Feeding in different box Good or Bad?

Hey, I have seen some people feeding their snakes in different boxes or dubs instead of their tank or where they usually keep their snake. I was curious is this a good idea? I personally didnt think it is but wanted an opinion. Thanks

I feed all my corn snakes in a separate tub. It's an excuse to make sure they get handled and weighed at every feeding. Lack of substrate ingestion is a bonus. It helps that corns are easy feeders.

My one BP so far I have been feeding in her vivarium, to reduce stress and make sure she eats because she is still relatively new.

I did feed her in a feeding tub yesterday, she seemed to be having trouble catching the ASF rat hopper in her viv with all of the hides and plants and such. Turned out the prey was a little too large as I tried a smaller one in the feeding tub and she took it right down. Since I have one successful feeding in a separate tub I will probably keep up with it.

I don't see any negative other than possible stress from not being in their own home. As long as they eat, it shouldn't be a problem.

It's up to the individual keeper what works best for them. I personally feed all of mine in their enclosures, I like mine being able to hunt from the security of their hides. Additionally, on feeding day, mine are locked and loaded and ready to go, I really would not want to be handling them.


I've fed previously on aspen, but now use newspaper. I had no problems with feeding on aspen, a few stray pieces of aspen were fine if they were ingested and posed no problem.

You will find with shy animals such as ball pythons, often moving to a separate feeding enclosure could cause them to refuse, because they've been removed from the safety and security of their hides.

I personally haven't seen any benefit to feeding in a separate enclosure to make me want to try it, and I've never been mistaken for food by feeding my crew in their enclosures.

We feed all but one of our snakes in their home enclosures (13 ball pythons, 1 boa, 1 milksnake). All seem most comfortable and most confident while hunting in an area that is their "home" territory and since we feed live we want that sort of situation for them. Like Robin mentioned, our snakes are usually primed and ready to go on feeding night and I'd rather not stick my hand in there and shift them to another enclosure when they are obviously in strike positions and looking for food (especially not with 3,000 gram plus Brannagh LOL).

There's nothing bad or good though about feeding in or out of their enclosures. It's just another feeding decision that people have to make with their snakes. As long as it's based on good decision making and knowledge, it's all good. :)

Alrite Thanks for the input, I just wanted to know whats recommended I will still continue to feed my bp in his home not seperate box :)

We were always told not to feed in their enclosure if you use aspen bedding or the like because the snake could ingest the contests and may harm the snake. Therefore, we always feed in a separate tub.

IF IF IF we have one not eating, we place them in a container with paper over night only with a baby rat, the ones their eyes are not open so they cannot do any harm.

i feed mine in their enclosures to make them feel more comfortable at home.it's up to you whether you want to feed them in a separate tub.

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Originally Posted by KingPython

Hey, I have seen some people feeding their snakes in different boxes or dubs instead of their tank or where they usually keep their snake. I was curious is this a good idea? I personally didnt think it is but wanted an opinion. Thanks

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Some people fear to feed their BP in their enclosure because they were told that if they were doing so their BP would mistake them for food, just know it will not happen, this is a myth, if you handle your BP regularly and have a good feeding routine it will not happen. I have 12 BP and it never happened to me.

Having multiple BP it would be time consuming to feed outside the enclosure, also placing your BP back in his enclosure after his meal you are more likely in my opinion to get tag as your BP is still in feeding mode.

Feeding your BP in his enclosure will allow him to ambush the prey from the security of his reducing the stress.

Bottom line do what works for your BP and what makes you feel comfortable doing.

I have no problem with fear my BP is soo small worst he could do is bite which I cant wait to be bit lol, but my concern was also what if they swollow other stuff besides the mouse. What ever I use for my bedding is what the pet store told me it was good. The guy said if he digests it its good for him because it has calcium in it. So I am still unsure if this is true or not I will find out what its called and get back to you.But its very light in color almost white and it looks like little pebbles.

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Originally Posted by KingPython

I have no problem with fear my BP is soo small worst he could do is bite which I cant wait to be bit lol, but my concern was also what if they swollow other stuff besides the mouse. What ever I use for my bedding is what the pet store told me it was good. The guy said if he digests it its good for him because it has calcium in it. So I am still unsure if this is true or not I will find out what its called and get back to you.But its very light in color almost white and it looks like little pebbles.

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Did our pet store recommend you to use something like calci sand??? If so it is not appropriate for your BP.

Appropriate substrates for BP are

Cypress Mulch - Repti Bark - Aspen - Newspaper - Bed-a-beast.

I feed in seperate cage...all 35 of them. I have most of my snakes in tubs and I have had snakes get attacked by rats in tubs so I decieded to use bigger tubs I can see through. I have never been tagged by any of my snakes but that is not to say the same will happen for you. I have never had a problem with regurge or other problems but once again this is not to say this wouldnt happen to you. Sorry for the politicaly correct answers but I kinda got read the riot act for speaking my opinion on feeding without adding that little disclaimer in the past. I think you have to see what works for you. I can see in the future my feeding methods changing as my collection gets larger ( I cant see myself feeding 100 snakes out of their cages).

I have 3 snakes and we use a feeding tub for all 3. Our reasons are as follows:

1. No possible ingesting of bedding materials
2 I, personally, think it might give the snake the idea that anything coming into their home is food and that they should strike at it. (as I said that is purely a personal belief, there are many that disagree with me.)
3. When one of the boys "pops" at rat or mouse, clean up is much easier.
4. An excuse to handle, examine, weigh or anything else that comes to mind.
5. The perfect opportunity to go "poo hunting" and do a general check on the snakes viv, without disturbing the snake.
6. I think it is good to watch them eat, or at least be able to see them do it. If they aren't feeding right, that can be the first sign of a health problem.

That being said, there are many who disagree with me. You need to do what feels okay for you, I think everyone feeds differently.

I only have one BP at the moment, who I feed in his tank. The whole "If you feed in his tank, he'll associate you opening the cage as feeding time and bite you" is false, unless you NEVER open it to handle or clean.

I don't know if this is more of an issue with Boas but I could not feed in his enclosure. After feeding in his enclosure it never failed that I would be tagged just trying to do general maintanance or handling. I started to feed in a large tub and this behavior was reduced to minimal. This is just based on my Boa experience. I have never kept any sort of Python.... yet :cool:

I can't say I've noticed much difference with our boas really. Other than that they have a very strong feeding response and a pretty impressive strike range, they are just as easy to deal with as the ball pythons. They've always been fed, like all the BP's, in their own enclosures.

None of the boas have struck at me other than if it's feeding night and their hyped up and ready to go and that's quite understandable really. They smell the prey coming and will strike into the air, not specifically at me. Other than that evening, they don't seem to mind me messing about in their homes or getting them out for handling. Actually if anything they are quite "friendly" and willing to come out for a visit if their lids are off. :)

I feed in a tub. I'm currently switching my BP from live to F/T and he refuses F/T if fed in his viv. It is my hope that by building an association with the tub (tub=food) I can work his feeding response up to the point he will strike as soon as food is in sight, instead of leisurely examining it in his viv before looking up at me as if to say, "I ordered rare, fool! Now that this back to the kitchen and get it right!"

I also want to feed in a tub based on the same reasons already outlined by people who do.

It depends. Most of the time snake keepers will feed their snake/s inside their enclosure/s. [But] If you have a snake that is kept on crushed walnut (that's my Hognose's substrate) or any other kind of substrate that's made of tiny pieces, then it is best to feed your snake in another enclosure. I wouldn't recommend feeding your snake in a another enclosure unless the snake you have is a Western Hognose, Kenyan Sand Boa, or any other burrowing snake with sandy bedding (it could get stuck on the food).

It is a good idea to feed in a feeding tub unless of course you want to teach your snake to strike and byte your hand everytime you reach in the tank . It is up to you ! :rofl:

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Originally Posted by drugaria

It is a good idea to feed in a feeding tub unless of course you want to teach your snake to strike and byte your hand everytime you reach in the tank . It is up to you ! :rofl:

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That's not true. I feed all of mine in their enclosures, have done so for well over two years, and none of mine strike at me when I go in their enclosures for any reason other than feeding.

We feed live in their home enclosure. FT for the bloods (they get so worked up over live) and the corn gets ft, because he's lazy. :P

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Originally Posted by drugaria

It is a good idea to feed in a feeding tub unless of course you want to teach your snake to strike and byte your hand everytime you reach in the tank . It is up to you ! :rofl:

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A swing and a miss.

I only have 2 snakes and I feed them both in their enclosures.I pre scent the room for about an hour before feeding and have not been mistaken for food when reaching in their cages so far. One pokes his head out of his hide when he smells the rat and waits for his meal. He strikes immediately at live or f/t. The other one at this time eats only live mice and waits in her hide with a hole in the top. She doesnt come out to get the mouse.She waits for the mouse to enter the hide and then strikes immediately.

I also pre-sent before feeding, he always comes looking for the food, I just switched over to F/T small rats with no problems, I hold the F/T rat with a pair of tongs up away from the substrate and it still takes him a several seconds before he strikes,we tried the seperate feeding tub but he would not eat, after feeding I leave him alone for a couple days without handling but still change his water and strighten up his cage, then we handle him every day until feeding time with no problems.

I have three ball pythons, and have fed them in a separate tub since the day I got each of them. Having never fed otherwise, I can't comment on how snakes that are used to being fed in their enclosure behave, but several people on this board have expressed the sentiment that they 'would not want to reach into the cage on feeding day.' I have one girl who is an absolute monster on feeding day but, since she is used to the 'pre-feeding routine' she never gets too excited until she is put into the feeding tub. The second she hits the floor in the feeding tub she strikes at anything that moves, but prior to that I can handle her, weigh her, and just generally inspect her to ensure that she is healthy. The reason we initially chose to feed out of enclosure was because we were told the 'it will make them less likely to bite' story. None of my snakes seem to mind hunting out of their cage, and as I have never been struck at I will continue feeding in this manner. I can, however, see the time and security advantage that feeding in the enclosure might give, especially when feeding a new snake or a large number of snakes.

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Originally Posted by drugaria

It is a good idea to feed in a feeding tub unless of course you want to teach your snake to strike and byte your hand everytime you reach in the tank . It is up to you ! :rofl:

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Hmmm, well odd that since I've had one bite in my time with the snakes and they are all fed in their home enclosures. That bite by the way was a defensive grab by a very stressed recently rescued snake, so it really doesn't count in my books. You'd think by what you said that with feeding 26 of them every week....I'd be chewed to bits by now. :rofl:

To quote Kevin McCurley author of The Complete Ball Python page 41 top. Since ball pythons are shy snakes by nature, it is neither necessary nor recommended to remove them from their enclosures for feeding.

I agree with both sides, depends on the snake but i worry about them taking more then the mouse down so i feed myne in a different tub as soon as i put her in there she knows its time to eat as soon as the mouse hits the tub shes on it, and ready to strike hope this helps

the only way i can get mine to feed is if there in their tanks!

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Originally Posted by k1ingdomKaa

the only way i can get mine to feed is if there in their tanks!

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Aren't you keeping your two snakes together - in one cage?

If so, until you get your new enclosure, you need to separate them at feeding time.