Feed in cage or separate cage?

That's what I'm saying, and before you tell me I'm wrong I'll say that I've never had a regurge and they are both healthy.

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

So, are you saying you handle your Ball pythons 20 minutes after they eat?

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Anyone who feeds out of their housing is going to need to handle them some.
Handling a snake 20 minutes after it fed and putting it into it's enclosure will not cause regurge unless your doing a tango with the snake :snake:
That said, I try not to disturb after eating because I understand how I feel after a big meal :P

Same cage

I've read that it's best to feed out of cage simply so your snake will never confuse you with food, I have never fed out of cage and so far my hand has not been confused with food nor have I ever been bitten in general. So personal preference I guess.

I feed all of my snakes in their tanks. Only exception has been fussy baby corns that went into a paper bag inside their tanks. Never had any aggression issues or impaction issues. If the animal is properly hydrated they shouldnt have any problems passing small pieces of substrate such as aspen shavings. They have been eating in the wild for hundreds of years and seem to be doing pretty good.

I just got my first "real" bite and even that was pretty minor (baby corns don't count!)

I had cleaned my Normal BP's cage and noticed that she hadn't eaten one of the F/T, So I tossed the mouse in the garbage bag and finished cleaning. Then I went to my adult corn snakes cage, set the bag right outside his cage and like an idiot I reached in even though I knew he could smell the mouse and he was looking mighty interested in my hand. He tagged me and then quickly let go. I've owned reptiles for 10 years (snakes for 6), and this is my first bite, so I think feeding in cage is fine as long as you use your brain (obviously mine wasn't on). I have a friend that will only feed out of cage so I think it really depends on what your comfortable with and whether or not your snake will eat out of cage. :)

seperate cage teaches your snake that

1. your fingers are not prey
2. that when they recognize the scent of the second cage/box that its feeding time

Well i feed defrost and they know its feeding time coz a pre scent.

So handling a 4ft+ snake in feeding mode is a sure way to get nailed IMO. Even after they have eaten they will always take another one.

I would suggest you remove any items that could potentially get swallowed before you start to defrost / pre scent the room

I've had snakes for 8 years and have not been biten yet

jim

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Originally Posted by Tiny_loves_Roxanne

seperate cage teaches your snake that

1. your fingers are not prey
2. that when they recognize the scent of the second cage/box that its feeding time

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old school and untrue
Separate cage means possibly getting bit more often, as mentioned, many snakes will eat more than one prey item.

Mine know it's feeding time when I open and close the lids quickly or slide open and closed the drawer quickly.
They have learned to assume that if I leave the lid open it's not feeding time, just time for love :P

I'm a firm believer in feeding ball pythons in their own housing, and most hobbyist these days will agree :)

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Originally Posted by Tiny_loves_Roxanne

seperate cage teaches your snake that

1. your fingers are not prey
2. that when they recognize the scent of the second cage/box that its feeding time

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Funny, my BP has never bitten me. Not once. He also has never bit any of my children for that matter...strange seeing as our fingers look like food to him. My snake smells his rat and knows it's feeding time. I've never had him be confused bc the smell of the "other container" wasn't there. I don't see anything wrong with feeding in another container. I personally don't do it bc it seems to be more of a hassle than anything else. If this was a problem that BP's had (see your list) then everyone would be feeding in another enclosure. I do, however, have a routine for my snakes. When I'm getting them out of the cage, I move their hide and pick them up right away. When it's feeding day, I move the hide, move them over and let them explore a little. This has worked fine for my snake. He almost automatically starts looking for food.

I started a few months ago to take everything out of the cage, and put newspaper on top of the aspen. Put snake on top of the aspen, then drop the rat pup in. When she's done, I just slide the snake off the aspen, put the hides, waterdish back in and leave her alone for a couple of days. Works like a charm!

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Originally Posted by bivman

I started a few months ago to take everything out of the cage, and put newspaper on top of the aspen. Put snake on top of the aspen, then drop the rat pup in. When she's done, I just slide the snake off the aspen, put the hides, waterdish back in and leave her alone for a couple of days. Works like a charm!

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try that with a 2000 gram female that is hungry ;)

Simple as this: Aggressive feeders will always try to take a chunk out of your hand no matter where you put them when they eat. Fussy eaters are less likely to take food if they're moved prior to eating.

I really don't see the point to feeding in a separate enclosure; imho, it's a complete waste of time. Hook training is a much more effective solution for cage aggression that doesn't involve so much time and effort.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

try that with a 2000 gram female that is hungry ;)

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I laughed really hard at a friend of mine who was helping me feed, one day. He opened up the bin, and my biggest female popped right out at him. He jumped back and screamed, and threw the rat at her.
She caught it. :D

Gotta be same cage for me. My BP is very secretive and she already won't strike at tongs. I have to leave it for her and make sure there's super low stress.

She is a little cage aggressive but I think thats just her still trying to adjust to a new environment.

I feed my snakes in their enclosures. I used to feed outside and that caused my snakes to go off feed.

In their tubs nevwe a problem with impaction or aggression.

I used to feed all snakes (BP and Corns) in a separate box. After the very lengthy food strike my BP went into, I started feeding her in her tank and it has worked well. I still feed the corns in a separate box only because they are smaller and I worry about them eating the substrate.

same cage, feeding response is awesome... jus dont reach in there with the scent of the mouse on your hands... wash those bad boys :D

Same tank. I just defrost the food item, by which time the boa, corn and royal all are waiting because they know its there. Open the top, they all grab and constrict. I leave the room and turn the light off and come back about 30 mins later to find them all hidden away.

I always feed my big boy in a seperate enclosure(he is my first snake), but since I got a rack with 10 babies in it, I think I am going to start feeding in their tubs and in my big guys tank, I feel like it is a lot less stressful and a lot more convenient. Also, many people are right, ball pythons are pretty harmless, I'm pretty sure they will all be fine with me picking them up and knowing when its feeding time.

I feed in a seperate bin which started out because I had read that feeding in the viv could cause the snake to think you're going to feed it every time you open the viv. I now know better. It gives me a front row view though. My boa will be to big for my current tub, so I may just start feeding her in the viv....she takes forever anyway. I do have loose substrate in the vivs though, but I could use a plate or something to put the thawed mouse/rat on.

I do believe my boa knows it's feeding time though when I put her in that tub. She'll get "comfortable" then prop her head up on the side of the tub where I'm sitting and wait for the rat. My ball acts completely different.

I like the idea of feeding in a separate enclosure in theory.... and it always works great for my corn snakes.... but in reality I have found that many ball pythons are shy feeders and just eat more reliably if you feed them in their cage. My most reliable eaters do eat in separate enclosures, though, and my huge female actually eats her food in the shower, which makes clean-up really easy.

Same. In the habitat

I feed in the cage. Too many to take them all out for feeding. With the right bedding or newspaper you should never have problems.

The spider i always take out let him gobble his food down then move him back in. The normal i feed in her tank because thats what the previous owner did and she seems to be used to it. My pastel i have been trying to feed out of the tank but she only ate once for me since novemeber, well yesterday i got frustrated and figured id put it in her cage while i kept a close eye... it took a couple minutes but she finally ate so ill be doing that method for her.

I feed in the same cage, but that is just a personal preference!!:gj:

Feed in tubs and tanks. I found that when taking the snakes out and putting them into a separate container they seem to be more or less wondering what's going on versus trying to eat and more often than not were refusing meals.

I also feed in cage/tub. There's also an episode of Snakebitetv on the subject.

i voted in cage becasue thats what i have done for 15+ years and i have NEVER had a problem. see ya:)

I have one snake that I keep on display (my normal male bp, my very first and favorite :) ) and he stays in a tank, he feeds in a separate container because having to reach in to take him out I don't want to get mistaken for food. As for my other snakes in the rack, they all eat in their containers, with little to no issues. It's funny because my normal male who eats separately knows exactly what's going to happen when he gets put in his feeding cage, he watches me in the kitchen lol.

I feed my Ball Python in a seperate enclosure as well.

Our BP's are fed in their tubs. I finally moved Gene into a tub permanently. Before that, I fed him in the tub because I didn't feel comfortable feeding in the tank. It was difficult for me to control what happened. Now that he's in the tub, I see no reason to move him.

hmmm even though this question is two years old im new here and so is your question.haa
i feed mine in the enclosure like alot has mentioned already.
less stress on the snake being scooped up,takin to new bare enviroment,eat,get scooped again,put back home.my bp is super shy when it comes to eating.i have to leave the room or shell keep peeking at me after constricting her prey.she wasnt eating for the place i got her from but she never rejects anything i offer her here while in her enclosure.but the main thing is do whatever works for you and your snake.

I feed mine in my cage because I am lazy, and I'm not going to go to the trouble of shifting snakes around.

Works fine for me. The snakes eat well, and they don't try to eat my hands.

I did try feeding outside the cage with my one female who was cage aggressive at the time and it didn't stop her from striking. Using a cage hook to pick her up for a while was what changed her behavior.

I got a couple of tubs and a couple of display tanks, all eat in their own homes, and I've never had problems with my hand mistaken for food when its not feeding time. Except for once when I forgot to wash my hands and wait a while after cleaning my mice cage. I dont like to do it in a seperate area. first its unnecessary stress, and especially when you have shy snakes that dont eat well, it might throw them off. I like to let my snakes feed near their hide with half of them still inside. also it takes too much time to wait for them to finish eating and move them back. means you have to watch every single one eat.

Depends on the snake. If it is a shy/small/docile snake (bps, the dumeril's, or even the carpet), I'm good feeding them in the enclosure. Most of them are on larger aspen pieces (or in the case of my carpet, on mixed bark.. but usually hanging out waaaay up at the top in the 'trees' of the cage), and have little chance of swallowing any pieces while eating.

As for cage agression with the snakes that will eventually be bigger, like my coastal carpet, I only offer her food in her cage after the lights go out because 1) I will never really have any reason to get her out during the night to handle her and 2) she's too busy sleeping and ignoring food if I offer in the middle of the day.

We feed the two bigger burms in the bathtub for a couple reasons -
1) Their mouths are large enough to potentially swallow the loose bedding in their enclosures.

2) They're both so huffy and puffy about coming out of their cages anyway, but have never struck except while shedding, and I'd like to feel more confident that the "angry body twitches/spasms" are purely defensive "leave me alone" movements, and not going to turn into a "oh it's food time!" movements. When they go into the bathtub for food, their entire body language changes, and while yes, they might lunge or snap from the tub as well after feeding - I feel like I have much better range of motion and ability to avoid issue in a full bathroom, than while possibly wrestling a snake that is longer than I am tall, from or around it's enclosure.

I understand that they can still strike aggressively from their cage, but so far it has been avoidance techniques, and I never want to even slightly make that connection that aggression is a possibility within their enclosure.

3) It is so much easier to wash poop and blood from a bathtub.

4) The girl burm is the WORST snake about finding the head on her rats.. I don't know why she sucks at it.. but she does... and I find the easiest way to make feeding time not last 4 hours, is to hold the rat by the tail a foot directly above her head, so that when she grabs it, it's head is already in her mouth.. and she starts to swallow it.

I always feed separate that way I don't forget the rats in there for long and there not on risk of been bitten by the rats, I also see how my snake reacts diffrent once she goes on the feeding tub like in hunt mode.
The reason why I went to a feeding tub is because I got nipped 2 times by 2 different snakes but heyis all up to you

I feed all my snakes in there own tubs, I haven't seen any cage aggression in the years ive been feeding in the tubs.