If you know your temperatures are accurate, then it's fine for the snake to choose wherever it wants to spend most of its time. That's why we give them a gradient of temps...so they can choose what they want.


You really don't need the nighttime drop in temps. Anything under 80 increases the risk of them developing an RI. (Respiritory Infection) Just keep the daytime temps all the time...and maybe bump them a couple of degrees.

As for feeding, there's no reason to feed in a separate box unless you really just WANT to. Before resorting to extreme "tricks" like chicken broth to get your snake to eat...try just leaving him in his own, familiar environment, so he can "ambush" his prey from his own hides.

If you do manage to successfully feed in a separate box, I would wait until the snake has completely settled down (no longer in "hunting mode")....then very gently scoop him up and place him back in his own home. That's the risky part, because if you do it wrong, you can make him regurge. But if you leave him in the box too long, then he won't get the heat he needs to begin digesting.

Good luck with it!