Feed in cage or separate cage?

[_Venom_]

In......

[lillyorchid]

Everyone of my snakes gets fed in it's enclourser. No "aggression" that I've ever seen. LOL Just a few hungry snakes wanting their rats every Saturday though.

[artis223]

I always feed in a seperate cage. My BPs have never shown stress and rarely refuse a meal. It just the way i have always done it and my snakes know that they get handled before they eat and they are fine with it, i do give them 10 or so mins to remember why they are in this little rodent smelling cage before i dangle there dinner. I started doing this first with my Red tail boa cause she is a little cranky and the last thing i need is that big girl thinking foods a coming every time the top comes off her cage. I think it is a choice that we all have to make for ourselves. I do know that the sometime my snakes will hit a thawed rat so hard that the belly rips open and blood and stuff gets in the feed cage. I would not want mess in my bed room so i show them the kindness of keeping that out of their home



chris

[OgleRpets]

I feed all my snakes in separate containers. It works great for us. I also feed my beardies their live food in a separate container.

[Freaky_Ferret]

I've read that it's best to feed out of cage simply so your snake will never confuse you with food, I have never fed out of cage and so far my hand has not been confused with food nor have I ever been bitten in general. So personal preference I guess.

[Chris Fleming]

I feed all of my snakes in their tanks. Only exception has been fussy baby corns that went into a paper bag inside their tanks. Never had any aggression issues or impaction issues. If the animal is properly hydrated they shouldnt have any problems passing small pieces of substrate such as aspen shavings. They have been eating in the wild for hundreds of years and seem to be doing pretty good.

[nbelval]

I just got my first "real" bite and even that was pretty minor (baby corns don't count!)

I had cleaned my Normal BP's cage and noticed that she hadn't eaten one of the F/T, So I tossed the mouse in the garbage bag and finished cleaning. Then I went to my adult corn snakes cage, set the bag right outside his cage and like an idiot I reached in even though I knew he could smell the mouse and he was looking mighty interested in my hand. He tagged me and then quickly let go. I've owned reptiles for 10 years (snakes for 6), and this is my first bite, so I think feeding in cage is fine as long as you use your brain (obviously mine wasn't on). I have a friend that will only feed out of cage so I think it really depends on what your comfortable with and whether or not your snake will eat out of cage.

[otiswest]

I always feed in a seperate cage. My BPs have never shown stress and rarely refuse a meal. It just the way i have always done it and my snakes know that they get handled before they eat and they are fine with it, i do give them 10 or so mins to remember why they are in this little rodent smelling cage before i dangle there dinner. I started doing this first with my Red tail boa cause she is a little cranky and the last thing i need is that big girl thinking foods a coming every time the top comes off her cage. I think it is a choice that we all have to make for ourselves. I do know that the sometime my snakes will hit a thawed rat so hard that the belly rips open and blood and stuff gets in the feed cage. I would not want mess in my bed room so i show them the kindness of keeping that out of their home



chris

I agree with this post completely. I have a 7 ft. Red Tail and when I first got him (rescued him from certain death) less than a year ago, he had been fed in cage and I started out feeding him out. He messed me up a few times at first, but he is totally fine with it now. The main reason I dealt with getting tagged a few times at first was because I don't want to deal with that aggression every time I go to handle him or change water, etc. I know this is a Ball Python forum and Red Tail Boas are different. It's relative to the fact that I have been feeding both of my 9 mo. old BP's out sinc I got them and they are so o.k. with it, and are totally relaxed when handles about 20 mins. after each feed. That said, if I noticed any stress around feeding time at any time in their lives, I would consider changing out the loose substrate and feeding in cage if it makes my snakes happier. This is working very well for me now, though.

[Jaydizzl05]

Seperate, only because EVERYTIME Shogun strikes & coils, the darn mouse pees n poops all over the place o(0.o)o

[CoolioTiffany]

I agree with this post completely. I have a 7 ft. Red Tail and when I first got him (rescued him from certain death) less than a year ago, he had been fed in cage and I started out feeding him out. He messed me up a few times at first, but he is totally fine with it now. The main reason I dealt with getting tagged a few times at first was because I don't want to deal with that aggression every time I go to handle him or change water, etc. I know this is a Ball Python forum and Red Tail Boas are different. It's relative to the fact that I have been feeding both of my 9 mo. old BP's out sinc I got them and they are so o.k. with it, and are totally relaxed when handles about 20 mins. after each feed. That said, if I noticed any stress around feeding time at any time in their lives, I would consider changing out the loose substrate and feeding in cage if it makes my snakes happier. This is working very well for me now, though.

So, are you saying you handle your Ball pythons 20 minutes after they eat?