I feed in the cage, but I take the hides and water bowl out first if I'm feeding a live mouse. Years back I saw a snake grab a mouse by the belly, because the snake was in its hide and the mouse ran up and put its paws on top of the hide... It had a much more difficult time killing the poor mouse. Since I keep mine in tubs, and they're babies still, that just means removing three hides and a bowl, which takes about ten seconds.