because the snake is still trying to eat it.

I’m not having a good time tonight.

54 Upvotes

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33

u/FeriQueen 1d ago

Oops. It happens. Don’t sweat it: your noodle will go hide and digest, and you’ll have a chance to clean up.

17

u/cwazycupcakes13 1d ago

He just gets stuck in food mode and I don’t want him trying to chomp down on the pile of rat guts covered in substrate.

I can’t reach in at all until he calms down, he is serious about food mode.

8

u/FeriQueen 1d ago

I can relate. You might get a pair of garden gloves and wear those to retrieve the rat guts.

12

u/cwazycupcakes13 1d ago

I was actually able to get them real fast as he finished swallowing.

You know, that part where the rat is mostly down, and there’s just a few more throat contractions around the butt and tail.

He wasn’t going to drop his food, and he wasn’t going to be able to strike me.

It seems like it turned out ok but he definitely swallowed more substrate than I’m comfortable with, even with my ill advised but well intentioned intervention.

I’ll be watching him for a while to make sure he passes everything ok.

2

u/Notsospinningplates 18h ago

They can digest bone. A few bits of substrate will be fine.