Feeding Questions

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Originally Posted by Gio

OK but there still is no NEED to feed out of the cage.

The only reason I could see would be cleaning purposes or substrate ingestion concerns. Cage "aggression" is simply a myth passed on by people who've heard stories from others that thought snakes could actually make sense out of dinner time cage opening VS going to a feed box. Hots and huge snakes don't give you seconnd chances in feeding mode. Therefore feedings in the cage are the way to go and you won't see people with large collections of bigger snakes or hots doing this.
It's your personal choice but other than the cleaning aspect the ideology of this is simply a myth.

Nice cage BTW.

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I've witnessed the exact opposite, it's just a caution to be on the safe side of not being bit. I'm not here for a debate just to lend my option to the person who asked the question. Thank you for the compliment though, could have had one more foot of floor space!


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Originally Posted by Gio

It is very easy to find this question answered here.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...31#post2288531

I think I've posted a number of times on this subject but now I'll simply refer you to the thread I posted in.

It is not a dumb question if you are new to this so don't take my lack of explanation here as my impression of your question.

Read the threads, and see what I've and other have said about it.

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Thanks for that link! i guess i just didnt look hard enough. Thanks as well for replying, the replies from this thread have helped alot and have got me even more excited about my new snake.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I feed all my gals in their cages. I got AP T10s and Pro Line cages. There is no advantage to feeding outside the cage, especially as the snake gets bigger. All you are doing is causing more stress to the snake and yourself. if you are worried about the snake eating substrate, just use a paper plate, piece of newspaper or cardboard. I personally just feed everyone on aspen except when they were babies. I then just used little paper plates or sheets of printer paper. Now as they are larger, i'm not worried about them eating a few pieces of aspen. Their stomachs can digest bone, I don't think a couple pieces of shredded aspen will hurt them.

If the snake makes a mess while feeding, I just wait until they done and a few hours later, I just spot clean the area and wipe it down with F10 and add new aspen to fill in the spot. By then the snakes don't care what I do as they are full and usually curled up inside their hide or curled up in the back corner under their shelves.

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thanks for the advice, i was planning on just using news paper as bedding (maybe) when she gets bigger for easy cleaning, but the paper plate idea will work great for now

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Originally Posted by yaboyyoungd1234567

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...eee00c4dd3.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...4ade51e388.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...72d0613814.jpg

This is a 6 foot adult male Red Tail Boa , here's the enclosure he was in and the box I put him in to feed and the jumbo rat. Lol I took him out placed him in the box. Fed him the rat, then let him sit for 20 Mins... As soon as his head was away from my hand I grabbed his tail and he jumped out of frenzy mode. Let me lift him up makin sure not to grab the rat in his stomach and place him back in his enclosure. I was told they're too big, they're gonna regurgitate, you're gonna get bit. Well I've never fed inside my enclosure till this day and haven't got bit when takin the right precaution. :)


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Thats hwat i have done so far with my other snakes, but i think im going to make the switch after all and just hook train her, and very cool cage! im torn between an animal plastics t13 and a20, the extra height like you have would be very cool

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Originally Posted by yaboyyoungd1234567

I've witnessed the exact opposite, it's just a caution to be on the safe side of not being bit. I'm not here for a debate just to lend my option to the person who asked the question. Thank you for the compliment though, could have had one more foot of floor space!


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Witnessed the opposite of what? (Not ripping on you BTW just curious)

If people think a snake can deduct/reason through why the door of a cage is opening I have say, they, snakes are not capable of making that distinction.

They may recognize a door is open due to air pressure changes and vibrations and the sensation of hook training at the time, which is using a cold, sterile device that doesn't resemble prey to tap them, but they have no idea why that door is open.

If you are opening the cage to feed, they will respond if the stimuli are in place. If you are opening the cage to place them in a box to feed, they are still going to feed so assuming they are politely waiting to be placed elsewhere without striking is a risk with certain species. They are NOT waiting for the feed box to strike, they just haven't been stimulated yet.

The majority of the boas and pythons we are talking about here primarily take into account certain smells, heat signatures, and prey like movements before they react in feeding mode. It is extremely easy to argue the fact that if your snake "associates" opening the cage door with feeding, then you'd never get it out to a feeding box in the first place, let alone handle it. Opening the door leads to food in either case whether it be in a box or right in the cage so the point is mute.


Doing any handling, cleaning or maintenance with the scent of prey in the air and using your warm hands to move and handle a snake dramatically increases the risk for a bite. That's where things go wrong. Not from opening the door.

Here is what the snake is responding to: Scent, Sight/Movement, vibrations and Heat. Reasons behind a snake striking the cage door may include; They are extremely hungry and reacted to your movement. They smell prey and reacted to your movement, plus or minus the previous. Or the previous two plus your heat signature. Lastly, they are fearful and defensive, which is a completely different type of bite.

There isn't anything to argue or debate as long as the point is understood. I'm not saying feeding in a box is wrong as there is some reasoning behind doing so. For instance, feeding two animals that share a cage and you want them separated. Or you have a nice cage and don't want rodent or prey blood all over the inside. Or you have substrate ingestion concerns and feel better if the animal is on a more sterile surface. Another is you feed live and want to do it in a very supervised setting.

With that said, feeding in the primary cage IS NOT the cause of any "cage aggression"! That is the myth that continually pops up here and there.

If you don't want to be the victim of a feeding response bite, don't underfeed your snake (don't over-feed either), don't smell like prey or have the scent of prey in the air near the cage or your handling area. Learn your animal and recognize the signs of it being very hungry. Wash your hands before handling. If you are going to reach into a cage that may contain a potentially hungry snake, use a sterile hook or device that never touches prey to wake the animal before sticking your nice, vascular, warm paw in there.


There are breeders with hundreds, some with thousands of animals in their collections and, no surprise, they feed in the cage, they have to. There are keepers of venomous animals that would never move them while in feeding mode to another area. As for some species like retics, (I have a young one plus 3 other snakes) they don't shut off their food response for a day or two in some cases. You can see where I'm going with that.


Like I said, if people/you have a system and like it, by all means use it, I'm just trying to break the "Necessity" myth that never seems to die.

And back to your cage, I think the boa looks fantastic up on the branch. Actually I love it.

Enjoy that nice enclosure!