I am going to have to disagree

[Skiploder]

Is what instinctual?

Are you talking about the extending of the proboscis when it touches food? If so then yes, that is instinctual. Classical conditioning involves pairing that instinct with some novel experience like a color or odor puff so that when the animal experiences that novel experience alone it produces the behavior. If I'm only confusing you wikipedia classical conditioning and read up on Ian Pavlov. : )

And sorry if I'm hijacking the thread...
Dennis

IF cage aggression were somehow related to being conditioned via being fed in the cage () then all you'd have to do to un-condition the snake is to open the cage at random intervals without feeding it.

I've had fish be conditioned to shooting to the top of the tank whenever my hand was up there. But I'm not in the habit of handling fish so it is understandable that they'd be conditioned to expect food.

Most pet snakes, unlike fish, are handled. I would hazard a WAG and throw out that the average snake is handled at random intervals several times before it's fed.

Therefore, I seriously doubt that after only one feeding, amidst several handling sessions, and being previously fed in a separate bin - that the OP's snake all of a sudden is conditioned to expect food when his cage door is opened.

Then again - what do I know?

Right?