Feed in cage or separate cage?

[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?

[Shawn]

all snakes here from bp's to retics all fed in their enclosure. All animals but the bp's are hook trained and with al the snakes that we have raised we have never had an issue with cage aggression. this topic came up the other day with a woman in a store when another woman told her I had snakes. when I asked her what and how she feeds her bp she told me large rats outside the cage and when I asked why , she said because she knows how dangerous and aggressive they get when fed in the cage. I asked what made her think that , and she said she had a burm once that she fed in the cage and everytime she tried to take it out it would strike repetedly. I asked how old and big was the burm, and her responce shocked me. She said the burm was 6 yrs old and only 5 ft. I told her if I was a burm at that age and size I would try to eat more also. She just looked at me and said I didnt know what I was talking about and would not listen to anything I had to say. I just ended up walking away.

[Bhikku]

I feed in the tank, as I don't have a suitable second tank set up for her to digest in, and I handle her enough so that she doesn't think the only reason I'm ever disturbing her is for a meal, so she's not likely to be snappy.

[jfreels]

I feed in a seperate bin which started out because I had read that feeding in the viv could cause the snake to think you're going to feed it every time you open the viv. I now know better. It gives me a front row view though. My boa will be to big for my current tub, so I may just start feeding her in the viv....she takes forever anyway. I do have loose substrate in the vivs though, but I could use a plate or something to put the thawed mouse/rat on.

I do believe my boa knows it's feeding time though when I put her in that tub. She'll get "comfortable" then prop her head up on the side of the tub where I'm sitting and wait for the rat. My ball acts completely different.

[otiswest]

That's what I'm saying, and before you tell me I'm wrong I'll say that I've never had a regurge and they are both healthy.

[snakesRkewl]

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

Anyone who feeds out of their housing is going to need to handle them some.
Handling a snake 20 minutes after it fed and putting it into it's enclosure will not cause regurge unless your doing a tango with the snake
That said, I try not to disturb after eating because I understand how I feel after a big meal

[herper55]

Same cage