Now Boop won't eat

So full shed, big poop on sunday. Now she won't eat...again. this is her just laying over her rat pup. She also dropped to 188g. Her initial weight was 192g. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c553fd2855.jpg

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Cross that...rofl. She ate after I left it in there and walked away for a while. Silly snek!

She beautiful, glad she changed her mind and ate after all..


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You might find her feeding response improves if you feed her in her cage. I've had no issues with 'aggression' with my little one who simply will NOT eat outside her habitat. And while they're a different species, same goes for the corns (which most people say to feed outside enclosure). My snakes are able to tell feeding time vs cleaning/handling time.

For sure feed in the cage.

It was always silly to me thinking about feeding outside the cage. I have two snakes over 6ft. One is my BRB and the other is my 40lb Blood. Can you imagine trying to move those two into a feeding area? Good luck!

Even my small guys like my GTP would be a nightmare. At night he bites everything. Trying to get him out and moved to a feeding area would leave me very bloody.

Though all my snakes regularly hammer their food none of them show any signs of aggression when I'm cleaning or handling them during non feeding times.

You are less likely to cause stress to the snake and greatly reduce the risk of getting tagged which is both good for you and the snake.



The only reason to feed outside of the cage is if you're feeding live. If you're doing that you should never leave the snake alone with a rodent. If you don't know why Google pictures of rat chewed snakes.

I agree with the others about feeding in their enclosures.
The whole feeding tub thing is slowly becoming a thing of the past, for good reason.
There is no benefit, just added stress moving your snake before and after a meal.

well I get in holding her time, and for her to roam the living room too. I am a firm believer of not feeding in her home. Even though she is a very sweet girl I do not want to increase a chance of her thinking my hand is dinner. I would feel so bad if she bit me or my son when it would not be her fault. its a no go for me.

I hope my response did not sound snotty. it was not meant to sound that way. :)

Snakes wont become conditioned for food in the cage unless that is the only reason you ever open the cage. None of my snakes will strike once they realize dinner isnt coming, even my retic who pretty much eats anything that comes near him when he's in food mode.

Feeding outside the cage is fine for something small like a BP but anything larger and you really shouldnt do it. The downsides to it far outweigh the upsides. Even for my BP, she is fed in her cage as well and has been for years. I can just reach in and grab her any time. The boas and retic, i have to let them know it's not dinner first by either booping their head with a twisted paper towel or letting them come forward and see their is no food coming. They all got really strong feeding responses though where as my BP was a beast when she was a baby, then once she hit one year old, she adopted the typical BP feeding of 'I'll eat here and there and just annoy the heck out of you'. That's why i give her a couple mins and if she doesnt grab the rat by then, Caesar the retic gets extra dinner. Just dont have the patience for picky eaters. She either eats or goes hungry a week. So far she hasnt eaten since February but still weighs 1625g lol.

She is only 9mo old and on average 190g.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

well I get in holding her time, and for her to roam the living room too. I am a firm believer of not feeding in her home. Even though she is a very sweet girl I do not want to increase a chance of her thinking my hand is dinner. I would feel so bad if she bit me or my son when it would not be her fault. its a no go for me.

I hope my response did not sound snotty. it was not meant to sound that way. :)

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You are new and I understand that you were probably told to feed outside the enclosure however you are simply believing one the oldest myth out there, there is no such a thing ass cage aggression because an animal is fed in the cage, you actually put yourself at more risk moving an animal from one place to another while said animal is in feed mod which can start hours prior to feeding and last hours after feeding (just think about it), not to mention with animals such as BP it is actually stressful enough to lead to a refusal.

As for getting bit sooner or later it will happen and it will have nothing to do with feeding in the enclosure.

You were given very good advice and when asking for advice you should be willing to listen but ultimately it's on you and whether or not you want your animal to eat or prefer to believe a myth.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

well I get in holding her time, and for her to roam the living room too. I am a firm believer of not feeding in her home. Even though she is a very sweet girl I do not want to increase a chance of her thinking my hand is dinner. I would feel so bad if she bit me or my son when it would not be her fault. its a no go for me.

I hope my response did not sound snotty. it was not meant to sound that way. :)

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Hey, if it works for you and your snake and you want to stick with it, do your thing.

Time and experience has proven that it's counter-productive though. I feed all of my snakes in their enclosures. I've been bitten twice by my snakes since getting back into the hobby and both times were outside the enclosure and my fault. The only time one of my snakes even lunged at me while in it's enclosure was my Kingsnake while he was in shed. He's a sweetheart, until he's in shed, then he's a jerk. I was adding a second water bowl and he made a defensive lunge just to warn me. I knew ahead of time that he was defensive while in shed and tried to be quick, but he was quicker.
But none of my snakes have ever showed any aggression whatsoever (other than that incident with the King) inside their enclosures and have been fed in their enclosures since day one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Hey, if it works for you and your snake and you want to stick with it, do your thing.

Time and experience has proven that it's counter-productive though. I feed all of my snakes in their enclosures. I've been bitten twice by my snakes since getting back into the hobby and both times were outside the enclosure and my fault. The only time one of my snakes even lunged at me while in it's enclosure was my Kingsnake while he was in shed. He's a sweetheart, until he's in shed, then he's a jerk. I was adding a second water bowl and he made a defensive lunge just to warn me. I knew ahead of time that he was defensive while in shed and tried to be quick, but he was quicker.
But none of my snakes have ever showed any aggression whatsoever (other than that incident with the King) inside their enclosures and have been fed in their enclosures since day one.

Now I feel guilty for calling him a jerk, I think I'll grab him and hang out for a bit...

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I am listening to everyone. I just wanted everyone to know. The more I know, the better snake parent I will be. Thank you everyone for the advice. I am still leary and scared of feeding her in her enclosure. Learning is an adventure. Thank you everyone.