How does everyone feed there Bp

I see a lot of posts on here about people feeding there snakes in there enclosures and such on these forums, was just wondering how everyone else does it? When I feed mine I remove him from the enclosure and put in different box. Then I put the mouse in the box with him and after he has it all down I let him sit for about 20-30 min and put him back in his enclosure for 36 to 48 hours without handling at all. Just curious how others do it

Open tub.

Put food in.

Close tub.

If food was live, check back in 30 mins.

I bring my live rats into the snake room in a container without a lid. I watch both sets of animals for about 20 minutes. I usually take that time to figure out who's getting the bigger small, or the smaller pup. After the 20ish minutes are up I start dropping in the rats. Sometimes I have to put the rats in a tube, open the tub, then slide the rat in due to the snakes striking at air as soon as I open their tubs. I then check to see that all have balled up on their prey items, watching the last ones I fed strike, take notes to the ones that haven't "found" their food yet. <--that last one is rare. I then wait at least 36 hour before going in their tubs again for cleaning, handling, etc..

Open tank, dangle rat with feeding tongs, let him eat. Clean up any bedding that has blood on it or anything. Leave him alone for 48 hours.

I feed frozen-thawed and in the enclosure. I let the mouse defrost for the day, then heat it above room temperature with hot water in a tea cup. I use tweezers to take it out of the bag and then I place it into the enclosure in front of one of her hides. The first feeding, it took her awhile to take the mouse. Tonight, she took it pretty immediately (then "drowned" it, but whatever).

Open tub

Drop Rat

Close tub

Repeat

Once everybody is fed (breeders and hatchlings)

Open Tub

Check that the animal ate, remove rat if uneaten

Close tub

So I really don't need to be taking mine out to feed him live? He has eaten everytime I've offered and usally takes the mouse down as soon as I put it in the box with him. Just have read things on here about snakes getting sticks and stuff in there mouth when feed in enclosure. And don't really want the mouse doing its business in the enclosure either.. Have had the mouse pee while snake was coiled around..

It's a beet of an old wives tale that you need to take them out. It can be more stressful on them ot be moved for eating, and eating in tank won't make them more aggressive if you do it right. Use a feeding tongs or just toss it in there for him, don't let him aassociate your hands with food and you'll be fine.

Yea that's what I was concerned about he has been fine since I got him with me moving him from the box to the enclosure but he seems fine with it or maybe used to it. When I put him back in he usally explores a bit or goes in the warm hide. Plus taking him out gives me a chance to freshen things up before I let him be for a few days.

If you only open the enclosure to feed, and never handle the snake, then it will most likely associate you opening the enclosure with being fed. If you handle him/her/them often, clean their enclosure, and feed, they will usually just sit and watch what you are doing when you open it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Viol8r

If you only open the enclosure to feed, and never handle the snake, then it will most likely associate you opening the enclosure with being fed. If you handle him/her/them often, clean their enclosure, and feed, they will usually just sit and watch what you are doing when you open it.

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And this is totally false :gj:

This is just propagating the myth.

I do not handle my snakes (I have more than a few) they get fed they get cleaned (they are placed in holding tubs when cleaned) and they have never associated opening their tub with food.

I drop in live prey and they are usually dispatched with in a minute. However my youngest piebald is a little more picky. She will typically eat within an hour but sometimes she will go 10 to 12 hours.
In those cases I will only offer a 40 gr. ween rat so as not to jeopardize my snake. But in those cases I always periodically check to make sure my snake is safe.

Here is my set up. I usually take the water bowl and hide out and feed in tub. I drop rats in and while they eat I clean water bowl and hide to be ready to put back in after they have eaten. I also change the paper while I am at it.

BTW That is a 41QT sterilite rack that I made.


http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps62265f08.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

And this is totally false :gj:

This is just propagating the myth.

I do not handle my snakes (I have more than a few) they get fed they get cleaned (they are placed in holding tubs when cleaned) and they have never associated opening their tub with food.

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How often do you clean? How big is the enclosure compaired to the snake? I only said this cause I actually know of someone to which this has happend...:gj:

I feed f/t in the enclosure as well but my BP is on paper towel instead of substrate. No chance of him getting any thing in his mouth he's not supposed to and it's also much easier to tell when it's been soiled. I usually let him eat and move to his hide before I clean the paper if it needs to be then leave him for 36 hours at least

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Well the last 4 live feedings I've done, I've removed my bp from enclosure and place in box drop live mouse in the box and he's always on it within a minute if that. Then I let him get it down and sit in the box for 20-30 min while I'm cleaning and such and doing a spot temp check on the uth. Put everything back in and pick the snake up and put him in there and let him be. Basicly I want to know if I'm risking a regugition doing this? I handle my snake usally every other day if not a little more.. Except the 36-48 hours after eating..

I feed in the enclosure. I tried using a separate feeding bin for the first couple of feedings (F/T) and the whole wiggling it with the tongs and my little guy wanted nothing to do with it. His first successful feeding was in his enclosure when all else had failed and I decided to see if maybe minimizing the stress by just setting the rat in front of his hide would encourage him to take it. He did and he has been fed in there ever since. I do lay down a piece of paper before putting the rat in just because I worry about him ingesting his bedding (many claim this is not an issue, so this may just be me being overprotective). He has even started striking and coiling recently, where before he would just nose around and then put his mouth around it. He has never struck at me or even balled up. I am going to agree with others on here that have said that the aggression from feeding association thing is a myth. I mean granted hands have a heat signature but they are much larger and (hopefully) not rat scented. I frequently reach in and lift the hide my guy is hiding under with his nose about an inch from my fingers and he has never so much as postured at me. I even found myself having to handle him while he was going into shed recently and he was not the least bit aggressive. Granted, some snakes will strike when you reach in to get them out, but I don't think that has anything to do with the feeding method. :)

Oh and as far as regurgitation goes, very gently moving him from the box to his enclosure should not be enough to cause that. Regurgitation is usually triggered by a prolonged incorrect temperature (which would cause the snake to conclude that it cannot safely digest) or enough stress and handling for it to feel in danger. I also handle Shesha every day except for feeding day and 48 hours after, he has never regurgitated and is always active and seems comfortable when he is out. I just base it on things like whether he is willingly exploring, not searching for a place to hide, and actively flicking his tongue. If I get him out after 48 hours and he seems very reluctant to move I play it safe and return him to his enclosure. Basically, if he is comfortable moving around I figure we are good to go on handling. Since snakes tend to just coil up and sit still while actively digesting, this is the sort of behavior that I look for to indicate that he is not ready to be out and about yet. The only real concern I am aware of with feeding in a separate tub is the risk of stress based refusal (which it sounds like you are not having a problem with) and the risk of being bitten actually increasing since you are handling (albeit briefly) while they are in feeding mode to put them back in their enclosure. If he is eating well and you aren't worried about him biting you, you should be just fine.

Yea I have no worrys about him biteing me he's never tried. Prolly cuz I let him roam free in the room when I have him out. Thanks that was the one thing I was worried about

Heres a vid I made of a feeding...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qmn...QHNDbyDJXOBZUA

I put mine in a big, clear tub with a lid. If I feed him a frozen rat, I smack it against the side of the tub. It either makes him mad or interested, but either way it goes down his throat. If I feed live, I drop it in and he comes to it. I hate feeding live though.... I only do it when he WILL NOT eat frozen.

No need to over-complicate feeding. Since this video I have bought an IR temp gun to make sure the f/t rat is the right temp and don't need to to use the domed lamp to heat the head anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_2bqham57k


Also, maybe when they're eating larger prey they need 48 hours. But 24 hours after feeding if I leave the sliding door open the snake is perfectly happy to leave enclosure, climb down off the desk, wander around and be held.

Some of my snakes eat frozen and some eat live. So what I do is, if I'm feeding live I take the snake out of its enclosure and put it in a separate container (this may stress some snakes out but mine don't seem to mind. They just get all excited cause they know they're getting food). If I'm feeding f/t I just open the tub, dangle the rodent in front of the snake, and when the snake takes it I close the tub and check back in 10 minutes or so to see if they ate or are in the process of eating.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 200xth

Open tub.

Put food in.

Close tub.

If food was live, check back in 30 mins.

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I also very much disagree with this person [emoji15] if you're feeding live you should NOT take your eyes of the snake or the mouse/rat when they're together. Obviously, once the snake has killed it you can leave it alone to eat. If you were to put a live animal in with your snake, and leave it alone for 30 MINUTES, who knows what could happen in that time. Let's say you drop the mouse in, close the tub, and walk away. If that mouse attacks your snake and does severe damage, you're not going to know it for 30 MINUTES.
I never take my eyes off my snake when I put a live rat in with it (this is why I feed the snakes who eat live in a separate container. So I can watch them). I once had a rat lunge at my snake and I reached in there so quick to grab that rat and get it out of there. I don't think I've ever moved so quickly in my life. If I had put that rat in, and left for 30 MINUTES I don't doubt that rat would've seriously injured my snake.

This is also why I'm trying to switch all my snakes to f/t.




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I feed mine live, so I choose to feed in a seperate enclosure for a number of reasons. First is that I can observe the feeding if something goes wrong. BPs aren't the smartest reptiles and won't attack pray that's chewing on them. I have lots of places for the rats to hide and five seperate enclosures so it would be a nightmare.

My second reason is sanitary. Rat poop and pee is disgusting and until you feed in a seperate enclosure, you don't realize how much they defecate (especially if the BP doesn't take it right away). I really don't want my BPs slithering all over that for a month. Plus, then you get rat poop on your hand when you go to handle your BP.

I know people on here write novels about how stressful and dangerous it is to move BPs in a different enclosure on feeding day, but it's been working out for me feeding five snakes for nearly three years every single week. I never had an incident where a BP lunged at me while in "feeding mode". They know that once I put them in their containers, food will follow. Then, I gently take them out and place them back. No regurgitations yet either.

Do I have weeks where some of them don't eat? Sure I do. But most of them eat every week and rarely skip a meal. If I wanted something that eats without question, i'd get into Corns or Boas.

I say do whatever is easier for you and your snake. If your BP takes F/T and it's the easiest way for you to feed, then zombie dance that sucker in the BP's terrarium and call it a day. Personally, I can't stand the thought of defrosting dead mice and hair drying them but that's just me.

Well this turned out to be a tad longer than I wanted... lol. Good luck on your perfect feeding day. [emoji3]

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I feed live. Bring feeders in room (snakes immediately come to front of cages.)

Pick up rat with tongs

Open door

Put rat in near snake

Close door and watch snake "hunt". Within seconds she strikes and coils.

When rat is dead I watch unobtrusively that she starts swallowing.

Turn off lights and let her eat. Once finished she always drinks some water then heads to her hide for 48 hours.


Molly & Steve
0.1 normal BP 'Precioucess'
0.1 BCI 'Luna'

I feed my BP's F/T in a separate tub 'outside' their enclosure. I keep my snakes in a display tank on Cypress mulch and I don't want my snakes ingesting any substrate nor any blood'n guts on my substrate. Besides, when my snakes are feeding, I can do some maintanace.
My snakes never skip a meal and have never regurged. I don't handle them within 48 hrs after feeding.

Open tub
Offer live rat
Make sure rat can't bite the snake
Move on to the next.
Then I go back through to make sure they are eating and record date so I can keep track of feeding.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cold_Blooded_Designs

Open tub
Offer live rat
Make sure rat can't bite the snake
Move on to the next.
Then I go back through to make sure they are eating and record date so I can keep track of feeding.

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That's probably the best advice in this thread. My BP's still less than a year old and growing fast, so the rats are moving up in size. Keeping track of the date and time, size & weight of f/t rat and weight of the snake is important, helpful and interesting.

I agree with Viol8tr. My balls don't like frozen so I go with live. There is a risk of the rat biting the snake, which has happened once or twice. So I like to see the strike and coil so if the head of the rat is free to bite I use a golf tee to let him bite instead of my snake. This only seems to happen with my albino though. The others will just keep coiling until you can't even see the rat.

Live prey in their tubs. I stay in the room and keep an eye on them.

I place the mouse in
I wait for the mouse to walk into the hide because my snake is surprisingly too lazy to go out for it.
when I hear a "SQUEAK!!!" I then know that the snake is eating just fine

I use a large tub. I thaw out the rats and make sure they are still warm when I remove them from their bags then put them aside and place the snake in the tub. Then I dangle the rat and move it back and forth close by to get the snakes attention and this elicits a strike. I then leave the snake be to eat unless for some reason they're difficult then I try enticing them again and it usually does the trick. After, I wait until they are actively trying to escape the tub and put them in their cages

0.2 Normal

I feed mine in her enclosure. She has NEVER struck at me when handling her and always takes her food right away.

I only have one who feeds on live, and when I feed her I usually monitor her closed tub to ensure she eats and or is unharmed. The others eat frozen and once they take I move on to the next tub. After I'm sure they've ate I record it


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