First time Ball Python owner feeding tips.

Hi,

This is my first time owning a Ball Python and I would appreciate any feeding tips anyone has.

BUT, my main question is about using a feeding tank. Most books/care info suggest using a feeding tank but then they all say not to handle the BP after feeding for fear of regurgitation/other problems.

If I am suppose to feed the BP in a feeding tank, that means I have to move the snake. If it's suggested I leave the BP alone after feeding, how do I move the snake back to it's home/main tank? Also, is there any problems with this? Is the BP generally irritated with this move?

This site: http://www.pythonpassion.com/frequentlyaskedqa.htm is also giving me some contradictory information. It says to leave the BP in it's home cage and don't move it into feeding tank as it will get more irritated/is likely to bite. Super confusing.

Anyone help/comments are greatly appreciated.

- Jared

Most people do not move there snake into a feeding tank, and most people do say that tank aggression caused by feeding is a myth..

I have fed my ball in his tank for 2 years and he has never striked at me or tagged me or anybody who's handled him.

Some snakes are more defensive than others.


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I've used a feeding tub up till recently, but am switching to in-tank feeding to try and make it less stressful on the snake. I think the only worry you should have about food aggression is if the ONLY time you go in the tank is feeding time. If you regularly handle the snake, go in to check settings, ect. there's no reason for them to associate the tank opening with feeding time.

Don't use a separate feeding tank. Just feed in their cage. The whole idea of feeding outside was mostly applied to large snakes with large feeding responses like retics, burms, large boas. But that has been pretty much debunked now as most people have learned that after feeding a large snake doesn't just turn off, it can remain in feed mode for hours so try moving a 14ft retic who just ate a 5 lb rabbit from its feeding tub back into its home while its still in feed mode. As long as you open the cage and do other stuff other than feed only, your snake shouldn't get conditioned into thinking open cage=food. Plus ball pythons don't really get big enough to pose a life or death situation like retics, burms or large boas can.

I feed my 5ft+ red tail boa in her cage and have done so for 2 years and she is a sweetie. I take her out a lot as she loves the be handled. The only time she gets excited is when she actually smells a rat, then its game on. Same with my little BP, she is mellow till she smells a rat, then out pokes her head.

I use a feeding tub when feeding my 250g BP, only time hes struck at me was when i brought the mouse in the room with me not thinking and he smelled it, after he has it down i wait 10-15 min then gently put back in tank, he goes around and explores a bit then curls up in his warm hide, never had a regurge or anything. Everyone has there opinions on feeding, i do it this way to keep the mouse pee and crap out of his home, but i also do feed live right now, might change once i try to get him on F/T

I got my first ball python about a month and a half ago so I'm still a "newbie" so to speak, but I always feed her right in her enclosure. I keep her in a sterilite bin (I live in Colorado, where the climate is very very dry, so the glass tanks with mesh tops are out of the question). I feed her on Wednesdays, give her a day off on Thursday, and handle her daily Friday-Monday. She is super friendly, has never tried to strike at me, and she has only hissed at me once, when I think I just took her by surprise (again, no move to strike). I think people run into issues if the only time they have interaction with their snake is when they feed them - then, of course, the snake will associate opening the enclosure with feeding time. But as long as you do things in the cage on non feeding days (ie changing the water, handling the snake, etc), then most people have said that they have no issues with their snakes becoming mean. There are also concerns about the snake possibly digesting substrate and causing blockages, but that's not really an issue either - If the digestive juices in a snake's belly can break down bones, then I don't see a little bit of bedding being an issue. Plus, I know every snake is different, but my snake isn't one to drag the rat through the substrate. Because of the way she coils around it, the rat doesn't really come into contact with the substrate, and then by the time she gets it into her mouth she sort of lifts up, going into that "cobra stance" as she swallows. I just fed her today (yes, I know today is Tuesday, but I am having guests on Christmas who want to see her and I want to be able to handle her haha), and there were a few pieces of substrate on the rat by the time she swallowed, but I'm definitely not worried. In the wild, I'm sure their prey have MUCH more dirt, grass, etc on them than the rats we feed them at home ;).

If you feed F/T or freshly killed then it's definitely a no-brainer to feed in the same terrarium.

I feed live so I choose to feed my snakes in separate enclosures. Since all my snakes live in PVC enclosures, feeding them in different enclosures assures me that I can make sure that the BP makes a clean kill and isn't getting bit by the feeder rat. Additionally, rats defecate a whole lot when they run around. So if your snake doesn't make the kill right away, you now have rat feces and pee all over your terrarium. In regards to regurgitation, you want to wait about 10 minutes after they eat and then with both hand pick up the snake and put it back in it's home. I've been feeding 5 snakes in separate enclosures and never had one regurgitation. Also, I never had any of them bite me or even attempt to bite me when I'm transferring them to or from their feeding bin. The snakes know that once they're inside their feeding enclosures they're going to get fed and that's about it.

At the end of the day, find the best feeding method that works for you and your snake.

With a BP, either will really work but if you do feed live, then yeah I probably wouldn't do it in the cage as like said earlier, they poop and pee all over. Of course I don't advocate feeding live as if you have ever seen what a scared to death rat can do, you will cringe, especially a medium sized one. I just pre kill as its safer and in that case, there is no pee or poop. Now like I said, if you are talking about a big snake like a retic, burm or large boas like suri, Peruvian or Colombian girl, I would advise against a feeding tub as like I said, if a 8-14ft hungry snake grabs you, you can be in serious trouble. My 5ft red tail boa girl sometimes likes to "stretch" and will wrap around my arm and flex her muscles and oh man its strong and that's just her playing around and only being a 5ft baby. But with a BP, whatever works for you.

I feed live, feed in their own tubs................
There is no need or reason to move them to a feeding tank.

I tried feeding in a separate tub( also a newbie) and my ball python looked interested but would not accept the mouse. I have read on previous care sheets that ball pythons like to digest their food in a dark warm spot, which a separate bin did not provide. I put him in his cage, he accepted the mouse almost instantly. Just what worked for me, so I thought I'd share it


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