I nearly died in fright!

[Euphoric]

If this doesn't make you want to cry, your not a true chin lover!

So I constantly have to balance my life between reptiles and small mammals.
Well it has never been a problem. I have two hamsters, two chins, and six geckos.

But I also have snakes. The worst part is I have to feed LIVE! But I never been a mouse/rat fan. I have two baby snakes, but I had a large 3 1/2 foot ball python.

Well, I keep my snakes in locked, very secure cages because I always fear they are going to get out and lost. I laugh about having hamsters and snakes, but never feared anything.

Well, Friday night I came home and to my horror, my ball python was in the cage with my chinchillas.
He was in the middle ledge hanging off, and the chins where far away as possible.

I had put the lid on crooked, and he got out. He is too small to ever eat the chinchillas, but I was worried he may have struck them.

Thank god he didnt. I guess he just like the metal bars and ledges.

I burst out crying after I took the snake out. I promptly gave him to a friend.

The chins are ok (As well as my hamsters), I think they were more confused than afraid (This snake is not aggressive, he is even afraid of his meals. I have to almost force feed him so I doubt he did anything aggressive)

I still have my baby snakes and I am not sure what to do. I love all my animals. But this def taught me to be way more careful

I do not want snake bashing, because they are animals too and it is not their fault. I know it was mine, but trust me it will be my last.

Here are the chins.

 

[AngelBaby]

Omg I would have had a heart attack! glad everyone is ok.

 

[InkedupTara]

I am glad all are ok!!! I know some have chins and snakes, maybe the snakes should be in a diff spare room if you have one? You can get door gaurds to put on the bottom so the door shuts and nothing can get under them too.

How very scarey for you and I am glad you learned a lesson and that it wasnt at the cost of one of your chins. Thanks for sharing your story. Maybe others will be more diligent in the care of diff species too after reading this.

 

[aznmexaggie]

That is very scary - your chinnies are lucky they weren't bit. Snakes are the ultimate escape artists. Perhaps you can keep the snakes in a separate room. Since the snakes require heat to metabolize their food, I would find it hard to make it cool and comfortable for the chinchillas and warm enough for the snakes at the same time.

One thing that gets me is you said that you have to feed live to your snakes. What kind of snakes do you have other than the ball python? I worked for 4 years at a petstore and we were able to convert every colubrid we got in over to pre-killed thawed frozen mice as well as the boids (although they were a little bit more stubborn with the switch, especially the adult ball pythons). If you have young ones, it shouldn't be too difficult to switch them over. It is much more humane than feeding live and much safer for the snake as well... as snakes can often get injured very badly once they are up to adult mice and rat-sized prey. You can't be mad at the snake for relying on its instincts to search for a warmblooded animal though - you're just lucky it was a ball python and not an adult burmese!

 

[Chinniechantel]

I almost had a heart attack reading this. Holy cow, glad everything worked out the way it did, how scary! I am sorry you had to go through that, and the chins!

 

[Euphoric]

I live in a studio, so I can't separate. My snakes are in my large walk in closet (Its like another room almost) and my chins in the main room however, but there is no door.
And my snakes and geckos use heat pads, not lamps, that only affects the temp of the cage not the room. So yes, once they get out however they are subject to a cool apartment.

I have an Albino Nelson Milksnake (6in) and a Albino Striped Kingsnake. (12in)
I refuse to feed frozen because of bacteria (Sorry I worked in a biotechnology lab, I know too much about bacteria) and because I fed a frozen that had been killed sick and still sold and my Emerald Tree boa (For those who don't know, these snakes are expensive. I paid $550 for this snake) died from it despite regurgitating and vet care. It is not safe (Just like freeze dried or frozen bloodworms and other fish food sold at stores) and neither of then will take fresh killed (Feeders you buy that the store kills for you, Yes I tried and not only did it not work it cost $6 more per kill! Ridiculous!)

I am not worried about injury, my ball python ate medium rats with no injury, and I had an adult red tail (7ft and pretty thick) and he hate jumbo rats with ease (Which is scary though, because the red tail could eat a chinchilla with ease) They just need to be good eaters and supervision. And I agree sometimes it makes me feel bad and I hate it, but it is nature. How humane is nature?

But yes, I am much more aware. I am in the process of now buying special cages that are more safer than the standard locked cages. They dont have lids but doors that are magnetized (So you can't leave it cracked nor can the snake push it open) has a lock and latches. I would recommend other snake/chin owners to do the same

 

[Sandi]

How scary! Happy none of the chins were hurt!

 

[mishellyshel]

oh thank God that had a happy ending! you obviously learned from this and are taking precautions against it happening again. your chins are adorable! and while i am not a huge fan of snakes, I am sure they are pretty cool and you love them too!

 

[Euphoric]

Thanks

Oh, btw the chins are now living together. The introduction was easy and painless.
Valentine (The white one) was super spoiled and my baby. So he was aggressive and wanted dominance, but Casanova was pretty complaint (Besides a few fights)

 

[eroomlorac]

I have two snakes and chins, too. I have a corn snake and a Sinaloan milk snake. Neither of the snakes can eat a chin. I doubt your snake struck at your chins as they rarely will try to eat something that is too big for them to get down. But I don't know how big your snake is. I have locking tops for the snakes. You turn a latch that hooks to the underpart of the rim that goes around the top of the aquarium. Just be sure to always lock the tops of the snake tanks and I'm sure all will be fine. You just have to be careful and conscientious when tending ANY of your animals.

 

[Euphoric]

I have two snakes and chins, too. I have a corn snake and a Sinaloan milk snake. Neither of the snakes can eat a chin. I doubt your snake struck at your chins as they rarely will try to eat something that is too big for them to get down. But I don't know how big your snake is. I have locking tops for the snakes. You turn a latch that hooks to the underpart of the rim that goes around the top of the aquarium. Just be sure to always lock the tops of the snake tanks and I'm sure all will be fine. You just have to be careful and conscientious when tending ANY of your animals.

I listed all that info...
The ball python was 3 1/2 feet. So yes, too small to eat the chins but still sizable.
2nd he was in the cage you described. But I didn't fully lock (Only partial) and somehow he got out (I don't know how, he is so thick) and it went on crooked.

 

[3CsMommy]

My BPs and Corns are upstairs (here) in my office; the chins are in the living room. But that said, since BPs hunt mostly by smell, he would sort of have to be taught that a thing that smelled like a chin is food if you've been feeding him rats and mice all along.

Do you have any documentation about the bacteria levels in/on frozen feeder rodents and their affect on the predator? I order humanely pre-killed frozen from Rodentpro because I feel it's far better for how I'm keeping these snakes than feeding live, but I want to see/hear all sides of the argument.

 

[Jenn]

I am very happy to hear that nothing bad happened to the snake or any of your other animals while Mr. Snake was on the loose. Could have been a much darker story. But this had a happy ending. Yay! I lost a bird once when I didn't have the cage door fully closed and the bird got out through a small opening. Just a dumb oversight on my part but I lost my parakeet to one of my cats. We sure don't mean for mistakes to happen but they do sometimes happen. I'm just happy that yours didn't end tragically!

 

[IslandDreamer322]

WoW! What a scare... I can not even imagine what must have been going through your head. Thank goodness everyone is ok!!

 

[aznmexaggie]

My comment about the pre-killed frozen was made because I had customers at the pet store lose their snakes due to injuries from large or jumbo rats fighting back before being killed. I know how expensive snakes can be, and for those customers that have large and rare snake collections, it can be devastating to lose a $2000 snake just because the prey fought back and happened to bite in just the right spot or in just the right way.

Did you contact the company that you purchased the frozen rats from? With the lab results that you got (I'm assuming you had cultures done to claim that it was due to the thawed rats) and necropsy results for your snake, you should be able to take legal action. A reputable company that sells frozen feeders tests the rodents before killing and freezing. Deaths from frozen feeder animals are more often due to the prey not being thoroughly thawed or due to thawing and sitting at room temperature too long prior to feeding, encouraging bacteria to grow. Emeralds are expensive and if an error on the company's part caused your snake to die, I would definitely let the company know.

 

[addictedtochins]

The chins are adorable, care to share pics of all the rest incl. the big snake? How did it get into the chin cage? Was the snake bitten by the chins? My ferrets sure would.

 

[chinniecrew]

I can just imagine the heart attack! I was cleaning cages once and thought I had closed the door to the chin room. I was using a cat carrier which was on the floor and had put Dunkin in there. Imagine my shock when, while on my knees, I happen to glance over and notice one of my cats inside the carrier with the chin!!!! I almost had a stroke! Luckily, the cat was just watching the chin, and Dunkin was acting like nothing was wrong. I got the cat out of there immediately. Now I make sure the door clicks shut when I go in the room!

 

[alli713]

oh wow, how disturbing..

This is the first I've heard of issues with frozen. At the aquarium I worked at I helped care for the Amazon tree boa. Who was wild caught (not my choice obviously) and we were able to wean him off live onto frozen. In fact, all the snakes at the aquarium were fed frozen with no issues. Interesting discussion either way.

 

[lauralynne]

Oh my! I bet that was the scare of a lifetime. No snake bashing - but I'd prefer cute and fuzzy over slithery any day! I guess if you're going to have both, you just have to be double diligent that NO ONE is escaping. Glad everyone is a-ok!

 

[starleomach]

accidents do happen, than goodness they were ok. No one here has any right to bash for a mistake. We have all had chinchillas escape, which can end just as badly as a snake escaping. that is the risk with animals especially caged ones accidents occur. Thank goodness this accident didn't end tragically