Feeding in a seperate tank

[Jaxx]

You don't have to worry about your snake ingesting substrate anyway - so that's a moot point.

As for them learning to associate the opening of their enclosure with feeding - maybe if that's the only time you interacted with them....and I stress maybe.

But in 30 years of keeping snakes I've never had an issue with snakes associating opening the tub/door with food. There are species I keep in pairs and must feed separately - now those snakes have bit me when I go to move them after their meals, but never upon opening the door.

I'm just in awe of all you people who have these amazingly intelligent snakes that do things mine don't - like have issues ingesting substrate, become blood thirsty biting machines when the door is opened, display cognitive learning behaviors, etc.

I have a serious question for all you separate tubbers:

How is it that your snakes are smart enough to associate the opening of the door with food - especially when you also open the door to clean, change water, cuddle and stroke them, etc. but magically don't correlate the feeding tub with food? Especially since that's all the feeding tub is used for - feeding.

How you feed your snakes is up to you, but you all seem to be going to an unnecessary hassle in an effort to head off a non-existant problem.

At some point you may move beyond ball pythons and might find out the hard way that hungry snakes should not be moved before and after their meals.

I never said that my snake injested substrate, I just said it would cut down on the chance of it by feeding in a seperate tub.
Also, I take my BP out of his enclosure every day to spend time with him and have never been bitten or striked at. I don't know how much more proof you need other then the pic I posted of him coming out of his enclosure and going into the feeding tub on his own to proove what I said.(Not that I really care if you believe it or not). Like any other animal it will learn a routine if you stick to it. I started off by openning the door, putting the small vented rat carrier in the enclosure with him, then moved it out of the enclosure, then placed it in the feeding tub. At this point he knew where the food was and from there associated the door openning and the tub being placed in front of it with supper time. If none of your snakes have ever learned any routines, then I don't know what to say to that. I am sure that because you have kept snakes for 30 years you know much more about them then me. All I can say is, this is what mine does and if you think it's not natural or impossible or whatever else you are implying, you are more then welcome to your opinion or in your case possibly personal fact, I am not saying anything about any other snake,I am speaking solely of mine and the way he acts.