Silly question about removing BP from feeding tank

[chadpitt74]

Hi, i've been reading that the best practice for feeding a BP is to remove it from its tank and place it in a feeding tank. I also read that a BP shouldn't be handled for 48 hours after feeding, but is it safe to handle it temporarily by moving it from the feeder tank to its normal tank? If yes, then how long should i wait before i move it back to it's tank? Sorry if the question may seem silly, but i'm trying to get all the information before i decide to get a BP.

[Vypyrz]

When I got my first snake, I was told to feed in a separate enclosure. I basically waited until he was finished eating and started moving around the tub, then I would gently lift him out, taking care not to grab him around his stomach. I just put one hand in front of his stomach and one behind his stomach, then I would place him in his tank and leave him alone for a couple of days. Once I got him converted over to Frozen/Thawed I just started feeding him in his tank because I didn't have to worry about the rats climbing on everything I had in his tank and hiding or escaping. It is completely up to you whether or not you feed in their enclosure or a separate tub...

[chadpitt74]

Thank you for the detailed response

[steveboos]

Don't worry about picking him up, just wait until he is moving around and then gently pick him up as stated before. I've never had issues doing it this way, but now i always feed in the cage/tub cause it really doesn't matter and you wont have to worry about getting bit cause they know the difference between food and care-giver.

[chadpitt74]

This is slightly off-topic, but i've seen some BPs housed in tubs, but are not in a special rack. Those tubs probably have a heater pad, but what other heat source do they use to get the temp up to around 90 degrees? I could be mistaken though. Maybe those tubs will be put into racks later that i can't see in the pic/video.

[steveboos]

No some people who don't have a rack will heat a whole room to around 84 degrees and keep the snakes in tubs without pads. Most people will have a separate heat pad for each tub and stack them together, but some tubs don't allow for stacking if the lid isn't sturdy enough.

Racks are the ideal thing to have, then have flexwatt or an UTH under each tub, or running down the back wall, which is in turn controlled by a Thermostat preferably Helix, Herpstat, or Ranco/Johnson's.

[corgigirl9]

I just bought a rack and am absolutely thrilled with it. No more tanks everywhere, everyones temp is the same, hopefully reduction in escapees... I love it! I didnt do "DIY" frankly because I figured the frustration when projects go wrong just aint worth it.

[ChuckSM]

The tubs I have standing alone, just the UTH heats the tub to about 85 because the lids keep the haet in, that and I keep them in a sunroom with windows on 3 sides of the room. But just in case I have a small space heater set to 86 about 1 foot away from the tub and that covers it when the temps get below.

[rabernet]

Hi, i've been reading that the best practice for feeding a BP is to remove it from its tank and place it in a feeding tank. I also read that a BP shouldn't be handled for 48 hours after feeding, but is it safe to handle it temporarily by moving it from the feeder tank to its normal tank? If yes, then how long should i wait before i move it back to it's tank? Sorry if the question may seem silly, but i'm trying to get all the information before i decide to get a BP.

I've never used a separate feeding enclosure for any of my kiddos. That opinion, at least for ball pythons, is old, and no longer considered a necessary precaution. I know that many of my collection would refuse to eat if they were disturbed prior to being offered food.

My recommendation would be to not even move your snake from its tank to feed it.

In fact, if you think about it - the risk for being bitten is greater when moving to a feeding tank, since they only time they get moved to that is for feeding, thus they associate that tank with feeding - and then you have to worry about whether they are still in feeding mode when you move them again.

Whereas, if you feed in their enclosure, you're going into the enclosure many other times besides feeding day, so they have no reason to associate your going into the enclosure for feeding time.

[ballpythonluvr]

Robin is correct. There really is no reason to move your snake to another container to feed it. I have a baby ball python that has an incredible feeding response. He is ready to strike before I even get the prey item in the enclosure. I would not move my snake because of his insane feeding response because I know I would surely get bitten.