I actually feed in enclosure and in separate tubs. I'm a novice keeper and was told "feed outside the tank" thing, so I did. I've never had any problems with it-my bp is particularly funny about it.
She's very calm until you put her in her feeding tub and it's so funny to watch. She gets so excited she looks like that dog on begging strips commercials..heh. You could have a disco ball going around her and she would still eat. I'm very lucky with her.
But, then I got my first dumeril boa and the feeding problems began. With him it went on for months until I finally decided to follow posts in here and try feeding him in his enclosure.
That was the trick for him-it got him to eat and it's the only way he will eat now but he's so odd with it. I feed f/t for all mine but he seems to play with his. Sometimes it takes him 2 days before he will eat it. I'll see him laying on it, beside it, under it, pushing it around..lol...then ignoring it.
I would try putting a f/t in your snakes enclosure and leaving it there. When I switch my dumeril over to aspen I'm going to put a piece of flat slat rock in there and put the f/t on top of it for him to "play" withAt least it will give him a flat surface area to get the f/t hopefully w/o getting substrate also.
Luckily my newer female dumeril eats like a charm. She was fed live and her first feeding after I got her she immediately took a f/t in a feeding tub
The only reason I still feed any in feeding tubs is because I like to handle them to move them. Sometimes I get busy w/work and don't handle them as much as I should so this gives me a for sure time to handle them. I don't mind feeding in their enclosures though-it is a lot easier.
I only have 4 snakes at the moment so it's not an issue with time in moving them. I'm going to the National Reptile show in Daytona in August though so that might change soon...hehe
Good luck with it
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