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Substrate Ingestion?

W

WAS1

New member
Having several snakes I dont have time to take them all out of their vivs and feed them individually. So I feed them in the viv. The substrate I use in fine wood chips. It works great, but occasionally a snake will ingest a piece or 2 with a meal.
Could this be a problem? In the wild they must ingest all kinds of things with a meal.
Surely if they can digest skin and bone, the odd bit of wood chip wont be a problem?
Anyone had any bad experiences?
 
I've not had a bad experience but do know that it can and does happen, mainly impaction so the snake can't poop, and other problems depending on the substrate involved.
 
Also...

the substrate could get stuck around the snake's gums and cause mouth rot if not caught soon enough.
 
And, feeding in the viv can teach the snake that everything that comes into the viv is food, so strike at it right away.
 
i too feed mine in their vivariums, i feed them one at a time and watch closely if the mouse does have a bit of woodchip on it i carely and slowly pick it off with tweezers before it reaches their mouths. i have had mine now for years and not once have they accociated my hands with food, i never use my hands to feed them, i always use tweezers, but never have they struck at me coz they have thought it was food.having said that all snakes have differnt tempermants and attitudes, mine are just well-behaved luckily. lol

ingesting substrate though can be very serious, as peeps have already said, it can lead to impaction, mouth rot, etc. i never let mine ingest any at all.
good luck and hope this helps.
 
I feed all of mine in their tubs also. I usually use a paper towel, or something and put the mouse on. I haven't had any problems so far. I can also say that I have NEVER had my snakes mistake my hands for food when I am reaching in to pick them up, or doing any cleaning. Of course, I try to remember to wash my hands if I have handled any rodents before putting my hands in with them. (and I do handle my snakes at least 1 or 2 times a week...besides feeding time)

I just thought I would pass this info on that I got from one of the 3 biggest breeders of cornsnakes. This person said that all of their snakes are kept on aspen bedding and fed in their tubs, and in the 30 or so years that they have been keeping snakes they haven't had any problems. They also said, snakes in the wild don't have anyone to brush away the leaf litter and make sure that they don't ingest anything laying on the ground when they feed. Just something to think about.

This is just my opinion. When I was worried about impaction and such, this is what I was told by someone that I really trust. This is what works for me and I know that many of you disagree, and you all have a right to your own opinions.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!! :)
 
Well all I could say to that is that snakes in the wild most likely would not live as long as captive raised. Aside from predation, and disease, I'm sure an amount of them are lost to things like impaction. If I feed in the viv, I use paper, otherwise I feed in a seperate box. With all the things I could worry about with my babies, I want one less one. I would think if you take reasonable care to avoid large amounts of substrate ingestion, they would do fine. I just like not having to watch my snake all the time they're feeding. Just periodically check to see if they're finished so that I can return them to their viv. Personal preference I suppose.
 
Thanks for all your replies, I have tried putting the mouse on a paper towel.
More often than not the snake pulls it off though, so quite often its a waste of time. I have never had a problem with impaction, ot anything but I know it can and does happen.
I`ll just carry on the same way and be carefull.
I do know tho that keeping the mouse as dry as possible reduces things sticking to it while being eaten.
 
You could also try a spare water bowl with no water in as a feeding dish, 1 lad i know does this and quite sucsefully that 90% of the time the snake eats it in the spare bowl. I feed seperatly as my snakes are used to it (appart from the new one) but he will eat in a seperate container soon.
 
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