How do you feed Your Ball Python?

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Originally Posted by Andrew00

Just curious...because I have heard that if you feed your snake in only one tank, then it will associate eating with every time you open the cage, or something like that, and then it will end up biting your hand.

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That is someting I have always heard as a good argument for seperate feeding tanks, but I have never had it proven on my fingers. I use kritter keepers for my corns and ball to eat in and use a hook to slip them back into their regular cage in case their feeding response is still in gear when I go to put them back, maybe overcautious - but nothing is harmed by the extra steps.

2 other reasons I have found for this to be a good idea though...

1 - My corns love to defacate right after eating. Cleaning a KK out is much easier than letting them soil their home.

2 - Accidental ingestion of substrate. A bit of bark or aspen shavings gets stuck to the mouse and swallowed can lead to a potential health hazzard. I have never known anyone first hand to have this problem, but its like seatbelts, you will really wish you had used them after it is too late.

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Originally Posted by MilkmanWes

My corns love to defacate right after eating. Cleaning a KK out is much easier than letting them soil their home.

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Good point. Corns are also no where near as easily stressed as ball pythons, and they are not known for fasting like ball pythons. This strategy would work great for corns.

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Originally Posted by MilkmanWes

but its like seatbelts, you will really wish you had used them after it is too late.

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Well, this arguement could certainly be made for any of a number of husbandry related choices when keeping herps. A loquacious debater could probably argue that with a strategy of doing whatever you can to eliminate risk from the keeping of captive reptiles, the most logical strategy would be to not keep them at all. The reality is that in the short time that I've been posting here there have been more issues relating to snakes getting respiratory infections, scale rot, and dying from escaping their enclosures than from swallowing loose substrate and getting ill or injury from some of the other hotly contested "risky" husbandry practices :twisted:.

Just my thoughts.

-adam

i feed in tank

but i put down newspaper first so that

A) He can't accidently eat a peice of the substrate (i use repti bark)

and
B) So the mouse ( i feed live) doesn't pee all over his home while he gets into striking mode

for the people that feed in a different enclosure, how long do you generally wait untill you put them back in their cage?

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I have a lot of experience feeding on all different kinds of substrates (I'm currently using sani-chips) and also know for fact that many large ball python collections are kept on aspen and cypress mulch and thousands (at least) of ball pythons are fed on those substrates each year without incident.

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Wow! I cannot fathom the potential expense involved in that! How often do you have to switch that stuff out and what sort of bulk amounts do you buy in?

Just curious.

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Originally Posted by OreoGaborio

for the people that feed in a different enclosure, how long do you generally wait untill you put them back in their cage?

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It's probably at least 30 mins. I wait until the lump is down to the lower third of the body and I carefully support his body when I move him back to his tank. I always wait until Issa has decided to explore his feeding box and he has been done swallowing for a while.

I have a loose substrate, and while what I use is supposed to be safe if swallowed (coconut coir), Issa will never accidently get a mouthful when he's trying to eat.

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Originally Posted by OreoGaborio

for the people that feed in a different enclosure, how long do you generally wait untill you put them back in their cage?

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Roughly 5 to 15 minutes. It really depends on the snake. When they get done eating and are cruising the feeder tub, I put them back.

You see this is another reason I like feeding outside of the "home". It allows me to observe and to get to know my snakes better. I spend a lot of my free time truly observing my animals. Learning. Each of my Balls personalities and behaviors are so different in so many little ways. I have always found it all totally fascinating. Truly knowing your snake, and your snake knowing you, is as important as providing the proper environment.

I am only dealing with 8 snakes though. For folks like Adam, feeding outside of the "home" is just not an option. One reason is his experience and beliefs that they feed better in their "home" (1 of my 8 balls only eats in its "home"). The other is the amount of snakes he has to care for. It would not be practical and would be too time consuming when feeding outside the "home" is not needed in any way. It is just a matter of choice.

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

Wow! I cannot fathom the potential expense involved in that! How often do you have to switch that stuff out and what sort of bulk amounts do you buy in?

Just curious.

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Every box gets fresh chips once every 4 - 6 weeks, or as needed (spot cleaned daily of course).

I purchase it by the truck load. It shows up on pallets a couple of times a year.

Shrap, the size of my collection is really not the issue. If there was a real risk in feeding inside the enclosure or on loose substrate I would either keep fewer snakes or hire more help to get feeding done in a safe manner. I feed my ball pythons inside their enclosures because it is safe and because they eat more consistently that way.

-adam

Oh I have no worries about feeding inside enclosures or on loose substrate. It is perfectly safe. That was part of my point. That feeding outside their home really has no benefit over feeding inside their home. So when you have a bunch of snakes, why do it? I know as my collection grows I will not be taking every single one out and feeding in seperate tubs. 8 is manageable (well 7, since one does eat in its home), but when I have 30...40....50 over the next couple of years....lol, no way.

I feed mine in her cage. There's newspaper in there, many many sheets of it, so if little mousy guts come out or blood gets on the paper, I just take out what is soiled and replace it. No worries here as we have an abundance of newspaper... Breeds like rabbits I tell ya ;)