Post feed cleaning?

I feed live and it seems that every week i have a problem with the rat poop getting on my snakes. As soon as the rats go in they start pooping everywhere. I use to feed in a different container (cardboard box) when i had just 1 snake and just threw the box away after. But now i have 3 and its easier/faster to feed in their own container but sometimes they end up covered in rat crap and smear it everywhere. This last feeding day was the worst. Two of my snakes ended up covered in it and got it on the sides of the container and all over the newspaper and their hides. I dont want to bother them after a meal but i had to clean their whole container including the snakes. Is there any way to clean without disturbing them or should i just leave them like that until the next day?

A quick wipe down shouldn't disturb them too much. Just don't handle them or mess with them more than you absolutely have to. A quick spot clean of poop and wiping the poop off the snakes shouldn't be too much of an issue for them - obviously, if they start showing signs of stress, leave them alone, but I'm sure they'll be fine.

-Jen

You are making me very glad my snakes take F/T with no issues.
Really, you can't blame the rat either, I'd need new pants too if I was half a foot from a hungry animal that could swallow me whole and was looking at me like a juicy rib-eye.

Up until recently I fed in a separate tub and, have not had a single regurgitation from picking the snake up and placing them back in their enclosure. So, it is worth a quick clean to prevent the chemical burns and infection risk feces poses to your animals. Because mine don't mind minimal handling right after feeding doesn't mean yours may not have issues with it, all you can do is try it.

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Originally Posted by Raven01

You are making me very glad my snakes take F/T with no issues.
Really, you can't blame the rat either, I'd need new pants too if I was half a foot from a hungry animal that could swallow me whole and was looking at me like a juicy rib-eye.

Up until recently I fed in a separate tub and, have not had a single regurgitation from picking the snake up and placing them back in their enclosure. So, it is worth a quick clean to prevent the chemical burns and infection risk feces poses to your animals. Because mine don't mind minimal handling right after feeding doesn't mean yours may not have issues with it, all you can do is try it.

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Yea when i fed in a seperate container my snake never threw up or seemed stressed or stopped eating. Ive never believed in cage aggression from feeding. I fed in a seperate box because i didnt want rat poop/pee or blood in the snake tub.