feeding in a feeding tub causes organ damage and kills snakes?

[Craiga 01453]

I have a BP who will only eat his prey if it is wet. I take it straight form the water and he strikes almost immediately. If it's too dry, I give it another dunk in the water and he eats right away. I've tried the hair dryer, he didn't take the prey. Finicky little animals!!

[Miranda2]

I only told her, I thought she was overreacting. Which is to say her way was the only right way or your snake will die.
I feed in cage..However Ive had hatchling corns that would only eat when moved to a small tub overnight.Never had a regurge either or had one die from it.Had I not moved them to a small tub to feed they may have died.

[Merriah]

I have always provided food in a separate bin. I use a substrate from Good Ole Hemp, and it's very soft, but it's very small pieces. He could easily ingest some of it when he strikes to eat. So I put him in a clean bin to make sure he eats the mouse and only the mouse. Plus, I get to see him up close through the process which I think is very fun to watch!

[Skiploder]

I have always provided food in a separate bin. I use a substrate from Good Ole Hemp, and it's very soft, but it's very small pieces. He could easily ingest some of it when he strikes to eat. So I put him in a clean bin to make sure he eats the mouse and only the mouse. Plus, I get to see him up close through the process which I think is very fun to watch!

What will happen if your snake ingests substrate?

Please provide firsthand experience - not what you've "heard" on a forum.

Thanks!

[paulh]

Results depend on what the substrate is, snake's size and how much is swallowed. A few grains of sand or a bit of leaf is harmless; it passes through and is expelled with the feces.

A web search with "sand impaction leopard gecko" (minus the quotes) as keywords will get you a lot of hits.

Corn cob bedding has rather large pieces that swell when moisture is added. That can cause fatal impaction if swallowed.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/13939272/n...lanket-python/ has a piece about a Burmese python that swallowed an electric blanket.

Once, years ago, I opened up a friend's dead California king snake. Substrate was kitty litter. The only thing I could find wrong was a 2 mm piece of kitty litter in the lung. IMO, inhaling that was the cause of death, and I crossed kitty litter off my list of acceptable substrates.

[Outlawbp]

I feed in a different container so my snake dosent get stuff in its mouth that it shouldn't it also allows me to do another cleaning of the cage and I wait a little after he's eaten and I just lightly grab him and put him back and have had no problems

[Skiploder]

Results depend on what the substrate is, snake's size and how much is swallowed. A few grains of sand or a bit of leaf is harmless; it passes through and is expelled with the feces.

A web search with "sand impaction leopard gecko" (minus the quotes) as keywords will get you a lot of hits.

Corn cob bedding has rather large pieces that swell when moisture is added. That can cause fatal impaction if swallowed.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/13939272/n...lanket-python/ has a piece about a Burmese python that swallowed an electric blanket.

Once, years ago, I opened up a friend's dead California king snake. Substrate was kitty litter. The only thing I could find wrong was a 2 mm piece of kitty litter in the lung. IMO, inhaling that was the cause of death, and I crossed kitty litter off my list of acceptable substrates.

A snake is not a leopard gecko....the cerastes I used to keep always ingested sand as do the shovel nosed snakes I currently keep. They ate and crapped just fine, as they do in the wild living in and on....sand.

Corn and kitty litter are crappy substrates as are glass, nails and thumb tacks. Impaction from wood substrates, fiber substrates and even sand in snakes is a non-issue....well, I guess if a bunch of people with no direct experience with it say it's an issue over and over again, it can take on a life of its own.

[Jhill001]

Substrate ingestion is no big deal. They eat full bones and fur a little bit of dirt isn't going to kill them. Getting a giant chunk of wood is a bit different but I'm gradually moving away from wooden substrates in general.

As far as the tub thing. You can do it. Or not, literally no difference.

[B.P.'s 4me]

I'm still trying to understand HOW tub feeding would cause organ damage???? I don't understand the logic.
I have my older b.p. on cypress mulch and got a scare the first time I fed him on that substrate. He ingested what I thought was a fairly large, and rigid bit of bark, with the rat pup. It's very possible I'm overreacting, but since then, I feed him in a large tub with a newspaper liner, which is placed right next to his enclosure. I wait right there till he's finished eating and starts to crawl out of that tub. I then very gently pick him up and return him to his normal enclosure. He seems to be fine with it and it certainly makes ME feel better. LOL My younger b.p. is already on newspaper as a substrate so I feed her in her enclosure. So far, everyone is happy. :-)
I would be very interested though, in any documented evidence of organ damage that was directly related to tub feeding. I'm always willing to change my mind IF presented with reliable documentation that there's a better way. Anecdotes don't qualify as "factual" for me.