Quick: For those who feed inside enclosure

I was thinking of trying to feed by ball inside the enclosure so I dont have to worry about moving him. Do I need to move any hides or anything or will he be ok? Just wondering since the mouse might run into one or something..

I will usually take everything out of the tub, give the snake more room to get in position and effectively strike/swallow. Plus it gets my snakes in the habit than when everything comes out it's feeding time :D

When I feed , (always inside the snakes tub)I leave all the hides in. Ball Pythons are ambush preadators so they will use their hide to sit and wait for the prey to pass. Plus you want the snake to feel as comfortable as possible when feeding. Don't worry if the mouse goes into the hide...the snake will find it!

I don't remove anything.

I guess it will depends on how furnished your enclosure is and whether or not there would be spaces for the mouse to hide.

Right now its only furnished with 2 hides, a log in the middle and a rock water dish.

Just worried about him getting hurt. Worried mommy :D

Thanks for such quick responses BTW!

I guess it kind of depends. For the most part, I would suggest not to move anything. Pre-scent the room and that will get the snake ready to pounce...then just drop the rodent in and watch. That's what I do with my big girl.

My new little guy, however...his water-bowl-hide takes up most of the floorspace in his little tub and when I dropped the mouse in, he refused to come out, even after pre-scenting. I lift the bowl off of him and then he slammed the mouse.

Easy answer...start with the simplest solution...which is to feed in their own enclosures without moving anything....see if that works. If it doesn't...you might want to consider lifting a hide or moving some cage decor that seems to be in the way. But give the simple way a chance first.

monk makes a good point

As does JLC :D

Alrighty.. ill try that! Today is actually the day so I gotta go get my mouse :-) Thanks a bunch!

I keep everything in, although i feed f/t. I just heat it up and drop it in his tank, if hes already out he will catch it before it hits the ground which is pretty cool to watch. If not then by the time i drop it a few seconds later he will come out and take it.