Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 654

0 members and 654 guests
No Members online
Most users ever online was 47,180, 07-16-2025 at 05:30 PM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,909
Threads: 249,108
Posts: 2,572,142
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, KoreyBuchanan
  • 12-26-2006, 05:23 PM
    daniel1983
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    I feed in enclosures for all my reptiles......too much stress results from moving them around.
  • 12-26-2006, 05:27 PM
    elevatethis
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by firehop
    I feed all of mine out of the enclosure. I have a couple feeding cages and that is all they are used for. I would never feed my burm in its cage and I feel safer feeding all my red-tails and balls in feeder cages.

    A burm's feeding response can be dangerous to the keeper if you have to put them back in their enclosure right after a meal. How big is your burm? I would suggest you speak to some people with more experience with large boids to get their opinion. You don't want to find out "the hard way" that the habit you are getting into with that large of a constrictor can be dangerous for both you and the snake.

    I don't understand why you feel safer feeding your snakes in seperate cages. Handling a snake right after it has eaten drastically increases your chances that you will be bitten while they are in "feeding mode."
  • 12-26-2006, 07:17 PM
    Rascal
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    When I first got my snake I would feed in another enclosure, mostly because of horror stories about being bitten and whatnot. Now I feed inside the tank so that my snake can hunt from its hide. The mouse usually pokes around on the otherside of the cage and my snake smells it/sees it. She gets into striking position and sooner or later the mouse wanders alittle to close. Everytime I have fed inside the tank, it goes much more quickly and the snake seems more comfortable .. retreating to her hide right afterwards. (I don't have to handle her when shes so full)

    My snake has never shown any aggression towards me (besides getting alittle tighttttttt around the neck) How many of you have had problems with your snakes? How many of you that have problems keep more than one snake? How often do you handle them/it?
  • 12-26-2006, 10:34 PM
    versustheworld
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    I feed mine in a separate "feeding box" but only because she's the mellowest ball ever, she doesn't mind being carried from onle place to another after or before feeding. Since I feed live and most of the time the mice pee-pee themselves when eaten, I prefer them not to do it in her cage. But I definitely think it depends on the character of the snake and the amount of snakes you have.
  • 12-26-2006, 11:19 PM
    firehop
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by elevatethis
    A burm's feeding response can be dangerous to the keeper if you have to put them back in their enclosure right after a meal. How big is your burm? I would suggest you speak to some people with more experience with large boids to get their opinion. You don't want to find out "the hard way" that the habit you are getting into with that large of a constrictor can be dangerous for both you and the snake.

    I don't understand why you feel safer feeding your snakes in seperate cages. Handling a snake right after it has eaten drastically increases your chances that you will be bitten while they are in "feeding mode."


    After feeding, if you have fed enough, your snake shouldnt be agressive anymore he should be fat and happy and a little big to move. If you get bit I believe its because you havn't fed enough and he's looking for more. I have always fed my burm in another cage as well as my 7 foot red-tails and (knock on wood) have never had any agression so long as they have eaten their fill.
  • 12-26-2006, 11:39 PM
    SatanicIntention
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    You're definitely welcome to come try and take Sonja, my 7.5ft female common boa out of her tub a few days before feeding day and the day of feeding... That is, if you don't prefer to have arms or a face. 3-4 days after feeding day though, she's fine, and you can handle her like normal(she's a big fluffball any other day). Or one of my 2005 females who launches herself out of her tub with her mouth open if she even smells mice in the room.

    All of mine are fed in the tub, after the room is prescented for an hour. I can handle them just fine 2 days after they eat and no one gives me any problems. They're very calm and could care less. Because it's not feeding day and the room doesn't smell of food.

    Also, I may go in their tubs maybe 2 times per week to change water and clean. They are easily able to discern food from not food and will react as such.
  • 12-27-2006, 01:38 PM
    daniel1983
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by firehop
    After feeding, if you have fed enough, your snake shouldnt be agressive anymore he should be fat and happy and a little big to move. If you get bit I believe its because you havn't fed enough and he's looking for more.

    From my experience this 'general' comment is not true for ALL snakes even though it may be a true for your snakes. The aggressiveness of a snake during feeding is not entirely dependant on the amount of food that it is fed. Even though they have never shown aggression in normal handling conditions, my coastal carpet pythons will strike at you any given time once the scent of rodent has hit the air in the room...both before and after feeding....no matter how much they are fed. Some of my ball pythons and boas are the same way. Some others could care less what you do to them at feeding time.

    Personlly, I don't really see the point of risking a feeding 'accident' because of moving a large snake between enclosures when the rodent odor is all around.
  • 12-27-2006, 01:57 PM
    elevatethis
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by firehop
    After feeding, if you have fed enough, your snake shouldnt be agressive anymore he should be fat and happy and a little big to move. If you get bit I believe its because you havn't fed enough and he's looking for more. I have always fed my burm in another cage as well as my 7 foot red-tails and (knock on wood) have never had any agression so long as they have eaten their fill.

    Handling a 7 foot redtail after feeding is NOTHING like handling a 14 ft burmese python after feeding, and that comparison does not apply to the original question in the thread.

    A snake doesn't just decide "it's full" and shut off its feeding response before you go to move it back to its normal enclosure. They are opportunistic predators that will eat what they can when they can. As a matter of fact, a snake's feeding response is a part of its unconcious behavior and no matter how tame you may perceive your burm to be, it is irresponsible to give advice like that to new keepers. There is a very informative chapter on this in Dave and Tracy Barker's book "Pythons of the World: Volume 2." The book refers to ball pythons, but I think if you read it and applied the same thought to burmese pythons, you would reevaluate your belief that it is perfectly safe to remove a large burm from a seperate feeding enclosure after you ambiguously decide that they've "had enough."

    That being said, the original poster wanted to know about ball pythons and feeding them outside of their enclosure. Getting bit by a still-hungry ball pythons is not the end of the world, but something I'd personally try to avoid nonetheless.

    Hope that helps.
  • 12-27-2006, 02:39 PM
    firehop
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    Sorry I believe I mistakenly made a general statement about my snakes and my experience with the snakes I have had. Sorry if I misspoke and steered someone wrong I am still learning something new everyday I guess.
  • 12-27-2006, 04:19 PM
    Mina
    Re: Should you feed bp in habitat.
    It is really personal choice. A lot depends on your snake. We have one male year old ball python that gets fed in a seperate feeding tub. While he is eating, I remove and scrub out his water dish and hides, fluff up his aspen, do an in deepth "poo search" and pull out any poo or urates. Then I dampen the aspen a little to keep his humidity where it should be. And this is also when I change aspen once every other week.

    He does not mind the feeding tub, and knows when its time to eat. He starts stretching down toward the tub as soon as he sees it.
    I personally think that having him in the tub, peacefully eating his rattie, while Mommy rumages around in his home is less stress for him than if I was doing all of that banging and moving things around while he was in there. Just my opinion.
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1