Me (bp.net learned) vs. My boyfriend (Petco learned)

I love snakes. You love snakes. Your boyfriend sounds like a goof and works at lame Petco. You should be single and wander my way!:-)

-Texas

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Originally Posted by Willowy

As for feeding them in/out of the enclosure, let's be logical: if you take them out of the tank to feed, every time you take them out they think there's a possibility they'll be fed. So they get into a feeding state of mind. If you always feed them in their enclosure, they know that being out of the tank means no food is happening. Even if they think they're going to be fed when you first open the tank, once they're out they shouldn't be in a feeding state of mind. So even if feeding in the enclosure made them more likely to strike when you open the tank (and I don't think it does), you know to expect it and be careful getting them out, and once they're out they're LESS likely to strike. Well, anyway, that's my theory of little snakey brains :P.

And, no, why would they eat coco coir on purpose? That doesn't make any sense. Some lizards will eat just anything but snakes are pretty well stuck on small critters.

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If you take them out to feed they'll think there's a possibility they'll be fed? LOL. I actually hope you were just kidding. Feeding in the enclosure is simply about saving time and it's much easier then having to relocate, also you're not handling a snake after it's eaten so no risk of regurgitating. There is no difference between feeding in the tank or moving to feed elsewhere, it's simply a matter of preference.

I just wanted to point out actual facts instead of assumptions that you posted.

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Originally Posted by Coluber42

Your snake can tell the difference between your hand and a rodent, and it can smell when there's food around and when there isn't. A snake might still strike defensively, but if so it isn't because you were feeding it in its enclosure. If it actually worked like that, no one would answer your question, because we would all be too bandaged up to type. :cool:

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Tell that to our baby woma pythons. They taste first and ask questions later. Different snakes have different feeding responses. A picky eater may fall in line with what you say but some will try eating anything at least ten times. For those snakes you just have to find ways to let them know you are not food before engaging.

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Originally Posted by enginee837

Tell that to our baby woma pythons. They taste first and ask questions later. Different snakes have different feeding responses. A picky eater may fall in line with what you say but some will try eating anything at least ten times. For those snakes you just have to find ways to let them know you are not food before engaging.

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Aim plays a big part in this too. I've hand fed some really really aggressive feeders that will strike at tongs, but when it's laying flat on my hand they gently eat off of it. I'm not saying it's not possible to get bit like that, but I've never had it happen, at least not with the boas, colubrids of pythons that I've owned. I would never try that with a GTP though, or really any large snake that could do some serious damage.

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Originally Posted by enginee837

Tell that to our baby woma pythons. They taste first and ask questions later. Different snakes have different feeding responses. A picky eater may fall in line with what you say but some will try eating anything at least ten times. For those snakes you just have to find ways to let them know you are not food before engaging.

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Can confirm. I think it was someone on this forum (or maybe somewhere else) awhile ago whose boa constrictor ate its entire repti-carpet, just because it had some leftover scent of rat on it. LOL. It regurgitated it later.

Different snakes have different methods of examining "what is food" too. Green Tree Pythons mainly track heat and movement, less than scent. Anything that's warm and moves at night is possible food in their book. Ball pythons seem to rely heavily on scent and then heat.

Anyway, kind of off-track from the topic...

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Can confirm. I think it was someone on this forum (or maybe somewhere else) awhile ago whose boa constrictor ate its entire repti-carpet, just because it had some leftover scent of rat on it. LOL. It regurgitated it later.

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Oh man, find that thread. I must of been on my hiatus when that happened.

Want to see me hand feeding one of my aggressive eaters a couple of years back? I thought for sure I was going to get bit.

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Originally Posted by Neal

Oh man, find that thread. I must of been on my hiatus when that happened.

Want to see me hand feeding one of my aggressive eaters a couple of years back? I thought for sure I was going to get bit.

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LOL I wish I could, but it was honestly so long ago and I'm not even sure if it was on this site or somewhere else, since I've browsed a lot of snake communities.

That sounds like fun! :O (I'll stick to my hemostats)

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

LOL I wish I could, but it was honestly so long ago and I'm not even sure if it was on this site or somewhere else, since I've browsed a lot of snake communities.

That sounds like fun! :O (I'll stick to my hemostats)

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I think the beginning of the video with me talking got cut off because when you hit the record button they have a slight delay. I started off saying: Different arguments of why you don't hand feed a ball python. Now granted this guy was one of my most aggressive eaters so I literally thought I was going to get bit. I would never of tried that with the girl below him because she's launched out of her tub a few times when I scented the room. Also that's another thing the room was scented, meaning I took a hair dryer and heated the food up to make the room smell like rodents to get them into feeding mode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruck_MW1pbk

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Originally Posted by Neal

If you take them out to feed they'll think there's a possibility they'll be fed? LOL. I actually hope you were just kidding. Feeding in the enclosure is simply about saving time and it's much easier then having to relocate, also you're not handling a snake after it's eaten so no risk of regurgitating. There is no difference between feeding in the tank or moving to feed elsewhere, it's simply a matter of preference.

I just wanted to point out actual facts instead of assumptions that you posted.

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If, say, every other time you take them out of the tank they get fed, I can only assume they'll start to make pattern associations. But I've never known a snake whose owners chose to take them out of the enclosure for feeding so I will defer to those with experience. It just makes no sense to me.

Keepers with a large collection feed in the enclosure for convenience.

Keepers who have giant snakes such as reticulated pythons, burmese pythons, or anacondas, feed in the enclosure to avoid ER visits.

Keepers who have venomous snakes feed in the enclosure to avoid trips to the ER or morgue.

For the OP: I have a few adult retics that are anywhere from 12-14 feet long and weigh in at 40-65 pounds. Your boyfriend and his boss are more than welcome to come to my place, pull any one of them out of the enclosure to feed it, and then put it back afterward. I just get all rights to the video footage because it's going on Youtube.