The Age Old Question

The age old question indeed. The only time I fed outside the home enclosure was when I got my first snake back in 2008. I joined the forum shortly thereafter and learned I was making a big deal out of nothing.

I've fed all my snakes in their home enclosure since and never had issues. I've fed live, f/t, pre-killed. You name it. Hundreds of feedings and I've been bitten... maybe 3 times? Maybe?

It just makes very little sense to feed in a separate enclosure when you have more than one. Just a plain old waste of time.

Kinda surprised this is still a topic of conversation actually, lol.

Voted separate container but actually I do both so I really couldn't vote correctly. If I'm going to do a full substate change, or want to spot clean and get a weight before feeding then I'll use a separate container. On my lager snakes I'll just feed them in their tub and will swap out their tub when I do a deep cleaning on a non feeding day.

Didn't read 8 pages of comments but there is no debate on this topic with regard to ball pythons. There is literally no reason to pull them out of the enclosure and it can cause regurgitation and stress, and youre more likely to get bit transferring them back and forth while theyre in feeding mode.

What if neither of those things happen? I feed in a separate container and I've never been bitten, my snake has never regurgitated, it's easy cleanup (I can clean her enclosure while she eats) and she never refuses a meal? It works, so should I switch her to feeding in her tank simply because "it's what most herp hobbyists do?" I'm seeing a lot of "you should only feed in the tank, and anyone who puts their balls in a separate container to feed is stupid/doesn't know what they're doing/etc," but if it works, and it works well, is it really that big a problem?? I'm wondering if switching mine to feeding in the tank would be stressful since it's not what she's used to? Hmmmm...

She wouldn't care either way

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Originally Posted by O'Mathghamhna

What if neither of those things happen? I feed in a separate container and I've never been bitten, my snake has never regurgitated, it's easy cleanup (I can clean her enclosure while she eats) and she never refuses a meal? It works, so should I switch her to feeding in her tank simply because "it's what most herp hobbyists do?" I'm seeing a lot of "you should only feed in the tank, and anyone who puts their balls in a separate container to feed is stupid/doesn't know what they're doing/etc," but if it works, and it works well, is it really that big a problem?? I'm wondering if switching mine to feeding in the tank would be stressful since it's not what she's used to? Hmmmm...

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They're your snakes, do as you wish. One of the reasons for this debate is because there are many care sheets out there that advise feeding in a separate enclosure in order to avoid 'cage aggression'. This simply is not true for the overwhelming majority of ball pythons. Rather, it's MORE likely that individual snakes may feel too stressed to feed when moved to unfamiliar surroundings, OR some may feel too stressed when moving them after they've just fed triggering a regurgitation response, OR some may be stuck in feeding mode and continue striking at anything that moves long after they've swallowed their meal, AND some will not be bothered and will feed fine and not be stressed wherever they are.

Remember that these animals are individuals with unique personalities, they will react to different stimuli in different ways. Let your snake be your teacher, observe them and treat them in the way that causes the best reaction. As long as it doesn't cause harm, then do as you wish.

Wow! I have mustard gas wounds and campaign ribbons from fighting this war in the past :rofl::rofl::rofl:

And there's STILL no reason to feed a BP outside it's enclosure.

MARKS,

I like your response the best. I recently posted about this and one of the response told me that it is pretty much "industry standard" to feed in the enclosure. That may be true. With my setup though, because he currently likes to hang out in his warm hide, I would either have to (a) dangle the prey in front of the hide, and wait for him to strike out, or (b) lift up the hide and then feed him. Given the size of the hide and the way he curls up inside, and how he wrapped when he fed, I don't see him eating in the hide. I suppose option C is to wait until he is wandering outside and attempt to feed. Personally, I think I'd like to keep feeding him in the separate container so that he does build an association that being in that container means it is food time. Assuming they can form such associations. Plus, it does give me an opportunity to observe and also review his habitat while he eats, as others have said.

I handle my young bp a lot tbh, I also keep changing his setup when he is wandering around.
So, I always feed him in his enclosure using very long tweezers (frozen mice) and until today I've had like no problems with substrate or something like that except one time when he didn't get a small piece of wood out of his mouth after eating but he allowed me to take it out without complaining
Furthermore he never confused my hand with food even if he's very hungry :D

I guess it's always depending on the substrate you are using and, as always, the character of your snake^^

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Originally Posted by MarkS

They're your snakes, do as you wish. One of the reasons for this debate is because there are many care sheets out there that advise feeding in a separate enclosure in order to avoid 'cage aggression'. This simply is not true for the overwhelming majority of ball pythons. Rather, it's MORE likely that individual snakes may feel too stressed to feed when moved to unfamiliar surroundings, OR some may feel too stressed when moving them after they've just fed triggering a regurgitation response, OR some may be stuck in feeding mode and continue striking at anything that moves long after they've swallowed their meal, AND some will not be bothered and will feed fine and not be stressed wherever they are.

Remember that these animals are individuals with unique personalities, they will react to different stimuli in different ways. Let your snake be your teacher, observe them and treat them in the way that causes the best reaction. As long as it doesn't cause harm, then do as you wish.

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Awesome, this is how I feel about the issue... If it works for your snake and it's what they're used to, great. But if you have problems feeding, go ahead and just feed them in the tank. Thanks for your input!

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Originally Posted by Slim

And there's STILL no reason to feed a BP outside it's enclosure.

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Even if it's what they're used to and they've been feeding without issue this way for years? Should I just start feeding her in the tank anyway?