Do You Feed In Or Out??

Both my BP and my Boa get fed in separate tubs... That is how i was told to Always feed a snake that is handled as a pet. I have never had any problems getting them to eat that way, my BP always strikes immediately. I could see how this could get aggravating feeding a larger number of snakes. Seems that the majority of the people feed in their regular tank. Was I misinformed??? I can normally tell once they are out of their feeding mind set and ready to go back to their cage to digest. None of my snakes have ever regurged either(thank god.. thank would scare the crap out of me.) I was told this was the #1 rule when feeding. I have never thought about going the other way but the accounts of the other members has opened my mind.

I am going over to my freinds house tonight because he couldn't get his baby BP to eat before left for vacation...maybe he's shy... I'll try to get him to eat it in his tank.

I feed all of my snakes in their enclosures.

always have...always will.

:)

just my two cents... I will always feed outside it's home environment into a feeding tub, for one reason above all others, the possibility of the snake striking at it's prey and grab a bunch of bedding, a friend of mine had his for quite a while, always fed it in its home environment and the snake had lodged whatever the bedding was in the roof of its mouth, got an infection and eventually died. I'm sure there may of been ways to treat the snake...maybe he couldn't afford but the point being the initial threat.

maybe he had said he had a type of gravel as the bedding,, i use the reptibark and could see that being a hazard as well, maybe other types of bedding wouldn't cause an issue eitherway, it would be a different story if the snake's home environment was bedded with newspaper, but i'd still worry then about it associating me opening its lid with food, rather than it associating the box i put them in to feed with food.

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Originally Posted by jimsonfury

just my two cents... I will always feed outside it's home environment into a feeding tub, for one reason above all others, the possibility of the snake striking at it's prey and grab a bunch of bedding, a friend of mine had his for quite a while, always fed it in its home environment and the snake had lodged whatever the bedding was in the roof of its mouth, got an infection and eventually died. I'm sure there may of been ways to treat the snake...maybe he couldn't afford but the point being the initial threat.

maybe he had said he had a type of gravel as the bedding,, i use the reptibark and could see that being a hazard as well, maybe other types of bedding wouldn't cause an issue eitherway, it would be a different story if the snake's home environment was bedded with newspaper, but i'd still worry then about it associating me opening its lid with food, rather than it associating the box i put them in to feed with food.

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woah...in regards to your friends snake...if he had gravel as a subtrate then I can completely understand that the snake got some of it lodged during feeding and probably became impacted. It happens with gravel. Reason 1...to have proper subtrate. It is sad his snake died because of that.

I am not a big fan of loose subtrate for my balls unless they are gravid. but that's just me. I prefer paper.

I don't know about anyone else but around here on feeding day when I open lids....they are looking for their food. Their heads pop up out of nowhere and they are on the hunt!

So for me....I would rather take my chances feeding in the enclosure rather than transporting them while they are in 'feed mode'.

;)

Just in my experience, I feed my snakes religiously every Friday at 5:00 when I get home from work. They don't seem to act any different on feeding day. When I bring the feeding bin into the room, sometimes my Boa will realize whats going on and come out of his hide so I can take him out. I watch their behaviour very closely cause my Boa is almost 6 foot and very powerfull... I would not want to be bit that is for sure. Once he gets put into his feeding tank with the newspaper he is on the hunt. I would never knock anyone elses oppinion on doing this or say that they are doing it wrong because different things work for different people.

It's just that we all know snakes do go into the mode where they are looking for food and their feeding reflex gets locked and loaded... and in captive snakes it is usually a part of the owners feeding ritual that triggers this. Since I handle these snakes daily and you are most likely to get bit reaching to pick up any snake... I like to try to ensure that in no way do my snakes relate anything warm in their tanks with them with food. It seems like if all the feeding ritual consisted of was opening their enclosure and putting the food in... over time the act of opening the enclosure will be enough to trigger feeding mind set. Imagine trying to pick up a six foot boa that thought it was time to eat everytime you open then cage. I encoutered a Red Tail years ago that was given to the shop where I cared for the reptiles...that would not let you reach in without striking. Mom wanted it away from her kids. It was about a year old and underfed... when it was fed it was fed in it's cage because the mom did not want to handle it. It took months of daily handling and feeding outside of her tank before I was able to get the snake to the point where I could reach in without her wanting to take a snap at me. Point is... This was given away as an aggressive snake that could not be handled... when in actuallity it was just hungry and doing what it was used to doing. Well i cared for that snake for about a year until it made what I would call a full recovery... then I found it a good home.

I'm sure that snake had other husbandry issues when I took it in... But that is just an example that may be relevant to the discussion. These are the reasons I personally feed out...

Sounds like there are pros and cons either way you feed.

All I know is if the way you are feeding is working for you ... Why change... If it's tried and true :)

Open tub drop in rodent, next:snake:

I think it depends on what your Bp is in i have mine in tubs so i feed them in the tub but when i use to have them in the tanks i took them out becuase i use to have them in substate but with my tubs i just use paper i was afferade of them swollowing some of the substrate hope that helps

I started out feeding in a separate container, but since I use newspaper as substrate, I figured it would be a lot easier to feed in the enclosure. This way I dont have to handle before and after the feeding, which can be stressful. I also dont have to worry when picking her up out of the box when she is looking for more food, and possibly ready to nail me.

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Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle

Open tub drop in rodent, next:snake:

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Good one Raul! :D

Pretty much the same here....open tub, drop in rodent, WHAPPPPPPPPP, close tub, grab another rodent, open another tub, WHAPPPPPP....and so on and so on....:)

I feed everyone in their tanks except 2 of my normal females because they are sharing a tank until my rack is built. They seem to get along well, but I still want to seperate them as soon as I have the room.