how necessary are snake tongs for handling ball pythons

As the title say I had a gentleman explain that in order to feed your ball python you should place it in a different box from it cage. Feed the snake. And then so as no to be mistake as food use a snake tong to get it out. I only have one snake but my experience with it has been that it does not mistake me for food.

I feed 7 snakes in their enclosures weekly and I've never been mistaken for food. Separate enclosure feeding and snake tongs aren't needed for ball pythons and would probably put unnecessary stress on them. As long as you don't smell like rodent, you shouldn't have any problems.

I also feed my crew in their enclosures - never been mistaken for food either.

Me too. I've always fed all my snakes in their cages. Never been bitten by anyone. But I don't reach in their cages right after they eat, either. Considering how most snakes stay in "prey mode" for a while after they finish eating, it always seemed to me that you ran a bigger risk of getting bitten by moving the snake right after it finished eating, rather than just feeding them in their cage and then leaving them alone for a couple of days.

my ball has a very strong feeding response
I have been mistaken for food in the heat of the moment.

I have a small hook I use to guard my hand if I need to move furniture around prior to feeding (in his enclosure always) and of course some long tweezers to hold the food.

i do feed in different tubs. not that i think you have to. i just do. i never use hooks or anything else to handle my snakes. i do give them some time to settle after feeding before i handle them (return to their homes). i have never been mistaken for food either. i do only have about 1 year experience, and am still learning. this is just my 2 cents.

we feed our snakes in there enclousers works fine for us. Only reason I could think of to have a snake hook or tongs would be to remove a female from her eggs if she seems to be agressive in protecting them.

Ive never heard anyone need to use snake tongs for a BP. I used to feed in other containers until I got too many snakes to keep switching but I never got struck at once changing tubs after they eat. I always reached right in picked em up and put them right back in there original tank. I suppose a WC may strike after eating and changing into another tub but then again I dont think many WCs will even eat when change between enclosures to eat.

Thongs maybe tongs never:banana:

I agree with the rest that it's all unnecessary. This is how I feed my ball pythons. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=61201

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I also feed my crew in their enclosures - never been mistaken for food either.

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Ditto that.

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And then so as no to be mistake as food use a snake tong to get it out.

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Snake tongs for a BP is a bit over killed if you ask me ;)

I use the tongs when feeding to pick up the live critters when they are not eaten, and I feed in the tubs.

Caveat is that I am allergic to them, which is more the reason why I use the tongs.

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

Ditto that.

Snake tongs for a BP is a bit over killed if you ask me ;)

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as always, it depends on the snake

I recently bought a leucistic texas rat snake, which I'm told can get grumpy. I also have a male and female BP.

I've had Nag (male)for bout 2 years and he bit me a few weeks ago but it was toatally my fault. trying to feed him, I had prekilled the rat, and left him to it, but he wouldnt take it. so not even thinking I reached in to take out this rat and he bit me. was funny as h*** too, and totally my fault.

my female BP, Nagaina, bit me for the first time 2 days ago, ALSO completely my fault. I *know* that she sometimes takes a bead on my hand for a tag instead of her rat. yes the rat is fully warm, and alive, but she seems to love my hand. I've had near misses before but this was her first bite.

And my Mister Grumpy, Bloop (yes thats his name) just munches away. he bit me more the first day I had him than anything else to that date.

just goes to prove people are gonna do their own thing. I've folks here tell me pros and cons of feeding tools, but I dont feel like I have enough control with the tongs. yeah I've been bit, and will be again eventually...but its also my choise, and in ABSOLUTELY NO CIRCUMSTANCES is that bite EVER taken out on the animal, including the rats they eat.

sooooo.....yeah. my 2 cents worth

So if feeding live and by hand do u just lay it in their cage? or hand it to them? I don't really want to have use feeding tongs or whatever they're called, but i also dont want to have a rampant live rodent scurry around the cage irratating the snake...so how long do u keep the rodent in the cage?
very new at this and still waiting on getting my BP on Sat :)
got cage set up and monitoring the humidity and heat this week to get it just right for it :)

Live: Slide open tub, drop rat in, close tub. Done!
Frozen thawed: Slide open tub, hold rat with tongs, dance it, strike, curl and done!

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Originally Posted by mwedgley

As the title say I had a gentleman explain that in order to feed your ball python you should place it in a different box from it cage. Feed the snake. And then so as no to be mistake as food use a snake tong to get it out. I only have one snake but my experience with it has been that it does not mistake me for food.

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That was my experience up till about 3 weeks ago. my male BP, Nag wasnt eating, and I went to take the snake out of his bin, and I'm assuning he either felt threatend because there was food in his bin, or he smelled it but couldnt find it, and when i reached down, he tagged me...not too bad a bite but my knuckle wass bruised for a week.

my female BP, Nagaina, lets say she is an agressive eater. she is right on the ball from the time I scent the room, she is awake, aware, and impatiently waiting on dinner. so knowing this, I opened her bin with rat in hand, and she took a bead on the rat...at first :P
she somehow lost the rat and beaded on my hand, and she got me pretty ard in the soft ball of flesh surrounding your thumb palm side.

both of these incidents are totally my fault and I want everyone to know I am aware its my fault and not theirs.

now I jyst got a new baby boy and he bites me every time I touch him, but his bites right now are so soft, I only feel a slight tap. however I think when Bloop (yes thats his name) gets bigger I would imagine it would hurt more, but holefully by that time he will be used to people and I wont have to worry about it.

just my .02 if anyine cares

:banana:

ok just let me say right now I am SOOO embarassed I replied twice. guess thats what you get when you got good meds in your system. methinks I should go to bed. again, sorry about double posting

My bp is already in strike mode when i go to feed him, and I just make sure I keep my hands out of the enclosure. I use a decent length set of hemostats to clip the F?T behind the head, do a little jig and BAM, curl, goodnight. This is also good because I dont have to worry about substrate getting eaten, my bp hunts from his tree lol. I took a video of him tonight I want to post.

I feed F/T in my snakes enclosure and only been mistaken for food one time, and I would have to say it was my fault. I had been handling the food item to get it on the tongs, and when I lowered the mouse in their he wasn't looking at the mouse, but he was looking at me! Directly at my torso! Weird huh? I guess it was the heat, but he struck out directly at me, but luckely my arms are longer than him and he didn't get close ^_^.

What happend was he wasn't tracking the mouse, and instead of backing up and then re-introducing the prey item, I kept trying to get him to see it, but too late, STRIKE!

So I guess my advice would be that if the snake gets confused its always going to be the feeders fault. Make it evident that your feeding the snake the mouse and not your hand! You'll be able to tell the difference.

-Austin