To Feed in or out? That is the question!

[Lolo76]

I feed ALL of my snakes, pythons and colubrids alike, inside of their enclosures. With a collection of 27 snakes, it's too time-consuming to remove all of them for feedings! I've never had a problem with them being aggressive as a result (one or two are naturally mean), and I don't use Aspen bedding - just newspaper for the pythons, and Carefresh for the colubrids. And the colubrids all eat f/t, mostly off tongs, so I don't worry too much about them ingesting the bedding. For the few snakes who prefer it being left on the "floor," I lay down a piece of paper towel & place the rodent on that.

But to each his/her own, so do whatever you feel is best for your collection.

[tjw]

I'm not a big multi-tasker either. I get so confused! I'd probably pull the snake out to feed in a separate tub, then put the food in the enclosure, and wonder why the snake is getting so skinny! LOL!

[brobertson]

I actually feed my corn differently than my other snakes. All of my other snakes are great feeders that hit and wrap their prey. My corn is a bit more of a finicky feeder, he takes forever to hit off of tongs because he only takes it if it's holding still. I just put him in a deli cup before I feed, and then I can clean while he noms. I think that there is nothing bad about feeding in the enclosure, I just find it easier for this guy.

[jclaiborne]

"Just to play Devil's Advocate, I feed my corns in separate containers. I know I -can- feed them in their tubs, but I choose not to. They way I do my feeding is that I pull the snakes out, weigh them, put them in their container, give their tubs a good scrubbing, feed them, and by the time they are done eating, they can go back into their tubs. This is what works for me and my routine. I've only ever been bitten by one snake and she was ALWAYS bitey...even not eating. The rest of my corns are begging to come out of their tubs after they've eaten and so when I pop off the lid, they are eager to be picked up and placed back in their tub so they can find their hide and digest. I've also never had anyone refuse food (even deep in blue)."

x2 I do the same thing.

Same Here!

[Neal]

It's all a matter of preference and opinion. When I had ball pythons, I fed them in the enclosure.

My yellow anaconda I fed out, because I preferred mainly because he was a mellow eater and I didn't want him to swallow any cypress mulch, not that she would of, but I just preferred it that way.

My rufous beaked snakes I feed in separate because I house the 3 together and one eats different sizes than the others and I don't want to have two go for the same item.

[OctagonGecko729]

I feed inside the enclosure for all of my snakes. I do not own any corns. Even snakes that associate the opening of the cage with food (reticulated pythons) can be safely handled if you hook train them. Feeding in another enclosure doesnt solve the problem of the animals "going into feeding mode" either because those animals (if they can) will associate being pulled out of the cage with feeding time.

I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that corns and BPs are capable of associating these activities with food though, I've only heard about it with the larger constrictors.