another feeding question

[mj_romo]

In response to my post on this:

For many years now, I have fed them outside their tank (they share a 60 gal), each in a separate feeding box. Originally, I'd take one out, feed the other, then switch them, but Darby is a biter and I got sick of dealing with that, so I started feeding them in separate boxes.

Many people suggested that I should separate the snakes to cure Darby's biting problem.

However, for the first 2 years of his life, Darby was housed separately and had that problem when it came time to feeding. He smells mouse and he becomes an agressive, strike-at-anything biter - always has been.

Since he was like that when he was alone, how will separating them now fix that issue? And, is it really that much of an issue?

[Nate]

It's not really necessary to feed in a separate enclosure. Maybe you should invest in tubberware and separate the 2. When the time comes for feeding, you won't need to take them out and put them elsewhere...just drop it in (if it's live) or get some tongs and wiggle it a bit (if it's dead).

[JLC]

In response to my post on this:

Many people suggested that I should separate the snakes to cure Darby's biting problem.

However, for the first 2 years of his life, Darby was housed separately and had that problem when it came time to feeding. He smells mouse and he becomes an agressive, strike-at-anything biter - always has been.

Since he was like that when he was alone, how will separating them now fix that issue? And, is it really that much of an issue?

Nah...it's only an issue if it bothers you. Sounds to me like a good feeding response. When I first read through the original post, it sounded like he was aggressive at other times as well.

Regardless...the suggestion to separate your snakes comes from a cumulative century or more of snake experience by folks here on the forum. It's entirely up to you if you want to separate them or not...just understand that most people here believe its in the best interest of the snakes to live in their own enclosures for a myriad of reasons. Can they survive living together? Certainly. Yours are doing so. But they would be much more likely to thrive in a more ideal environment.

And if they lived in separate enclosures, then you could feed them right in their homes and not have to fuss with moving them, especially the bitey one.