Immune systems

Question
I have a red tail boa that is about 8 months old. I sometimes injected live mice with mineral oil to help bowel movements. What is the probabality of getting infection from a mouse bite and should I sometimes or everytime inject the mice with the oil. Please respond and thank you.

Steven


Answer
Steven,
   I have heard of this before, but personally, have never found it necessary. Assuming that you get your mouse from a pet store, the likely hood is no greater than you or me getting a paper cut, then being exposed to the environment. I would not inject the mice with oil but most importantly, I would stop feeding live. If your snake demands it, whack the mouse over the corner of a counter while holding by the tail to kill it, then immediately feed it to the snake.