Feed in tank or out?

[VicTheBrick]

Hi everyone, I am woundering should I feed my new baby ball python in or out of its tank? This is my first snake so I havent had any experience with snakes. Also what is the best way to go about handling them, should i just pick it up or put my hand near it and let it crawl on me?

[dragonboy4578]

I always fed in their enclosures. I have found that I have more refusals if I take them out and put them in another tub. As for handling I just pick them up with confidence and calmly.

[RobNJ]

Feeding in the tank is fine, feeding in a separate enclosure is fine as well. Whatever works best for your snake is what you should do. I've done both thousands of times with no issues. As far as handling, just picking it up is the way to go.

[Slim]

Hi, Welcome to The Forum.

Please take a look at these:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hlight=feeding

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hlight=feeding

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hlight=feeding

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hlight=feeding

The majority of ball pythons are not going to crawl onto your hand. You will need to pick it up.

Please also take a look at this:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

[Evenstar]

I always fed in their enclosures. I have found that I have more refusals if I take them out and put them in another tub. As for handling I just pick them up with confidence and calmly.

x2 on both counts. You don't want to put your hand anywhere near a hungry boa....

[snake lab]

Feeding in another enclosure is a method created by the pet products industry to get you to buy more products. No need to feed in a different enclosure. As far as handling. Everytime i open a bin and go in to grab a snake i go in quick. It keeps the bites to a minimum

[VicTheBrick]

Thanks alot everyone, you have all been very helpful.

[Gbusiness]

Hi everyone, I am woundering should I feed my new baby ball python in or out of its tank? This is my first snake so I havent had any experience with snakes. Also what is the best way to go about handling them, should i just pick it up or put my hand near it and let it crawl on me?

Feeding your bp in a seperate container is a topic that has mix opinion's. When I first started keeping snakes I alway's thought that your suppose to put them in a different container? It's not a bad thing to do (but, for me I don't do it anymore.). I also keep larger constrictor's and so it would be very time consuming and possibly dangerous for me to handle a large constrictor when in feeding mode.
I don't have any problem with feeding in the tub or handling my snakes in the same tub on non feeding day's. I have been striked at once at the beggining but never since.
One benefit in taking your bp out to a feeding tub , is that you won't have to worry about substrate getting caught in the mouth. You'll just have to do what you feel is comfortable to you.
As, far as handling your snake? You never want to come down at his/her head. Before, I try to pickup my normal's,retic or anacondas. I alway's gently touch a side of them mid point of there body give or take. Just to let them know I'm there. For, my retic and anacondas I use a snake hook to do that action. At this point thou I feel confident that I don't even need to use a hook. But, I want to make sure that they associate the hook as a non threating object, especially when they get much larger. They also say to rub the head with the hook but I don't like doing that. Rubbing on the head is suppose to snap them out of feeding mode. With a bp I don't think you'll need a snake hook.
You usually want to support a snake a few inches back from the head and a few inches before the tail.

[xFenrir]

You don't want to put your hand anywhere near a hungry boa....

x2 on this! My boa will always give me a clear "you know exactly what will happen when you put a body part in my tank" when she's not in the mood for human interaction. My BP, she's a little harder to read, simply because she reacts to every unexpected movement or action with "DEFEND!" posture while she figures things out.

What I do for feeding in tank is to place down some paper towels, then move your snake gently, calmly and confidently to the towels. Be sure not to smell like the prey, and avoid letting them see it or get a whiff of it, as it could start "feeding mode" and you put yourself at a higher risk of getting bitten unnecessarily. When you get your snake situated, offer your prey. You avoid substrate getting ingested this way. My girl has even started associating paper towels with food; when she sees them laid down, she'll poke her head out, then come sit on them and wait. When they're done eating they'll usually go back into their hide on their own, so you can remove the paper towels and you don't have to worry about handling a snake that's just eaten, and minimize the risks of regurgitating because of handling.

I can't do it with my boa though, the second she sees a rat or the feeding tongs it's open season on heat signatures, haha.

[VicTheBrick]

Feeding your bp in a seperate container is a topic that has mix opinion's. When I first started keeping snakes I alway's thought that your suppose to put them in a different container? It's not a bad thing to do (but, for me I don't do it anymore.). I also keep larger constrictor's and so it would be very time consuming and possibly dangerous for me to handle a large constrictor when in feeding mode.
I don't have any problem with feeding in the tub or handling my snakes in the same tub on non feeding day's. I have been striked at once at the beggining but never since.
One benefit in taking your bp out to a feeding tub , is that you won't have to worry about substrate getting caught in the mouth. You'll just have to do what you feel is comfortable to you.
As, far as handling your snake? You never want to come down at his/her head. Before, I try to pickup my normal's,retic or anacondas. I alway's gently touch a side of them mid point of there body give or take. Just to let them know I'm there. For, my retic and anacondas I use a snake hook to do that action. At this point thou I feel confident that I don't even need to use a hook. But, I want to make sure that they associate the hook as a non threating object, especially when they get much larger. They also say to rub the head with the hook but I don't like doing that. Rubbing on the head is suppose to snap them out of feeding mode. With a bp I don't think you'll need a snake hook.
You usually want to support a snake a few inches back from the head and a few inches before the tail.

The reason I ask if I should put my hand near it and let it crawl on me is because my snake has done this and I feel she is not as scared as if I would pick her up. She also tries to get out of the tank as soon as I take off the screen top, is this normal? I thought ball pythons where shy? Well she doesnt seem to be too scared of me and she doesnt spend alot of time in her hide. Im just wondering if this is normal because I read alot about ball pythons before I got mine and she doesnt really act like a normal baby ball python would act.