I was wondering...

The idea comes from Pavlov's dog experiment. In the experiment he would ring a bell and feed a dog, over and over every day he would ring this bell and feed the dogs. after a while he could just ring the bell and the dogs would start slobbering as if they were eating.

The idea that you animal will associate the cage opening with food also assumes that the only time you open the cage is to feed. If once every 10-15 times the tub or cage is open a food item is presented I don't think that's enough to imprint the animal with the association between the two..

If feed close to 100 snakes every week in their tubs.. Like Jo said..odds are some are going to take a swipe at you..

I feed my snake in my enclosure, and she has never struck at me (knock on wood). It's not the movement that gets your snake ready for food, its the smell. They aren't interested in eating us, only rodents. They only strike during feeding becuase they smell rodents. If you aren't feeding, and don't smell like a rodent, the strike is caused by something else.

I don't like the idea of moving my snake after she's eaten. She eats goes into her hide, and sleeps. That's what she likes, so i'm comfortable with it.

I also have about 40 that I feed all in their enclosures. I never get mistaken for food or have them try to strike at me on non-feeding days. My personal experience - I've seen NO evidence that feeding them in their enclosure will make them more likely to strike.

The same argument can be made for feeding in a separate enclosure. If the snake becomes conditioned to being fed every time it's moved to a different enclosure, it's more likely to strike at you in anticipation of food when you put it in the feeding tub.

I like feeding in the enclosure, because it's less stressful to the animal from being moved.