Handling after feeding

I always allow at least 48 hours for digestion but was curious what you all do when you find your snake has soiled their cage 24-30 hours after being fed.

Do you take them out and clean the cage or do you let them remain in the stink until the 48 hour window has past.

Not sure who wrote the 48 hour rule for holding snakes. The " Old Testament for Snakes" use to have the 24 hour rule. Not sure who wrote that one either but it aligns a lot closer to common sense. To your question, yes please clean the cage. I would clean a cage 48 minutes after a snake ate if it needed it. Even if it meant breaking one the Snake Commandments.

I personally would clean it. I also don't follow the 48 hour "rule" and typically stick to not handling the day after feeding.

Any time I get a regurgitation it's handling after feeding. But that's holding the snake and letting him crawl around in your hands and squirming around. I've handled right after a meal but only to pick him up gently and put him in another enclosure to clean up the mess, then put him back without holding more than a few seconds. With ball pythons it's easy, but with a large retic or a squirrely King snake it's harder to keep them still while moving them, with those guys I tend to just clean up around the snake.

This all took place before I started this thread. At that time I opted to risk it and clean the cage - that was 24 hours ago and no refuge yet. Am I safe??

Why would you have to handle your snake? If my snake "soils" soon after feeding, I just put a small box in his enclosure and try to herd him into it, then I take the box out and clean the enclosure.

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Some snakes can't be 'herded'. And especially if it's after they ate, they're in their warm hide, digesting and not wanting to be bothered; poking and prodding trying to get them into a box probably increases chances of a regurge. Sometimes you can't clean around them either. Some snakes (like mine), when they poop, they also soak the entire cage with piss..so you have to handle up.
I'm a little paranoid and don't want my baby sitting in his own waste, so I just scoop him up quickly, sit him in my bed and throw the cover ontop of him (so he doesn't have to move around looking for a place to hide) and clean as fast as I can.

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Originally Posted by PythonBabes

Some snakes can't be 'herded'. And especially if it's after they ate, they're in their warm hide, digesting and not wanting to be bothered. Sometimes you can't clean around them either. Some snakes (like mine), when they poop, they also soak the entire cage with piss..so you have to pick them up.
I'm a little paranoid and don't want my baby sitting in his own waste, so I just scoop him up quickly, sit him in my bed and throw the cover ontop of him (so he doesn't have to move around looking for a place to hide) and clean as fast as I can.

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Fair enough, my snake, for a BP, isn't really that timid, so after ~20h, he doesn't mind me messing around in his enclosure, and I can pick him up quickly or maybe herd him in a small box to take out. I see your point though, not every snake has the same personality.

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I have a Spotted Python that eats most reliably if I hand-feed while holding her. She laughs at the idea of never ever ever ever touching a snake for X hours/days after feeding. [emoji6]

Don’t make a big production out of it if you have to handle them soon after feeding, but brief calm gentle handling isn’t a problem, IMO.


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This thread is silly. :P Yes, clean his cage. No, don't play hopscotch with him. Basically, just use common sense. :gj: