i love him anyways, but jack, my 1.5y/o ghost corn just wouldnt cut it in the wild. I fed him what could have ammounted to his genetic equivelent in a rat today.... it was behind in developement or something, a little larger than a pup, but eyes werent openned...... nice candidate for a safe live feed.

so I give it to him and he goes to strike and misses, but manages to catch the rat in a coil and wraps it up. in the process he bites HIMSELF! . I was worried, but I didnt want to interfere and release a bitten rat into the cage so I let it go and jack eventually released himself when he figured it out. i hear a little pop, which im sure was teeth in skin..... but he didnt seem phased, and there was no scale damage at all. the whole time I was yelling at him (i know... hes deaf.... but I usually give him advice when hes eating since hes so bad at it....)

anyways, i thought I would just share this with all of you... me and my mentally challenged snake

I know that I sound like a broken record but I would not feed live. I wish I had taken pics of the wounds on our boa when we got her. She had been fed live and as big as she is (6 ft), strong and quick - she had 6 large wounds along her back and one on her nose. She still has scars that should eventually disappear with shedding.

did she get scars from live prey or her biting herself?

that live prey sounds fine to feed tho....adult or even jumper rats are another story. Lol that has happened a few times to me to various constricting snakes...normally younger ones still trying to achieve hunting perfection.

I often work with this forest cobra that I really think has a mental problem....does really strange things when fed and approached...very strange snake lol

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I was told she was bit by the live prey.

Most of the time, when a snake gets bitten by a rodent (mouse or rat), it is because they were left alone together without any supervision. Although I prefer to feed F/T, there are certain instances when live has to be fed, such as a snake that is refusing F/T for some reason but can't go without eating any longer. Feeding a live rat pup whose eyes aren't open yet is my first choice for any snake large enough to handle that size. Not only is the caloric intake higher, but in most cases, the feeding response is greater than with a mouse plus you have the increased safety of a prey item less likely to defend itself. As for the OP's snake missing the mark and biting itself, that happens, especially in an overly aggressive feeder or a snake that may be going into blue and they just can't see as well. I've also had male corns bite their mates during courtship and have yet to see any actual physical damage caused by these "love bites" or mistaken identity. Now my Cali king has bitten himself so aggressively due to his feeding response that there has been a small amount of blood drawn, but I can't really count him as he's just plain psychotic when it comes to food.

i wasnt overly concerned lol. just noticing that my snake seems to be a dummy hes quirky. he likes to watch me play guitar for some reason.... ill be playing and ill see him sticking his head out of the hide and putting his nose up to the glass lol.

but thanks for the replies. i actually always feed jack live rats, this rat was adult in size, just blind...... its eyelids didnt open all the way. but it otherwise was moving normally and looked healthy so I went with it. but regardless I always monitor the feedings until the rat is dead to avoid problems because as previously posted, most damage is done when the prey is left with the snake