feeding question

well my bp has been off food for 3 weeks.i from shed and a refusal.i fed him yesterday put him in his feeding tub and after a half hour of him in strike position he didnt want it.so i put him back in his tank killed the rat and layed it on his hide.i have done this before but he never ate it.well this time he did eat it.this is the first time he ate in his tank and was wondering about tank aggression.im also wondering if i should just start prekilling and laying the rat on his hide from now on.what does everyone think?

I always feed, and always have fed, my snakes in their cages. I have never had a problem with aggression associated with feeding. As far as feeding prekilled rats instead of live, why not? It is easy to do and less to worry about when compared to feeding live rats.

I would attempt to feed him a frozen/thawed just to see if he would take it. Unless you are breeding your own rats, feeding F/T would be cheaper and more convenient for you.

John

if u dont mind me asking how old are your snakes that you feed in tank??and have you allways fed in tank?

I have always fed my snakes in their tank or tub, and I HIGHLY suggest you do so with your ball python.
Your causing stress before and after their feeding and risking a possible regurgitation that is just not needed. There really isn't any good reason to move him from his enclosure to eat.

Ball pythons prefer to prowl and not to be moved to a completely different and new area is not going to make him want to eat. It's stressful.

My current snakes are 500 grams and up, all ball pythons, but I have been feeding them since they were babies in their cages. Also, I have done the same thing with red tailed boas, Brazilian rainbow boas, rosy boas, and kingsnakes. All without any problems with aggression. I have only had one snake that was aggressive, and it didn't matter what day of the week or where she was, she was always aggressive.

John

I feed in my enclosures, never have aggresion issues... I have bp's from 3 months old to 3 years old...

i feed in tanks also ive never had any behaviour other than when i open there cage they might poke there head outa there hide box now to see if i have a rat , but dont just randomly strike assuming i do so the whole tub feeding is nonsense (JUST IMO)
dont flame me if your a tubber