Quote Originally Posted by Egapal View Post
What we are having is a common misunderstanding. Let me re frame the argument. When we feed in a separate enclosure to avoid cage aggression we are saying that we want feeding to only happen in a tub that way when the snake is in the tub it will think "OK I am in the tub and now is the time to strike at stuff" We then hope that when the snake is not in the tub it thinks "Ok something is moving over there but I am not in the tub so it must not be food, I bet its just a hand I won't strike at it." The problem is thats not at all what goes on for the snake. The snake decision to strike has nothing to do with where it is. Its not associating the tub with feeding or your hand with food. Its seeing movement, its hungry or scared and its striking. Once we stop thinking that cage aggression is something we can fix by feeding in a tub then we can start addressing the real problem.
No misunderstanding. I was agreeing with you on most points. Although I do tend to disagree with the notion that striking has nothing to do with where the snakes are at. Snakes will associate their cage with feeding if they are fed there. Whether it's a mouse or a hand movement, they are more than likely going to go for it or at least be in the alert feeding state. I've seen this with every type of snake I've worked with.