Feeding in cage vs out of enclosure?

[Wearentfree]

Hey guys.
New to Pythons. I got my ball python a week ago from my girlfriend's dad and he always fed him inside of his enclosure. I've always thought it's best to feed outside of enclosure so as to not have the snake associate anything coming in the enclosure as food?
Is it perfectly fine/normal too feed inside enclosure? Or should I feed in a separate space?
Like I said it's been a week since I've had him and I know he's hungry and even roams around at night looking like he is looking for food. But when I take him out of his enclosure and put him in this empty tank with a live rat(he's exclusively ate live) he will not attempt to eat.

Any advice is much appreciated.

[AlexisFitzy]

I would definitely recommend feeding inside their enclosure. It's a lot better because you shouldn't really handle them before feeding, because if you keep them on a nice schedule they know that food is coming on the day so picking them up and trying to transport them to a feeding tub can sometimes get you bitten. You also shouldn't handle them after they have eaten because sometimes they will end up regurgitating their meal which is very stressful and hard on their digesting system. Also it's just easier for you and the snake! Once he eats inside his enclosure he can just slither on into his hide and digest in piece. I wouldn't worry about the saying that if you feed your snake in its enclosure it will associate anything coming in with food. I don't think this is true at all. Some people think that snakes are dumb animals but they are not. They quickly learn the difference between your hand and a rodent. They know they can eat you so why would they bother even trying. Now if you've been handling a rodent and you have the scent on your hand that's the owners fault not the snakes. If you handle your snake it will learn even faster that I get fed on this day and everyone day if something comes in it might be that warm thing that lets me slither around lol. So if I were you I'd feed inside the enclosure I hope I could help. Keep us updated on if he eats better feeding inside than out.


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[jwill226]

Considering that the big breeders don't have the time to take each snake out of its tub to feed it I'm guessing its just fine to feed in its home. Personally I have kept a BP for about a year now and I have never been bit and I always feed in the tub.

[I-KandyReptiles]

I have 17 snakes and all are fed in their enclosures/tubs. No one thinks I'm food when I go to see them, unless I've been with the rats haha.

You're much more likely to get bit moving your snake while he's in "food mode". And he's probably not wanting to eat after being moved because its stressing him out.

Try feeding him in his enclosure next time.

[Crazymonkee]

I feed inside her enclosure
.. as of yet I have not been mistaken for food

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[Wearentfree]

Alright awesome thanks guys. He gets spooked pretty easily and is super defensive and I wasn't sure if the fact he was fed in the enclosure and not handled had something to do with it.

[SlitherinSisters]

Feed in the enclosure. Moving them to feed just causes unnecessary stress and is just asking to get bit. They are on edge during feeding time and like to bite anything warm!

Some people worry about aggressiveness, but that's not going to happen from feeding them.