Everyone has a different routine and what works for some snakes may not work for others. TYPICALLY, with ball pythons, if you disturb them before you feed them, they won't show interest in eating. But there are some who feed in a separate container and some who remove all the cage "furniture" before feeding...and do just fine. However, ball pythons are usually "ambush" hunters and prefer to strike from the security of their own hide.


What I do is pre-scent the room. The top of her tub gets thumped a little as I remove the clamps and I slide it over just a bit to make room for my little rat cage...which gets set right next to her tub with the live rat in it. I leave it like that for 20-30 minutes. If Kisasa is going to eat that day, she will slide part-way out of her hide and be very alert and watching the edge of the tub where she knows it will open and the rat will drop in.

That's what works for me.