Methods used in Feeding

So let's get a real consensus here....

Frozen thawed in tank with mousie dance. Although Pelota can just take it without any movement. It's just faster with the dance. Oh, and for the last three feedings I've been feeding in a seperate container for a few reasons: To get her used to both in cage and in seperate container incase in the future I have to do either one, and because it's more of a hassle to take out her hides and decorations and laying down a sheet of paper. She's fine with both, so I'm satisfied. :)

well.... what if its f/t, in tank, BUT they snatch it out of the air?? :) my girl does that... other one is currently on live, in tank

F/T in tank, left over night.

A couple I can get away with just laying it in there - but mosre often than not they need the dance to snap them into it.

I picked f/t with dropped and left. That does hold fairly true for Issa with his last two feedings, but we'll see if it continues. As for Butters, it turns out her first feeding with me was right before shed, and I was in the middle of fixing the screen with the rubbermaid, so she got left in her feeding container with a dead mouse for a while. She ate it. I don't know if she'll need the mouse dance, or to be left alone with it overnight..we'll see.

i feed f/t in a separate container, but i don't exactly just leave it there. nellie usually grabs it as i am setting it down and then i stay and watch her constrict and eat. when she is finished i put her back into her enclosure.

F/T in seperate tank.

I just drop and nudge it and she takes it.

Last time me and roxy ate lunch together, i had some cereal while she chowed down on a nice warm rat.Ahh theres nothing like eating with your snake :lol: :chew:

pre-killed seperate tub

P/k and a little bit of the mouse dance in the cage. Just *whack* wiggle wiggle and through the teeth past the gums look out tummy here it comes

My method doesn't exactly fit in any of those. I feed f/t, but I stick the rat and Shelby in a paper grocery bag, roll it shut, and leave them overnight. Does the trick. :)

I use f/t (or sometimes prekilled, but never live). I do that "rat dance" and each snake grabs it. Goblin has the cute habit of lurching right out the doors of his cage to grab the rat!

F/t and in enclosure. She's eaten twice since I got her on the 4th, on the 9th and last night. I'm feeding her every 6 days and then bumping it up to every 7 when she gets a little bigger. I just have to do the zombie mouse dance and she grabs it and down it goes. Last night was so cute, she grabbed the butt and constricted that end instead of the head and then proceeded to swallow a back leg. She let go after a bit, sniffed the mouse's bum, you could pretty much see the look of "eeewww that doesn't smell right" and had the hardest time finding the head, LoL. She practically turned herself upside down trying to find it, she's not too smart :) Poor girl.

Hey Angela, maybe yours just prefer the flying zombie mice?? That might make a good horror movie :-D

Always inside the enclosure, and it depends on the individual snake and/or situation for live or f/t.

p/k in tank but the next feeding im goin to het her eating in another tank!

I find it very interesting that so many people have said they feed in the tank. I've read over, and over, and over again that feeding should take place outside the tank, so that your bp doesn't associate reaching into the tank with receiving food.

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Originally Posted by epilover

I find it very interesting that so many people have said they feed in the tank. I've read over, and over, and over again that feeding should take place outside the tank, so that your bp doesn't associate reaching into the tank with receiving food.

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I've never had a problem with this. I open my snakes' cages for many other things other than food, so it's never an issue. If you only opened your snake's cage once a week to feed it, then you'd have trouble.

Like alot of people who feed in the tank have said........... with daily water changes and other stuff you are opening the tank quite often,therefore i dont think the snake will associate the opening of the tank with food.Alot of people have no problems feeding in the tank, its really not a big deal.I just feed out of the tank becuase if i dont they will drag the food into a hide and then i cant tell what they are doing and if they are getting it down ok.It just works better for me


And even still, with feeding outside the tank, if you feed inside the same extra tank everytime i think they can associate that tank with feeding so really its just as dangerous i think.

I only say that becuase as soon as i put my snakes in thier feeding tanks the start hunting right away and curl thier necks back into the "s" thats what makes me belive they can associate a differnt tank with food.

Just my opinion

f/t in a seperate container, and leave them for a while. I feed Cali my first time on Saturday, and she did not take it immeditaly, so I threw a towl over top, came back 30-1 min later and she was eating it, boy was I happy. I was wondering though, in that ammount of time, it it enough to constrict the mouse?

Sometimes, they dont constrict, they just swallow.My corn who ate F/T out of the egg doesnt ever constrict.Was your snake Raised on F/T ??

30 minutes is a pretty long time .Chances are it constricted. Thats definitly enough time to constrict and swallow for my snakes :?

I think he meant 30 seconds to 1 minute. :) Which probably means he didnt constrict. Or it was a real quick constriction, lol. Pelota constricts the rodent for 3 minutes...sometimes up to 5. Guess she wants to make sure it's not gonna come back to life and get her. :o

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Originally Posted by epilover

I find it very interesting that so many people have said they feed in the tank. I've read over, and over, and over again that feeding should take place outside the tank, so that your bp doesn't associate reaching into the tank with receiving food.

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It just goes to show you shouldn't believe everything you read :P

I went off on a rant on this a while back, but I'll do it again.

There is no evidence that ball pythons will associate the opening of enclosures with feeding if you feed inside the enclosure. And as it's been said, even if it were possible, opening the enclosure for other reasons would prevent such an association from developing.

The only other worry is the ingestion of substrate, which could cause impaction. If you're using an appropriate substrate though, this is not a problem.

In fact, I would argue against feeding outside an enclosure because a) you're handling the ball python right before feeding it and b) throwing it into an environment it's not accustomed to, hence causing unnecessary stress right before feeding. Besides, if there really was a case to be made of ball pythons developing associations, your handling of them before them would be more easily recognized than just the enclosure opening. Something to think about.

The ONLY possible advantage I could see is if the feeding enclosure you're using is heavily scented with prey, thus being a stronger trigger for feeding. However, in order for such a smell to be held (like in soiled shavings), there would be something in the enclosure that could be ingested and lead to impaction.

Also, every breeder I've ever talked to about this subject feeds inside the enclosure. Not to say that it must be true just because breeders say so, but I do believe that it requires more understanding of ball pythons to successfully hatch some of your own out (unless you're acquiring gravid females) than to just be able to keep one alive and healthy. If so many people are able to hatch out babies while feeding inside the enclosure and not getting bitten, I think there's sufficient empirical evidence to conclude that feeding inside enclosures is not a problem and if anything, is more likely to be advantageous.

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I think he meant 30 seconds to 1 minute.

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ohhhh ok,i guess i wasnt paying attention,lol i was real tired last night .

Recently Kitty has gone all wierd, no longer strikes and will only eat if left in an opaque box, with very warm rat, for a few hours. I have to put a heat pad under the side with the rat to keep it warm. At some point kitty gobbles him up. Then is is back to the enclosure

My little guy won't touch dead , not with mouse dance , left overnight , or anything . So it's live in a seperate tank .