Cage Aggression Due to Feeding Practices

[wendhend]

I consider myself a hobbyist breeder. I do have a business, but it's just for fun. I a have over 60 snakes in my permanent collection. They are mostly corn snakes, but I do have eight ball pythons and a couple of boa constrictors. With that many snakes, the majority of them do not get handled daily, but most of them get handled at least once a week. For the most part, I prefer to feed outside of the cage, because it eliminates any mess that might end up in their cages and any chance of them injesting aspen shavings with their meals. However, half of my ball pythons, as well as one of my boa constrictors, are shy feeders, who just seem to eat more reliably if I allow them to eat in their cages. So they get special privileges. I use both tanks and rack tubs for housing. Out of all of my whole collection, I only have one snake that I consider to be aggressive. He is a yearling corn snake, who always eats outside of the cage. He strikes and bites whether food is involved or not.