feed in tank or another tank/tub?

I dont need to argue about that just go read the book link a posted last and you will learn that they are domesticated and lots of info about that on the internet if you could just try to look for yourself

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Originally Posted by catboulet

I dont need to argue about that just go read the book link a posted last and you will learn that they are domesticated and lots of info about that on the internet if you could just try to look for yourself

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I did read the bit of the book you linked. It says that "they may only be in the early stages of the process, but it is certainly under way."

So once again, I don't think that just because they have been selectively bred for 20 years they can be considered domesticated.

there is just no point to this, what ever you think or what I think it`s never gonna be the same and this is starting to be ridiculous this post was about feeding in the tank or other containers I post what I was doing and works great for me and my snake and if you feed yours in there tank that`s fine too everybody do it there way any way there always two side on a coin!

I haven't read all the posts (I stopped after the debate about being domesticated or not) but back to the OP.

I have 3 balls, we are feeding them today for the first time. We have had our normal for 2 weeks with no luck on eating. We offered her in her enclosure with no luck a week ago. The other 2 we just got this past weekend. We are undecided about where to feed. We had a redtail boa about 4 or 5 years ago that was about 4 months old when we got her. She was very sweet and docile, we could handle her anytime we wanted, a great eater, never missed a meal. We fed her in her enclosure, after about the 4th time, every single time your hand went in her cage, she would strike. Not a scared strike, but a food mode and she drew blood more then once. It got to the point where you could not change her water without being bit to the point of blood. We fed her once a week on the same day, changed her water once a day and handled her about 4-5x a week.

I truly believe that feeding in her enclosure caused her to act like this. Maybe it's a boa thing, I don't know but I don't want to feed our balls in their enclosure. I hear all the arguments for it, I understand them and they make perfect sense to me. But given my past experience, I do not want to take the chance of my balls being aggressive. Maybe I'm crazy and some would call me wrong for thinking like this but given what I went through with my last snake, can you blame me?

this last post is very convincing any opinions? Any past experiences similar?

Alright Im convinced that its pretty much a personal preference...arguements for both methods make sense...Now if u go the feed out of tank route, how do you go about putting them back in the vivarium. Just pick em up? I would think they would still be in a hint mode and the risk for a bite would be elevated. with my corns i gently turn the bin and let them slide back in there cage from no more than a inch from the substrate

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

I feed all of my ball pythons in their own enclosures. I do not see any reason to stress them out by moving them to another enclosure, or increase my chances getting bit by handling them while they are in feed mode.

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Ditto
Plus if I moved every snake feeding day would take all day. I use a spray bottle to keep things throttled back a bit with aggressive feeders. a quick squirt when they look too eager usually makes them think twice. Its also great for keeping humidity up:gj:

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Originally Posted by bdc873

this last post is very convincing any opinions? Any past experiences similar?

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I feed my ball in her tank every time and she's never struck at me since I started(or ever). She actually would not eat in a separate enclosure and I know it was a stress thing because as soon as I changed her living setup and started feeding in tank she started hammering down food and has put on a bunch of weight.

There are a TON of people who feed in tank with no issues, in my experience and from other people too, BPs know what is food and what isn't especially if you make sure to feed with hemostats. The way I feed mine is I just "zombie dance" a mouse by the tail in front of the door to her hide, she hits it like a freight train from inside her hide and never even sees my hand. When I handle her I always take the hide off first, then I slowly put my hand in and touch her back down at the fat part of her(not near the head) so she know's I'm there. Then I just scoop her up and let her crawl all over me.

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Originally Posted by Bluebead

Ditto
Plus if I moved every snake feeding day would take all day. I use a spray bottle to keep things throttled back a bit with aggressive feeders. a quick squirt when they look too eager usually makes them think twice. Its also great for keeping humidity up:gj:

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i agree completely....i've owned a ball python and boa for just over a year now.....for the first few months, i actually did move them to a separate tub (because I was using these forums as a major resource for information) I had read a bunch of comments on this site about how if you fed them in their cages, they would become more aggressive or something when you reached your hand in to clean, etc.

But, i actually found the opposite to be true, particularly with my Boa. Everytime I moved him to the separate tub to feed, after feeding him, he would be so psyched up from feeding, that he'd be even more aggressive and snappy to the point where I got bit more moving them, rather than keeping them in their own cages. in fact, the only times i've ever been bit is before and after moving them into a separate tub for feeding.

so now (and for the past 8 months), I feed them in their own cages and do not move them, and i have had zero problems and my boa has even calmed down during feeds. my ball python has never missed a chance at eating and also has never, ever thought about biting me. my boa, will always look up when i open his cage, and might possibly snap out if i put my hand in, but like "Bluebead" says, just spray them a little with some water to calm them and back them down, and that works great to be honest.

during the time in between feeding, if i spray the boa to back him down, once i actually have picked him up, he is totally fine and calm. the only times he was ever stressed was when i was "bothering him" by moving him from cage to tub during feeding, which he sure let me know about by striking me. LOL

I would definatey recommend feeding in the same cage! :gj:

I personally feed in the animals enclosure, I have animals that live singular, and as long as there is no impaction issue I have never seen the need to separate the animal from it's enclosure..
This includes all different boids (including common boas and ball pythons), colubrids, "condas" etc.
I also feed frozen/thawed, no need for the live vs F/T debate, It's just what works for me after 12+ years experience.
Just thought I'd add in to the debate. I guess what works for me may not work for the next guy...
Rusty

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Originally Posted by catboulet

\ i do believe in 1 thing in the end.. its a matter of personal preference

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I am not saying your way is right or wrong, but your reasoning is. It shouldn't be your personal preference it should be what is best/safest/heathiest for your snake.

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Originally Posted by catboulet

snake in the wild are different from in our houses.. even in what you say, its is not domestic behavior.. my ball pythons don't twirl into a ball when i go get them

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the reason they don't twirl up into a ball is because after constantly being handled they eventually realize that being in a ball isn't going to stop a human from touching them so they eventually realize you aren't a threat and give up on balling. A BP in the wild though doesn't have interaction daily with humans so they will have a greater instinct to ball up. There is a smaller chance they would attack or bite because their instinct will just tell them to hide in the wild, so, although there is always a risk to pick up a wild ball, it isn't as great as other snakes could be.

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

I am not saying your way is right or wrong, but your reasoning is. It shouldn't be your personal preference it should be what is best/safest/heathiest for your snake.

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Aaaahh... not really. No, no, I'm not being argumentative. I'm just of a different opinion. Because, I believe that it is a combination of personal preference and the best for the well-being of the snake. Because, if it was just all about the snake, then we would have to let them all go in the wild.

So, I feed out of the cage in a separate feeding tank because of a combination of reasons - I feel it is better for my snakes than having them hunt for the rat in my decor-rich viv where the rat can burrow underneath the rocks/branches/what-have-you and chew on all the plastic plants before the snake can figure out a way to get to the rat. And it is also better for me because then I won't have to move out every single piece of decor out of the cage and also, I can use the time that they are in the feeding tank to clean up the viv. So yeah... it is a balance between my snake's and my comfort.

Why do you think it is better for a snake to be out in the wild? In captivity they are safe, they get constant feedings and fresh water. I know some snakes like open areas but BP's prefer smaller spaces so keeping them in a tank isn't even inhuman. (As long as it is still big enough to house them of course)

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Originally Posted by anatess

Because, if it was just all about the snake, then we would have to let them all go in the wild.

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as far as a mouse hiding in all your decor why not just feed dead then?

SO trying to go back on to the topic of in tank vs tub feeding:

Some snakes can be aggressive so feeding in a tube is done to try to stop the agressiveness from just general handling. Although you do need to pick it up to put it in the tub, from repitition, it is the tub that lets them know they are going to feed not the hand. But having the sent of food on the hand can make them want to strike it. A downside to tub feeding is handling the snake even just to put it in the tub does have the potential to stess them and put them off food. Also moving them back to the tank after(even with waiting a period of time) can lead them to regurgitate their food. ALso BP's have a natural instinct to feed from their hide. This ability is taken away from them in the tub. You could put a hide in the tub with them but putting a hide in the tub defeats the purpose of moving them to a tub because the hide will still give them the home feeling a little.

Although you can feed a BP in a tub it is always safer and healthier to feed him in his tank. You can easily let him sit for a day in the tank before feeding so he can be relaxed, and you don't have to disturb him after feeding so there is no chance for him to regurgitate his food. Also he will already be in a comfortable temperature in his tank. It is also more natural and instinctual for the snake to feed in his tank.

Like I said before feedin in a tub is to try to stop aggression in snakes during just general handling. But BP's are not aggrassive snakes. There is a very minimal chance a BP will actually bite you (although there is never a zero chance no matter what technique you use). So to worry a BP will have a better chance to bite you because you feed it in the tank is silly. Also it is even easyer for you to feed in his tank because then you don't have to deal with moving him to a tub and putting him back. So it is bennificial for the snake AND you. There is a better chance BP will feed in tank because it is less stressful and more natural for them.

Another way to deal with biting is to develop the Hooking technique. All you do is when you want to handle the snake you give it a little poke with a hook. When you are feeding there is no poke. After time and repitition the snake will learn that poking means NO food is coming and he is just going to be held. THe poking will also give then snake a chance to wake up if he is sleeping. At first the hooking will scare the snake but after time he will learn that it isn't a threat, and it will no longer bother him.


If you want to feed in a tub that, can and generally will, work just fine. It is just safer and better for the snake to be fed in his tank. Both techniques are good and work, but the in tank feeding is just better for the snake. It is your choice which you would prefer to do.

I reccommend in tank feeding with developing the hooking technique. It is just better for you snakes well being. But if you really want to feed in tub, when you first get your snake you should still feed it for a while in the tank. A snake new to a home is under enough stress already. Once he is more used to his home and eatting regularly, then start moving him to a tub if you prefer that way.

If you talk to a lot of snake owner they will most likely use the tub method, because that is what they were told or read to do. If you talk to professinal snake breeders they will most likely use the in tank method, because they know what is better for a snake.

Also your snake is having troubles eating in the tub method, then just try feeding him in tank and that could help. Dangling the mouse in front of the hide with tongs helps too.

Also about substrate:
Having to worry about a snake eatting his substrate is very over exaggerated. As long as you substrate doesn't have too large or sharp peices ingesting a few bits now and then won't be a problem. They will still just pass through their system like everything else. Just think about it, does a snake in the wild have someone to brush off any twigs or rock or dust from their prey? No, they just eat it and poop it all out because the digestive system can do that. Also what is gonna be sharper a small peice of substrate shaving? or a bone, tooth, or claw?
And if you really are worried about the substrate just put a little piece of newspaper down before feeding. BUt really that isn't needed, it would jsut be more to give you a clear head.

And you should always feed your BP Frozen thawed, not live. It is just safer for the snake. It gives zero chance for the prey to harm the snake. Feed live and you could go years without it harming your snake but there is going to be a chance EVERYTIME you feed him that he could get hurt or bit. Body injuries could heal after shedding(but not always), and eye injuries could be very harmful and never heal. A dead prey can never scratch or bite you snake. Why take that chance if you don't have too? Sometimes a snake could refuse to eat unless its live prey but you could and also should ween him off that very easily.

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

And you should always feed your BP Frozen thawed, not live. It is just safer for the snake. It gives zero chance for the prey to harm the snake. Feed live and you could go years without it harming your snake but there is going to be a chance EVERYTIME you feed him that he could get hurt or bit. Body injuries could heal after shedding(but not always), and eye injuries could be very harmful and never heal. A dead prey can never scratch or bite you snake. Why take that chance if you don't have too? Sometimes a snake could refuse to eat unless its live prey but you could and also should ween him off that very easily.

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Not on topic but I agree 100%.



Back on topic... I do agree that there are pros to feeding in a separate tank, however I personally found that my snake would not feed consistently until I fed her in her tank. I guess I am fortunate to have such a well behaved animal that does not mistake me for food. I think the fact that she never sees my hand does help. I dangle the thawed out prey by the tail with a pair of hemostats right in front of a reptile basics hide door so all she sees is the zombie dancing mouse.

I tried to add it to my other lengthy post so it would tie in with that but my edit time timed out.

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Originally Posted by ScottyDsntKnow

Not on topic but I agree 100%.



Back on topic... I do agree that there are pros to feeding in a separate tank, however I personally found that my snake would not feed consistently until I fed her in her tank. I guess I am fortunate to have such a well behaved animal that does not mistake me for food. I think the fact that she never sees my hand does help. I dangle the thawed out prey by the tail with a pair of hemostats right in front of a reptile basics hide door so all she sees is the zombie dancing mouse.

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I always use tongs to dangle the mouse as well. Sometimes I will have it in the tank for less then 10 seconds before he strikes. It's not the snake connecting the hand to food that could make it strike, it is just something in front of the hide that could make it do it. Feeding agressive snakes in tank will lead them to strike almost anything that pops in front of them in tank, but again balls aren't agressive so unless you rub a mouse all over your hand before you wave it in front of his hide he probably won't bite. Again Hooking could stop this to, if ever worried about getting bit(even though you shouldn't be with a ball)

I just lift up her hide when I grab her and she knows its not feeding time since when I feed her I leave her hides in the tank and let her strike from inside. And yeah she takes about 10-15 seconds to come flying out of her hide to hit it.

I have fed inside the tank and outside the tank. Both were very effective. I choose to feed in the tank now because it is more convenient and I see no ill effects.
Is either way wrong or bad for the snake? No

I do believe that feeding in a separate enclosure can lead to stress or a regurgitation.
Often times peoples snakes don't eat because they were told to feed in a separate enclosure. The process of moving the snake to a tub or box and then throwing a mouse in can be overwhelming for some snakes. Not all snakes will have a problem, but some will. I have never heard of a ball python not feeding because it wasn't being fed in a separate enclosure.

There are pros to both methods, but I find that the cons of the "outside the enclosure" method are worse than those of the "inside the enclosure".

I feed in the tank.

I got my 8month old girl second hand and the previous owners did try getting her to feed in a separate tank but she just wouldnt eat there. She is incredibly docile and hasnt stuck at me once (thus far) despite tank feeding.

What I tend to do is if Im opening the tank for a handling session I open it straight up and take her out swiftly. If Im going to be feeding her, I let the smell of the rodent waft near her tank for 10mins until she 'clocks on' to feeding time, before opening the tank. You can usually tell her excitement by mental tongue flicking!

This is not a very common myth. There are ill effects of feeding your snake in it's enclosure. The only time it causes the snake to be aggressive is anytime you open the enclosure. Say you get the snake out twice a week, you will most likeyly be bit at least once. So you should feed you feed it once a week. Your snake is going to mistake you for food and you could end up hurting yourself or the snake. Please think people!

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Originally Posted by MikeySnakey

This is not a very common myth. There are ill effects of feeding your snake in it's enclosure. The only time it causes the snake to be aggressive is anytime you open the enclosure. Say you get the snake out twice a week, you will most likeyly be bit at least once. So you should feed you feed it once a week. Your snake is going to mistake you for food and you could end up hurting yourself or the snake. Please think people!

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Seriously bro?

I feed my four BP's in their tubs and handle each several times a week. According to you I should have been bitten several hundred times by now, yet it has only happened once.

Can you please enlighten me on these "ill effects" caused by feeding snakes in their enclosure, because you didn't give any real reasons in your last post.

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Originally Posted by MikeySnakey

This is not a very common myth. There are ill effects of feeding your snake in it's enclosure. The only time it causes the snake to be aggressive is anytime you open the enclosure. Say you get the snake out twice a week, you will most likeyly be bit at least once. So you should feed you feed it once a week. Your snake is going to mistake you for food and you could end up hurting yourself or the snake. Please think people!

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Mikey:

Since you've joined this site, we've read how your snake was hurt in a live feeding incident, how you thought it was appropriate to house two unsexed animals together for the sake of "companionship" and how you've had shedding issues and problems keeping your basking temps up.

While there is nothing wrong with coming on a forum and fine tuning your husbandry skills, it's bad form to give out incorrect or bad advice based on something you read or heard second hand - especially when what you heard was wrong.

I would caution you to not push your theories on enclosure aggression too hard. Your idea that feeding in an enclosure causes aggression is obviously based on something that you've heard, not experienced.

The collective experiences of a vast majority of hobbyists and breeders contradict your claim.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeySnakey

This is not a very common myth. There are ill effects of feeding your snake in it's enclosure. The only time it causes the snake to be aggressive is anytime you open the enclosure. Say you get the snake out twice a week, you will most likeyly be bit at least once. So you should feed you feed it once a week. Your snake is going to mistake you for food and you could end up hurting yourself or the snake. Please think people!

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Aren't you the guy who thought that BPs needed companionship?

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

Mikey:

Since you've joined this site, we've read how your snake was hurt in a live feeding incident, how you thought it was appropriate to house two unsexed animals together for the sake of "companionship" and how you've had shedding issues and problems keeping your basking temps up.

While there is nothing wrong with coming on a forum and fine tuning your husbandry skills, it's bad form to give out incorrect or bad advice based on something you read or heard second hand - especially when what you heard was wrong.

I would caution you to not push your theories on enclosure aggression too hard. Your idea that feeding in an enclosure causes aggression is obviously based on something that you've heard, not experienced.

The collective experiences of a vast majority of hobbyists and breeders contradict your claim.

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Yeah that was him alright lol. +1 for actual real world experience.

I feed my girl in her enclosure and only handle her 2-3 times a week and she has never even come close to striking at me. I'm sure I'll get nailed at some point but anyone who owns any animal will eventually.

Mikey, seriously stop giving out bad/recycled advice while you have little/no actual experience on this subject. Yeah I'm a noob too, I'm not going around telling people how to breed BPs or how to run a BP business but I will chime in on crap like this when I have real experience with it. My advice is for you to get some yourself.

Coming in this thread a bit late but...

I've had my snakes almost a year and my local breeder said to feed in paper bags to give them privacy and to prevent food aggression.

Now I know from reading a few threads that feeding in there cage is a better option.(not that they seemed to care about eating in bags:snake:) My only concern is, what if they get the rodent covered in cypress mulch? I haven't found an answer for that one.

Thanks

Use aspen and your risk for impaction is almost nil. My girl always winds up getting a little aspen on the mouse when she eats it and she poops like clockwork. You'll hear all sorts of conflicting opinions on this but I am of the belief that these animals eat all sorts of dirt, twigs, debris in the wild(on the prey) and they have to digest full rodent skeletons to pass them and have no issues with either. Finely shredded aspen is not going to hurt them. Not sure about cypress but I'd switch if I were worried about it as you seem to be. Or just use newspaper for substrate and forget the issue altogether.

As for a paper bag? Never heard that one before for feeding normally. I HAVE heard of it for problem eaters, leaving a f/t mouse/rat in a brown bag with them for a few hours... I dunno, in my personal experience I hang a f/t mouse in front of my girl's hide, she comes flying out, grabs it, hangs on for about a minute and then she drags her "kill" back into her hide and swallows it. I usually pick the hide up a half hour later to make sure the mouse is gone or that she isn't having issues still trying to swallow it. She is still tame as a kitten and I just make it a point to handle her about a half hour a week every week.

Like this kind of aspen?

http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/cat...ages/aspen.jpg

I agree that they do probably get mouthful of dirt or junk in the wild but I guess I just worried a piece of aspen would poke them in the mouth.

Thanks

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Originally Posted by MikeySnakey

This is not a very common myth. There are ill effects of feeding your snake in it's enclosure. The only time it causes the snake to be aggressive is anytime you open the enclosure. Say you get the snake out twice a week, you will most likeyly be bit at least once. So you should feed you feed it once a week. Your snake is going to mistake you for food and you could end up hurting yourself or the snake. Please think people!

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I feed 40 ball pythons weekly in their enclosure. They never attempt to bite me when I go into their enclosures the other one or two times a week. Do you know this from your personal experience? My experience says that "theory" is false.

i feed our balls in a box.he know when he in that box he there to eat.people who feed them in there tank are dumb.because when u put ur hand in there to get him/her out they might think ur bait

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Originally Posted by candyman88

i feed our balls in a box.he know when he in that box he there to eat.people who feed them in there tank are dumb.because when u put ur hand in there to get him/her out they might think ur bait

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I guess I'm dumb since my hand doesn't smell like prey and I don't get bitten - EVER. And I feed IN the enclosure.

Since your snake knows he's going to be fed in his box, he's more likely to bite you in the box. Since mine don't know if they'll be fed or not - they are LESS likely to bite unless there's actually food being offered.

Come on - use some common sense. There's no reason for your snake to believe it's going to be fed when you go into the enclosure multiple other times and not JUST to feed.

So, either snakes are smart enough to know the difference between prey items and hands or they're not.

It also seems that it is either a fine idea or not to feed them in or out of the cage.

I find it amusing, and I did NOT bother to read the entire thread, that so many of you feel the need to be correct about something that has no definites.

There are no hard and fast 100% must be done this way or not at all "rules" for keeping snakes.

Aside from the fact that whatever works, read it again, WHATEVER WORKS, works, why is there the need for some of you to put forth "your" methods as the ONLY good ones?

How did we get so many friggin experts on such a small site?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeySnakey

Never feed your snake in its enclosure. This will make the snake think that whenever you open the enclosure they will be fed and you do not want your hand to be mistaken for food. Also this will make your snake tame because it will be used to the feeding container and associate going into the separate container with feeding.
If you feed your snake in its enclosure it may end up being agressive anytime you open it.

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I also feed my snakes in a seperates tub, they dont seem to mind .

the bp get fed live so its makes life easier in a tub too.

my ball never bite me in the bo he is 6 and about 5 feet long now and lot of people feed them in a tub or some thing

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I guess I'm dumb since my hand doesn't smell like prey and I don't get bitten - EVER. And I feed IN the enclosure.

Since your snake knows he's going to be fed in his box, he's more likely to bite you in the box. Since mine don't know if they'll be fed or not - they are LESS likely to bite unless there's actually food being offered.

Come on - use some common sense. There's no reason for your snake to believe it's going to be fed when you go into the enclosure multiple other times and not JUST to feed.

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Hi,

Back in the old days when I kept multiple snakes in the one enclosure ( what can I say - I didn't know any better at the time :oops: ) I had no choice but to feed them in seperate tanks.

Now I keep them in seperate enclosures and I feed inside their tanks.

The only time I have ever been bitten by any of them under either feeding routine was a Stupid Feeding Error on my part. If they can identify prey enough to get fussy about species etc they can definately tell the difference between a human and a rat or mouse.

If, however, your snake is one of those prone to getting "over-excited" and striking at anything that moves during feeding then simply adjust the method you use to present the prey accordingly to minimise the risk. As died in the wool idiot and owner of relatively calm feeders I dangle the F/T by the tail - but I do make sure the head is the warmest part of the food. :D

When I changed to feeding in their enclosure by the way one of mine was definately resistant to the change and held out for quite a few weeks until hunger got the better of her.


dr del

Ok everyone.

No one is dumb for feeding one way or another. Do what works for you. Sure there are pros and cons to both but really, they are so minuscule that they barely even matter.

I feed inside the enclosure because it is convenient and I can just close the lid and let them be. When I used to feed out of the enclosure, I would have to wait 20 minutes for them to digest and realign before I could move them. That was annoying. It didn't help one bit for this so called "cage aggression".

For those who feed in a separate enclosure, just keep this in mind. If you ever start to have feeding problems, start feeding inside the enclosure. This usually solves the "my snake won't eat" question.

It really comes down to personal preference (assuming the snake eats either way). In most cases we would say "do what is better for the snake", but if the snake will eat in a separate tub and you want to feed it in one, then go right ahead. No one is forcing anyone to do it a certain way. Neither way is proven to be "better" than the other.

I have given this another two seconds of thought and this is what I have.

For those who don't know I've been involved in selling reptiles since before most of you were born. I've done retail, managing other stores, owned my own reptile specialty store, worked with an importer, wholesaler and have produced a few thousand babies on my own of fairly disperse species.

I say this only so you know that I have some background to have reached the perspectives that I have and am not some guy who googles stuff all day and pretends to know stuff like that Bot on Fauna, Seamus Haley.

I have encouraged people for many years not to feed in the tank the snake is kept in and today I started to wonder why. I've kept snakes into the hundreds and never taken them out to feed. But, with my big snakes, where even a chance of a feeding bite would not be any fun at all, I often fed them at least on the floor if not in another container and here's why: newbies do dumb stuff and any bite from a big snake hurts.

So, since a newb is more likely to imitate prey, moving a hand in and out of a snakes face when trying to move or feed or clean, smelling like prey by handling food just prior to giving food to snake, and just plain don't know what I'm doing oops type of stuff that can fool a snake, or irritate one, into biting someone who does NOT have the experience to know better.

An experienced keeper knows not to imitate or smell like prey when it's feeding time and so would have no worries about feeding in the same enclosure the snake lives in. A newb, not having learned those lessons one with experience takes for granted and often forgets the very learning of, will have a better chance of getting tagged just because they're new.

It's that simple. Newbs are food more often because they haven't learned not to be food.

Now for big snakes, I've had burms and one retic that were over 20 and 220 lbs. I've looked snakes in the eye, had them look right back at me and KNOWN that if it comes down to it, they could take me. I am NOT a small man.

Even experienced keepers make mistakes and even great snakes have off days. So, with the big guys I almost, not 100% of the time but more often than not, fed them out of the cages they lived in because I felt better doing it that way. I wanted as little chance as possible that something big enough to wrap me up and squeeze would want to do so.

So, I think a lot of the feed outside the cage talk is just for newbs to save them from themselves.

The rest is just personal preference and the ability to share ideas without getting all buttsore if someone disagrees with you.