2 quick feeding questions

It's almost feeding time and I have a few questions. I searched the forum but nothing came up about my specific substrate and feeding.

My 2 questions are:

1- I am using reptile bark as a substrate and I was told to not feed in the tank that has that as substrate.
I wanted to keep in the cage for feeding to not have to handle him before and after a feed, I also wanted to give him time to adjust.
Would it be possible to lay something (newspaper) where I place the food to help him not digest the substrate?

2- I've had my BP for 3 days, I heard you should wait at least one week before feeding. But his normal feeding schedule is tomorrow.
Is it better to feed him a few days late and keep the '1 week rule' or stick to his usual feeding schedule?

Thanks in advance.

ok that sound like it would work. BUT never ever feed your BP in there cage unless you want to get bitten.:colbert: don't worrie about handling it before you feed it at all and if you leave it alone for like 20 min after you see it take the prey your should be fine picking it up as long as you be gental and dont hold it exactly where the food is.

lol i for got your second question. That depends on how old it is and how many times it's been fed before. If it's an older python than i wouldnt worrie about it unless it was moved from like a tub to a cage or the other way around. But if it's a baby then i would let it adjust to it's new enviroment.

Feeding in the cage is keepers preference. We don't feed outside of the cage. I would suggest possible putting down paper to keep the bark from being unintentially being digested. As for the second question i would say you could offer food. If he takes it you should be fine. If he isn't interested in it within a few minutes you should remove it from the cage immediately so that you don't over stress him.

i use reptile bark for my snakes tank.. and i always feed inside the tank and have never had a problem with it.. i dont know why poeple think ur BP will bite u if u feed it in the tank.. there not stupid they know what their food looks and smells like and thats why my snake has never bit me when i tried to take it out

and about the second question.. you could have fed it the first day you got it.. atleast thats what i did and it took the mouse.. so ya i would give it a mouse now if u want to

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Originally Posted by 51-50 Python

i use reptile bark for my snakes tank.. and i always feed inside the tank and have never had a problem with it.. i dont know why poeple think ur BP will bite u if u feed it in the tank.. there not stupid they know what their food looks and smells like and thats why my snake has never bit me when i tried to take it out

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buddy its not about the whether they realize your food or not, its just that they register your hand and food in their brains, and your hand going in the cage so instinctivly they might bite you...it happened before to people so why do you think its so impossible?

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Originally Posted by Igor

buddy its not about the whether they realize your food or not, its just that they register your hand and food in their brains, and your hand going in the cage so instinctivly they might bite you...it happened before to people so why do you think its so impossible?

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i never said it was " impossible " im sure it happens EXTREMELY RARELY... but i dont think its worth it to take the snake in and out just to feed it everytime because that seems stressful for the snake.. if it were such a common thing then my BP would have bit me by now but its never even tried to

don't worry about feeding in the cage....there has been a lot of debates about this. personally, i've done both and never gotten bitten except on feeding day. trying to get a BP out of the cage on feeding day when the smell of rats is in the air...good luck with that. watch adam wysocki (8ball) in his video...those snakes are flying out of that cage for that rat. they'd be flying out of the cage too if you were reaching out for the purpose of moving them.

as for your second question, you can try to feed today, no prob. what you could do is let them strike, hold onto the prey item, then before letting them go back down, put the paper towel underneath. ingesting substrate is generally not good.

JonV

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Originally Posted by 51-50 Python

i never said it was " impossible " im sure it happens EXTREMELY RARELY... but i dont think its worth it to take the snake in and out just to feed it everytime because that seems stressful for the snake.. if it were such a common thing then my BP would have bit me by now but its never even tried to

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your right its rare...but its better not to condition it in any way that it might bite you...and also if you are using substrate other than newspapers or papertowels, your always runnin the risk of it being ingested...

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Originally Posted by Igor

your right its rare...but its better not to condition it in any way that it might bite you...and also if you are using substrate other than newspapers or papertowels, your always runnin the risk of it being ingested...

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well i think its worth the risk because ive read about this and its okay if the snake swallows a piece or two.. its happened to me twice and the snake was fine.. i'd rather use bark then newspaper or paper towels because for 1 it looks a lot better and 2 because its a lot less work.. newspaper ur gonna have to change a lot

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Originally Posted by 51-50 Python

well i think its worth the risk because ive read about this and its okay if the snake swallows a piece or two.. its happened to me twice and the snake was fine.. i'd rather use bark then newspaper or paper towels because for 1 it looks a lot better and 2 because its a lot less work.. newspaper ur gonna have to change a lot

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yeah, well whatever works best....for me, i take the snake out durin feeding day, than introduce the rat in a box...where it cant see it, than after about two mins i open up the box and the rat is gone within 5-10 seconds, its not a bad feeding response, considiring it didnt eat for me for a loong time while i fed it in the tank

Some great tips, thanks.

If feeding outside of the cage, the tub doesn't need to be heated I guess, right?

edit:
If he doesn't take the food after a little while do I try again the next day?

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Originally Posted by YvesA

Some great tips, thanks.

If feeding outside of the cage, the tub doesn't need to be heated I guess, right?

edit:
If he doesn't take the food after a little while do I try again the next day?

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lol na it doesnt need to be heated because the feeding is only gonna take 10 minutes max.. and if it doesnt eat try again in a week

Sorry to bump this up but I feed my BP tonight and it went great.

Took her a few minutes after waking up to realize food was there but she ate.
I've seen videos of ball pythons feeding but that was amazing to watch. :snake:

Is this one of the signs of a healthy python?

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Originally Posted by 51-50 Python

i never said it was " impossible " im sure it happens EXTREMELY RARELY... but i dont think its worth it to take the snake in and out just to feed it everytime because that seems stressful for the snake.. if it were such a common thing then my BP would have bit me by now but its never even tried to

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To get bitten during feeding is not rare at all. It happens when owners do not think before they put their hand in the range of their snake. I do agree that removing your snake from its enclosure is not necessary, but some owners do do it.

To the OP, if you are concerned in the future about feeding and your snake consuming substrate, you can put a piece of newspaper over the substrate where you put the prey, but this does not usually help for feeding live because the prey can go where ever it pleases. If you do become concerned about your bp consuming substrate on a regular basis, unprinted newspaper may be better to use rather then substrate. I personally use Scott Shop Towels, because they are not as unsightly as printed newspaper, VERY thick and absorbent, and easy to clean.

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Originally Posted by missi182

To get bitten during feeding is not rare at all. It happens when owners do not think before they put their hand in the range of their snake. I do agree that removing your snake from its enclosure is not necessary, but some owners do do it.

To the OP, if you are concerned in the future about feeding and your snake consuming substrate, you can put a piece of newspaper over the substrate where you put the prey, but this does not usually help for feeding live because the prey can go where ever it pleases. If you do become concerned about your bp consuming substrate on a regular basis, unprinted newspaper may be better to use rather then substrate. I personally use Scott Shop Towels, because they are not as unsightly as printed newspaper, VERY thick and absorbent, and easy to clean.

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Edit: Removing a snake from its enclosure for feeding also increases the chance of getting bitten, and putting your hands in range of your snakes strike during feeding can result in a bite.

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Originally Posted by missi182

To the OP, if you are concerned in the future about feeding and your snake consuming substrate, you can put a piece of newspaper over the substrate where you put the prey, but this does not usually help for feeding live because the prey can go where ever it pleases. If you do become concerned about your bp consuming substrate on a regular basis, unprinted newspaper may be better to use rather then substrate. I personally use Scott Shop Towels, because they are not as unsightly as printed newspaper, VERY thick and absorbent, and easy to clean.

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I only feed F/T prey.
This time I choose to feed in it's enclosure...
I removed her 'cold' hide box (so she would have some room) and I put down paper towel where the prey was, then after she ate, she went into her 'warm' hide box and I removed the paper and put back her 'cold' hide box.
I'll most likely just switch substrate though, just to be sure.

i guess i should have said this earlier. when we feed our snakes we make sure that we use a dollar store set of tongs for like salad to hold the feeders. it might seem silly but it gives you extra room between the feeder and you. Especially when feeding ft i can get the mice close to my snakes and keep my hands at a safe distance.

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Originally Posted by shadi11

i guess i should have said this earlier. when we feed our snakes we make sure that we use a dollar store set of tongs for like salad to hold the feeders. it might seem silly but it gives you extra room between the feeder and you. Especially when feeding ft i can get the mice close to my snakes and keep my hands at a safe distance.

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Yes that is a great tip (one that I forgot to mention too:)) I use hemostats which are like strong thin metal tongs, but dollar store tongs work perfect!!

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Originally Posted by shadi11

i guess i should have said this earlier. when we feed our snakes we make sure that we use a dollar store set of tongs for like salad to hold the feeders. it might seem silly but it gives you extra room between the feeder and you. Especially when feeding ft i can get the mice close to my snakes and keep my hands at a safe distance.

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I used long tongs too, I didn't want to get accidentally bite :weirdface

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Originally Posted by YvesA

I used long tongs too, I didn't want to get accidentally bite :weirdface

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Perfect!:)