who feeds in separate containers??

Ok i got 2 chimes. Chime one. The need to feed in seperate containers is a ploy designed by petstores to sell more products. This is why its one of the things they tell you in the store. Total bs. There is no validity to it. Chime 2. As in captive settings it is not good to house 2 ball pythons together. Its not because they are loner anti social animals. Its because in an enclosure they are competing for everything. Alot of misconseption is that ball pythons are loner animals. In the wild they are found in large groups dug into termite mounds. This could be because prime real estate is hard to find or could be out of necessity or could actually be because they like it. In a captive setting when housing 2 or more together you have issues of health, competition, stress and other issues. Its always better to stack the odds in your favor keeping any animal in a captive setting.

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Originally Posted by snake lab

Chime 2. As in captive settings it is not good to house 2 ball pythons together. Its not because they are loner anti social animals. Its because in an enclosure they are competing for everything. A lot of misconception is that ball pythons are loner animals. In the wild they are found in large groups dug into termite mounds. This could be because prime real estate is hard to find or could be out of necessity or could actually be because they like it.

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Also the ball pythons in the wild have the option to get away from each other if they want to and if they're sharing even a 60 gallon enclosure they can't get far enough away from each other to be happy and still be warm and comfortable.

An unhappy ball python is a stressed ball python and a stressed ball python is a sick ball python. Sick ball pythons get RIs, regurge, and sometimes turn cannibalistic. It's much easier on you and them both if they're separate. If you can't afford a second enclosure you shouldn't have a second snake.

I feed in their enclosure, yes I do have a few big females that are super aggressive feeders that will come right out of their tubs trying to grab at anything with warmth (including me) but they're more the exception then the rule. And even then, they're fine once I get them out of their tubs and they realize they're not getting fed.

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Originally Posted by Slim

I feed in the tub, and always have. I've never had an issue with cage aggression.

New owners think they need to feed in a separate tub so the snake doesn't start to associate their hand with feeding time. For some reason, the fear of getting bitten makes new owners think this is a logical thing to do. Here's my break down of that thought process:

1) You stick your hand in the enclosure to handle the snake for husbandry and such, right?...you stick your hand in the enclosure to move the snake to a feeding tub, right? How is the snake ever supposed to know the difference? If the snake is going to make associations, wouldn't it be with being picked up? Things that make you go hmmm...

2) Let's say you move your snake to a feeding tub and successfully feed him. Now you have to move a snake that's in feeding mode back to its regular enclosure. Tell me again how you don't want to have a snake associate your hand with feeding time :confused:

3) If you use long tongs or hemostats to introduce the prey (which is recommended) how can they associate food with your hand?

4) The two things that trigger the feeding response are scent and heat. So, don't smell like a rat, and you won't trigger a feeding strike.

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I just wanted to add one last bit to this fantastic little list:

If the goal is to condition the snake to not associate its cage with food, the logical result of this is that the snake instead becomes conditioned that it ONLY eats when it is outside of its cage.
This means, what? Okay, so the snake doesn't bite you when its in the cage...but you have potentially conditioned your animal to more readily engage in a feeding response bite outside of the cage. The complete opposite of what this practice is intended, right?

Personally, if I have to pick where my snake ends up becoming aggressive, I'll pick the cage - at least there I can work with it, maneuver it, and deal with it. A snake that potentially can associate a traveling box with feeding, or a tub, or a soaking container, or just being out...that is much more unpredictable, and if you are working with another, larger species, potentially even dangerous.

I feed all of my snakes at home in their cages/tubs, personally. Haven't been bitten at home in years. :)

-Jen

Thank you Jen.. I really feel i did the right thing now by feeding him in his cage. especially since your affiliated with the company where i bought my baby ball . And by the way the baby pastel i got from LLL reptile is fantastic looking and great personality.. Its already starting to show since we've received him last week..

Also.....Ive been ordrering from your company ( Tree Frogs, Beardies, and Snakes) for the last 13 years... Very proud customer

i dont feel that feeding in cages affects a snakes attitude so i feed in their cage

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Originally Posted by cowbully

Thank you Jen.. I really feel i did the right thing now by feeding him in his cage. especially since your affiliated with the company where i bought my baby ball . And by the way the baby pastel i got from LLL reptile is fantastic looking and great personality.. Its already starting to show since we've received him last week..

Also.....Ive been ordrering from your company ( Tree Frogs, Beardies, and Snakes) for the last 13 years... Very proud customer

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Woohoo! Not just affiliated...posting from the "official" LLL account! ;) As the staff member with the most personal experience keeping and breeding ball pythons, I get the oh-so-arduous task of posting to the bp.net forum...Oh darn!

I'm glad your baby pastel is settling in already, and you've enjoyed all your previous orders. 13 years - you've been ordering from the company almost as long as we've been open! That's super cool to hear from a long time customer. Thanks so much for the kind words, these kinds of posts make it all worthwhile!!

Happy Herping! :)

-Jen

I feed all of mine in their enclosures. For me to try and move my boas once they are in feed mode is not what I would call a pleasant experience...

Sent from my Motorola ATRIX using Tapatalk.

Quetzal eats in his enclosure as well :3 Take his hide off, do the zombie mouse dance at him, wait for him to simmer down, put the hide back in, and voila~ Content, full snake and no cage aggression. He's bitten me once, when he was already out of his cage, and that was directly after I had walked my sister's dogs.

I feed all three of mine in a sep tub. They live in a 40 gal terrarium, I take one out at a time and feed them. When I am done feeding one, I wash my hands and reach in to grab the snake and place it back in its normal everyday enclosure. I have never been struck at by either 3 of my ball pythons.