Just a couple of questions????

[suzanne]

This one may sound really dumb but here goes - do I have to keep the reptile bark in the freezer, or can I take it out and leave it out after awhile?

Also, tonight when I took her out to feed her, she coiled around my fingers really tight, and I had to really pry her off. She didn't like that at all. I know they told me with my corn snake that I should never feed her in her enclosure because she may bite me when I try to take her out thinking I am food. Also they said it was bad for the corn to ingest any substrate. Any thoughts, opinions or suggestions are welcome. I am new at this, and am trying to be a good mommy.

[Adam_Wysocki]

I know they told me with my corn snake that I should never feed her in her enclosure because she may bite me when I try to take her out thinking I am food. Also they said it was bad for the corn to ingest any substrate.

Those are common myths spread about keeping snakes in captivity.

As long as you regularly go into your snakes cage for cleaning and handling sessions, he/she will be no more prone to identifying your hand with food whether you feed in the enclosure or in a separate feed box. My opinion is that since ball pythons are such a generally shy and easily stressed snake, feeding in the enclosure is best for them .... but other people will of course have their own opinions.

As far as ingesting substrate goes, a ball pythons stomach acids are strong enough to digest rodent bones and hair as well as the hard cellulose contents in the stomach ... a little mulch doesn't stand a chance. If you're really concerned about it, you could always lay a sheet of newspaper down on the cage floor prior to feeding.

-adam

[suzanne]

thanks!

[frankykeno]

Wonderful advice as always Adam!

Suzanne, my only comment to add to this is with some of our snakes on feeding day they are hungry and a tad more hyper-alert to the opening of their enclosure (you can see some of them lurking with their heads poking out of their hides just waiting for dinner to show up). Because we know that some of our females are like this we just adjust our handling and don't generally handle any of them on feeding day so that they are not stressed and we don't provoke a needless strike at our hands.

We have always fed in their enclosures. We do put in a newspaper pad for the really smaller ones but the big females are fine and a shred or two of aspen isn't going to bother those big momma's LOL (or future momma's I should say).



~~Jo~~

[Flea]

one thing i have started doing after having mine strike at me once ... i now make sure my hands are clean before going into cage for anything ... and for handling ... so there are no odd or possible 'food' smells on my hands.

[lovemyBalls]

I'm new to this site too and FAR from an expert with snakes...but I have had my male for almost 2yrs and the lil girl 9 months. I've never put their substrate in the freezer...just leave it at room temp, and I've never had a problem with feeding them in their terrarium. I don't know if I've just been lucky or what but never had either of them try to strike me. Having said all that, I've never had any problems with them health wise so I guess everything is ok.

[suzanne]

I was told on another site to either bake my substrate in the oven, or put it in the freezer to kill any mites that might be on it. I let it warm up in their cages before I put them back in, they just stayed in their feeding boxes for awhile.

[Adam_Wysocki]

I was told on another site to either bake my substrate in the oven, or put it in the freezer to kill any mites that might be on it. I let it warm up in their cages before I put them back in, they just stayed in their feeding boxes for awhile.

Placing a snake on "fozen" substrate and letting it warm up while with the snake is definitely risky. I would think that there's a chance your snake could devlop an upper respiratory infection because of the exposure to the cool air that the frozen substrate would generate.

In 25 years of keeping snakes, I've never seen a snake mite on any type of commercial bedding. If you're concerned though, either pre-treating with Provent-a-Mite or baking the substrate would probably be a better bet. Freezing won't kill off the eggs of mites (or other bugs) that might be hiding in the bedding.

-adam

[suzanne]

Thanks for the help. I made sure that the substrate was really warm before putting them back in. I mixed it up in their cages more than once.