Woot Woot!

So, trying to feed one of my rescues f/t, he wouldn't eat it, and the lady I rescued them from said he'd eat both live and f/t, as with the female, but not the younger male.
ANYWAYS, just to see if it was bad, or if he just didn't want to eat I dangled the thawed mouse in the younger snakes cage(since he was already active and easy to get to, etc. I also don't usually feed in the same enclosure I keep them in). He looked at it, and kept slithering up as I put my hand up a bit as he slithered up so I dont get bit lol. Next thing I know, before I knew it he struck it and ate it!
This is also my first time successfully feeding f/t, what makes me feel more accomplished is that he never ate f/t before(or while the lady had him at least).
I didn't get a picture of him eating, but here's what he looks like too!

http://s32.postimg.org/he31vu429/20160512_184756_1.jpg

Why do you feed them in a separate enclosure ???


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Originally Posted by dustin860

Why do you feed them in a separate enclosure ???

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Since I generally feed live, it's easier to watch both my snake and rat, plus it's recommended and I caged two BP's together for a while. Also makes use of one of the the extra cages I have.

That's a nice looking snake! Congrats on the rescue.

Do you feed with your hands or feeding tongs?

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Originally Posted by butterballpython

That's a nice looking snake! Congrats on the rescue.

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Thanks!
I just shared all my BP's on the picture forum with their stories if anyone wants to check it out :)

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Originally Posted by Jon14

Do you feed with your hands or feeding tongs?

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Live, I just put in the tank and watch carefully. F/t with hands(have yet to be bitten during feeding, thankfully) and working on getting tongs

Just checking, it doesn't take much for a snake to miss and catch your hand instead.

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Originally Posted by Jon14

Just checking, it doesn't take much for a snake to miss and catch your hand instead.

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Oh I know, my second one snake that was given f/t is like a scared-y cat and wouldn't strike if the foods in my hand, the one I got to eat f/t the first time kept slithering up as though he was going to strike my hand, and i've seen BP strike the hand that feeds rather than a feeder.

Who recommended you feed in a separate enclosure? You should read up on feeding in separate enclosures. There's a lot of opinions on both sides but IMO the pros out weigh cons for feeding in enclosure and cons out weigh pros when feeding in different enclosure. I could give you some reason why if you would like. Many others on here will tell you the same thing. I'm not telling you to change your method, if it works it works. I'm just saying read up on it and decide from the information you researched. Also I just use basic hot dog tongs for my f/t lol congrats on your first successful f/t!!!!

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

Who recommended you feed in a separate enclosure? You should read up on feeding in separate enclosures. There's a lot of opinions on both sides but IMO the pros out weigh cons for feeding in enclosure and cons out weigh pros when feeding in different enclosure. I could give you some reason why if you would like. Many others on here will tell you the same thing. I'm not telling you to change your method, if it works it works. I'm just saying read up on it and decide from the information you researched. Also I just use basic hot dog tongs for my f/t lol congrats on your first successful f/t!!!!

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I forget who recommended it, but if you have reasons why not to, go ahead and share if you want. I don't mind listening.. er, reading. Anyways, I've never had issues with doing this, so maybe i'll let Orochi feed f/t in his own enclosure instead of a separate one. My new ones I kind of want to feed in separate enclosures for a while at least to check out their eating habits, plus I don't want to feed live in the same enclosure just in case.

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Originally Posted by Nitewolfie

I forget who recommended it, but if you have reasons why not to, go ahead and share if you want. I don't mind listening.. er, reading. Anyways, I've never had issues with doing this, so maybe i'll let Orochi feed f/t in his own enclosure instead of a separate one. My new ones I kind of want to feed in separate enclosures for a while at least to check out their eating habits, plus I don't want to feed live in the same enclosure just in case.

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There's absolutely no reason to feed outside of their cage. If you're feeding outside of their cage because you have two bp's together, then you need to get them separate containers to solve that issue. People say to feed in a separate cage to avoid cage aggression, but that's just not true. Just about everyone here feeds in the snake's enclosure and there's no increase in cage aggression. Best case scenario, it does no harm or good to move the snake back and forth. Worst case you stress the snake out moving it and it refuses food (actual worst case would be regurgitation, but refusal is more common).

What eating habits are you checking out? What's this "just in case" that's causing you to feed live in another enclosure?

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Originally Posted by bks2100

There's absolutely no reason to feed outside of their cage. If you're feeding outside of their cage because you have two bp's together, then you need to get them separate containers to solve that issue. People say to feed in a separate cage to avoid cage aggression, but that's just not true. Just about everyone here feeds in the snake's enclosure and there's no increase in cage aggression. Best case scenario, it does no harm or good to move the snake back and forth. Worst case you stress the snake out moving it and it refuses food (actual worst case would be regurgitation, but refusal is more common).

What eating habits are you checking out? What's this "just in case" that's causing you to feed live in another enclosure?

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Exactly what I was gonna say but I didn't wanna dissuade him if what he's doing is working .. Never fed any of mine outside there enclosures

Like I said you do what you want and what you feel comfortable with. What I'm sharing in this post is both my opinion and other peoples opinions I have gathered from researching the topic and reading other members opinions here.

Feeding in a separate enclosure requires you to move the snake after it has been fed, this causes unnecessary stress and a bp should be left alone 48hrs after it eats bc you don't want to cause a regurge and the stress of moving after fed could cause this. Also the snake is going to only associate the separate cage for feeding time only which can cause you to get bit especially bc the snake will be in feeding mode with the smell of rodent in the air and you have to reach back in there to return it to its main cage. In the snakes actual enclosure you have less risk of being bit bc it associates it own cage for more then just feeding, it sleeps, poops, slithers, hides, etc in there and plus you won't be reaching back in after it had meal bc your suppose to wait at least 48hrs and after that time has past the smell of rodent will be gone unless it was a messy feeding. I hear most of the time people saying that its possible for the snake to swallow substrate if fed in regular enclosure and yes this is true but a snake can pass a little, think about it they digest a rodent bones and all with no problem. If your worried about the snake eating substrate you can always lay some paper towels down before feeding. I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think about right now. Like I said do what you think is best. I'm just giving you insight on the side of people who feed in regular enclosure.

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I would feed live in enclosure as well for the reasons I said above. No live should ever be unattended so idk how it would benefit feeding in a separate enclosure.

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I primarily feed inside the enclosure. My sole motivation for doing so is that it is faster with the number of animals I have. That said....

Feed inside
1. Works well for shy animals
2. More efficient except when rodent explodes

Feed outside
1. Easier to clean up if there is a problem (exploding rats, rat poop).
2. Easier (for me) to stay focused when feeding live.
3. The environment change can sometimes trigger the feeding response in problem feeders. This by far is the one that is my go to when converting to frozen thawed or when an animal that needs to eat is not eating. Case in point is my female that laid about two weeks ago. She lost way too much weight and I absolutely had to get her to eat. She was washed and put in a new tub after I took her eggs. over the past two weeks ... Best dead rat dance "no-go". Live rat "no-go". Took her out and put her on the floor in a completely different type tub covered with a towel. Couple hours later, put live rat in. Wham. Now i am going to have to convince her to eat FT again, but at least she is eating.

All that said there is no hard and fast rule. Each animal is different. People are different. Do what works for you but honestly one is not better than the other. Use the right tool for the job.

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Originally Posted by bks2100

There's absolutely no reason to feed outside of their cage. If you're feeding outside of their cage because you have two bp's together, then you need to get them separate containers to solve that issue. People say to feed in a separate cage to avoid cage aggression, but that's just not true. Just about everyone here feeds in the snake's enclosure and there's no increase in cage aggression. Best case scenario, it does no harm or good to move the snake back and forth. Worst case you stress the snake out moving it and it refuses food (actual worst case would be regurgitation, but refusal is more common).

What eating habits are you checking out? What's this "just in case" that's causing you to feed live in another enclosure?

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If I feed live, I have easier access to the feeder in case I get too scared of the rat biting my snakes, I guess. Also, I think I started feeding them in separate enclosure due to for a while i caged two together(but i just recently separated them)
Also, I don't want my snakes to swallow the substrate and possibly get mouth rot( I also think this is a reason for at least Ryuu, since I've seen her miss and or strike her food(feeding live, since I don't have tongs yet I just put each other in the enclosure) and get a good bit of substrate, partly why i use paper towels but I am soon getting something different to put down)

I guess I should start feeding in their enclosures?

Edit: I just finished reading what everyone said, I think i'll start feeding most, if not all in the same enclosure.
Also, would anyone suggest like a grassy-carpet(I forget what it's called) type substrate? I've seen people use it in racks at least, but I haven't seen anyone recommend it for BPs.

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Originally Posted by Nitewolfie

Also, would anyone suggest like a grassy-carpet(I forget what it's called) type substrate? I've seen people use it in racks at least, but I haven't seen anyone recommend it for BPs.

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I use nothing but paper towels, but i do not have any animals out for display. There is natural substrate that people use but i cannot make a recommendation since I have never used any myself. The grassy carpet stuff is pretty much thought of as a bad deal across the board. It is just a breeding factory for nasty stuff.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

I use nothing but paper towels, but i do not have any animals out for display. There is natural substrate that people use but i cannot make a recommendation since I have never used any myself. The grassy carpet stuff is pretty much thought of as a bad deal across the board. It is just a breeding factory for nasty stuff.

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Paper towels is what I currently use, but I kind of want something more realistic, if that makes sense? I have a bit of eco earth and moss in humidity boxes, which is where most of my snakes spend their time in, could be they either like that bedding more or I need to fix the humidity(thinking it's the humidity though, won't know till my new hygrometer comes in sometime this week)

Edit: I also have a number to a "reptile expert" is what they call her, and i'm going to call her either today or tomorrow and also ask about substrate.