How long does it take to digest a mouse?

Answer 1

It depends what has eaten the mouse.

If a venomous snake eats a mouse, it first of all catches it by biting it and injecting it with venom. Besides killing th mouse the venom actually starts to digest the mouse from the inside. This is important because the snake is a cold blooded animal and if the mouse takes too long to digest in the snake it may go bad inside the snake before it is digested.

After eating, snakes become dormant while the process of digestion takes place. Being cold-blooded (ectothermic), the surrounding temperature plays a large role in a snake's digestion. 30 degrees Celsius is the ideal temperature for snakes to digest their food. The digestive process is highly efficient, with the snake's digestive enzymes and venom dissolving and absorbing everything but the prey's hair and claws, which are excreted along with waste. The time it takes for this digestion to complete depens on the external temperature and the size of the mouse but you are looking at a period of 5 to 6 days.

If a cat eats the mouse then as a cat is warm blooded and very active and the mouse will be digested in about 6 hours.

If an owl eats a mouse then the owl will spit out the fur and bones as a pellet in about 3 hours.

Answer 2

It can take as short as an hour for a mouse to digest it's meal, depending on what it's meal consisted of. Mice have a very high metabolism, so they require a fast digestion & high nutrient intake.