To feed in the habitat or out?

I have browsed the forum but haven't seen anything about this. What do you do with your ball python?

In her cage. I heard that they will gurge if you handle them too much after feeding.

i do mine out of cage only when i wanna get a vid of her haha but mostly in her cage i don't think the aggressive thing makes a difference...

Always in the cage! It is less stressful on the snake!

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Originally Posted by SpyderGirl

I have browsed the forum but haven't seen anything about this. What do you do with your ball python?

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I feed all mine in their habitat. Some of my snakes are skittish and are stressed by being disturbed and moved into a feeding container and then will not eat.

If you use aspen or any loose substrate just keep an eye on them to make sure none of it gets tangled in their fur while they are being eaten.

I feed out of the cage in a separate bin. Only reason is that if there is a mess it isn't in their cages. I wouldn't want to pull the snake out to change the paper towel if it got blood on it. This way the mess is in the feeding bin only.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=102141

Feed in their regular cage unless there are extenuating circumstances which make it impossible to do so. Less stressful on both snake and owner.

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Originally Posted by seeya205

Always in the cage! It is less stressful on the snake!

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Thats how I feel too.

When I am hungry, I wouldnt want someone moving me into an empty room. Then after I gorged myself, have them pick me up and move me around.

Regurg doesnt sound pretty, so in the cage is what I do.

What I have noticed, is that my snake KNOWS the feeding days (which are not on a solid routine yet). He moves around more that day and seems much more alert once I open the lid.

On other days.. He sees me and cares less lol. It could be because I put a small container next to the tank to let a mouse thaw out slowly, then put that mouse under the light that is on top of the tanks lid to heat up a bit.

I'm sure he smells the mouse throughout the day this way and gets him anxious for dinner. I think it helps them prepare to feed more because they smell the rodent most of the day before the feeding attempt.

I dont know.. Works for me :D

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Originally Posted by BigBlue56

Thats how I feel too.

When I am hungry, I wouldnt want someone moving me into an empty room. Then after I gorged myself, have them pick me up and move me around.

Regurg doesnt sound pretty, so in the cage is what I do.

What I have noticed, is that my snake KNOWS the feeding days (which are not on a solid routine yet). He moves around more that day and seems much more alert once I open the lid.

On other days.. He sees me and cares less lol. It could be because I put a small container next to the tank to let a mouse thaw out slowly, then put that mouse under the light that is on top of the tanks lid to heat up a bit.

I'm sure he smells the mouse throughout the day this way and gets him anxious for dinner. I think it helps them prepare to feed more because they smell the rodent most of the day before the feeding attempt.

I dont know.. Works for me :D

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Yes!! That's just what I do too for my F/T mice. My mother seems to think out of the cage is the best but my snakes know feeding day. And my husband felt very strongly about doing it in the tank for the same reasons as stress and what not. I have ZooMed reptile caves for my snakes and most the time they only come halfway out to get the prey. Then drag it back into the cave to eat lol... My spider still strikes and coils the F/T it's kinda cute cuz she is still sooo little. But my pastel male will NOT eat unless it's moving and squeeking :-( to bad but we do what needs to be done lol... Snakes gotta eat :-) but what ever peps do is because it's what works for them. Just wanted to know how many peps felt the same way as my husband about feeding on or out. Thanks to everyone for your feed back it is always great!!:gj:

i feed outside for my 2 snakes. the normal one now has a year and a half with me and hasnt refuse feeing and i feed her oustide since her first meal with me, samething with the pastel that i got 2 months ago hes an 09...he feeds every 5 days and feed outside since his first meal with me too and no problems so far. i feed outside not because some people debate that there is a less chance of you getting bit when you reach for your snake in its enclosure because it might mistake your hands for prey, i feed outside because there is a less chance of you ending up with a snake that swallow some bedding and ended up with mouth rot BUT this does not apply to those who use paper towels or newspaper as bedding. i use aspen bedding because it's easier for me to spot clean then to change the whole paper. But im not suggesting to feed outside if you have numerous snakes because it's going to make it harder on you. i will recommend you to stick with feeding in cage if you have a sub adult or adult that has been feeding in its cage since it was a juvinile or a hatchling because if you switch it to feeding outside they might get stress out because its something new to them and will refuse feeding. if you have a snake that is a hatchling or juvinile then now is your chance do decide how are you going to feed it. But again that depends how many snakes you have and if you use newspaper or paper towels as bedding.

I feed them in their enclosure because I do not want to handle them for 24 hours after they eat. Seems to work well for us sofar.

another thing people debate about is that your snake might regurge its not true they will regurge if you handle the snake too much after feeding but one thing is handling and another is just moving it back to its enclosure... they are way different things

I feed IN my cage. I am new to all of this but I will tell you why. If anyone has any objections, you are more than welcome to explain yourself. :)

Some people object to feeding in thier cage because they don't want the snake to associate their hand/cage with feeding. This is entirely what I am basing my opinion on. Here is how I rationalize this:

If you feed your snake a mouse or rat outside of their cage because you do not want them to associate your hand or their enlosure with food, then how does picking them up, moving them to a new enlosure and feeding them make much of a difference? You are picking the snake up with your hand, moving them, and dropping a mouse or rat into the "feeding enlosure" moments later. How does this really make a difference?


I feed inside the habitat.

[QUOTE=EvesFriend;1324824]I feed IN my cage. I am new to all of this but I will tell you why. If anyone has any objections, you are more than welcome to explain yourself. :)

Some people object to feeding in thier cage because they don't want the snake to associate their hand/cage with feeding. This is entirely what I am basing my opinion on. Here is how I rationalize this:

If you feed your snake a mouse or rat outside of their cage because you do not want them to associate your hand or their enlosure with food, then how does picking them up, moving them to a new enlosure and feeding them make much of a difference? You are picking the snake up with your hand, moving them, and dropping a mouse or rat into the "feeding enlosure" moments later. How does this really make a difference?

Ha! That is the same witty answer my husband gave me when we talked about how we wanted to feed our new baby bps!! Lol I'm gonna let him read this post! It will make him laugh ;)

Everyone I've talked to says in the cage. From what I understand they don't become cage aggressive. I've only had mine for about two weeks, fed him for the first time the other day in his cage and he's still completely friendly when I reach in his cage to get him. Plus, what everyone else is saying, they can apparently throw up if you pick them up right after eating.

I used to feed out of the cage but after she went off feeding for a couple weeks I threw one in her enclosure and she snatched it up, ever since ive been feeding in the enclosure to limit the amount of stress and she hasnt been aggressive whatsoever either.

I tried outside the enclosure at first. This worked fine, but many people reccomended feeding inside the enclosure because its less stressful for the snake. I know just feed in the enclosure and everything is going fine with my BP. It's really just your choice.

Well I fed outside at first, but it was very stressful for me, and it seemed like for Hagi as well. After reading this thread, and another where there was a vote, I've decided I'm going to switch to in-cage feeding... :)

In the tub where they live.

I feed most of mine in there rack bin. I just present the room so they know its feeding time. I have one female thats a little nippy but shes always been that way. she does get worse when shes in shed and blued over but I dont believe its because shes fed in the rack.

in the cage :gj:

I feed outside the enclosure, though I give him some time to "marinate" in his dark feeding container, in a quiet room, and I use tongs, so I don't think he associates coming out of his enclosure with food.

I only have one ball though, so feeding outside the enclosure doesn't pose any sort of "hassle" that those with multiple balls to feed might experience with out of enclosure feeding.

I can understand people with multiple balls preferring to feed within the enclosure for convenience, and others' reasoning that their snakes are stressed by feeding outside the enclosure.

I have not noticed any stress from feeding outside the enclosure, though I have only done two feedings and there is plenty of time for changes to occur.

Do whatever works for you and your snake(s)!

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Originally Posted by luckycharm318

Do whatever works for you and your snake(s)!

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CORRECT!

I have yet to see one snake regurgitate because of handling after eating.
Strange how people keep mentioning the regurge thing.
Makes me wonder how many people have actually had a snake regurge "that was because of handling"?

I have never fed a ball python out of it's home, I see no reason to.

I feed all of my BPs in their tubs, because of ease due to quantity of snakes. However before I had so many, I used to feed in separate tubs and NEVER had any issues with regurgitating the food because I had to pick them up and put them back.

I feed my large snakes - burms, boas, etc in a separate box due to not wanting them to associate handling in the vivs with feeding. Being bitten by a 4ft snake VS a 14ft snake is worth the extra effort for the big guys.

I do have a few ball pythons that refuse to eat in a separate tub, so they have to eat at home otherwise they wont eat at all.

I've always thought the regurge was a possibility when you get them out and hold them and force them to hang around your neck and on your hands. That's a lot of pressure. I saw on Discovery Channel Mike Rowe helped a woman force a regurge and all it took was some upward massaging.

Even with the big snakes, it seems like they're more likely to associate you coming into the enclosure with eating when you come in to move them, than with a rabbit or something just appearing. Option 1: You come in, they get food. Option 2: Food just appears. There's no way to associate you with food in Option 2.

Also, you don't look like food, and if you don't smell like food, why would they ever think you're food? Also again, if they're ever aggressive, how could you move them anyway?

every snake i've had and will have in the future will eat in its cage/bin/rack/whatever.

I prescent, heavily. I can't imagine how many times i'd be bitten if i had to move anything around. i used to move my bp outside the cage when i only had one. Did away with that years ago.