where to feed

[TanyaL]

each side have their opinions. i happen to feed mine in a seperate plastic container so I can clean her home and make sure she won't eat the substrate.

DITTO - My son is responsible for feeding and he is more comfortable feeding in a seperate tank, on newspaper. While Foster is eating, the tank is being cleaned.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

there is nothing wrong with feeding in the enclosure.

HOWEVER, I have ALWAYS fed all of my snakes (not all ball pythons) in a cooler. I put the snake in the cooler, put the cover on. come back a minute or two later and put the rodent in.

I like to do this because to me, rodents are dirty. if fed live, the rodents poop and pee everywhere. if fed f/t, often when the snake is swallowing, nasty will still come out... to me, that means it is time to clean the enclosure.

When my snakes go in the cooler, they know EXACTLY what time it is. I NEVER have to worry about them swallowing substrate, and instead of cleaning out all the tubs and tanks I simply spray out the cooler when done. It works for me, and I would recomend seperate container feeding to anyone with a small collection for these reasons.

Keep in mind, many on this site have collections so large that feeding in a seperate container would be realistic.

My personal opinion is that anyone with a smaller collection would be better off feeding in a seperate enclosure.

[Dvas_Romeo]

I feed my ball and blood in their enclosures and there's never been any aggression issues at feeding or handling time!

[Reverend Jones]

not much of refusal but iv been told there more likley to bite u

I haven't had any attempts to bite. My guys are a little scared of being picked up at first, but they calm down pretty quick. I've had one of them strike at the side of the glass when a kid in my class kept staring at him, but except for that, they're really mellow

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Keep in mind, many on this site have collections so large that feeding in a seperate container would be realistic.

correction! unrealistic!!!!

[Argentra]

Both here. I feed my corns (with the exception of the little 6mth old) in their enclosures, mainly because they are adults and have violent feeding responses. Since I pre-scent on feeding days, they know the difference and don't try to strike when I just open the cages otherwise.
My BallPythons, however, are both fed in separate tubs for two main reasons: 1- I like to clean their enclosures while they're eating, and 2- I seem to get a better feeding response that way, since when they go into the box, they know food is on the way.

Of course, it doesn't always work... and when it doesn't it's my fault. This last feeding day, I gave the mouse a good whack and set it in Nagini's tub with her, then went about cleaning. Checked back 20 minutes later to find the darn mouse running around in the tub and my poor little girl curled up in a corner! Dratted thing wasn't dead! Talk about Mighty Mouse... and when it was finally out properly, she was too scared of it to eat! Had to skip a week with her and give the PK mouse to one of the corns. Luckily it didn't touch her, but having your food come back to life would scare anyone... Oh well.

[Ace159]

ok im talking about just one snake on a small scale....i have a milk snake and he hates me idk why and i dont know how to make him like me but the first time him started striking at me was when i took him out of his enclosure to feed him then he never went back to being nice.... i feed him in a tuba ware container closed....idk if thats the right way to go please give me suggestions on feeding snakes out side of enclosures...frozen mice

[Nate]

If he's striking at you when you pick him up to feed him...then just feed him in his enclosure.

[Ace159]

he strikes me no matter what

[Argentra]

I've noticed, both here and at the zoo, that colubrids usually are easier to feed in the enclosure. The best thing you can do is to start feeding him in his cage, leave him be for those next two days, then try handling him. Is he striking only when you reach for him or even when you already have him held??
If it's only when reaching, then it's a reaction to the hand coming down for him. In that case, obstruct his view by placing his hide (or something similar) in front of his face/over his head then stroke his back a bit before picking him up. I've found that works wonders with my corns when they're a bit jumpy.
If he strikes all the time, whether you're holding him or not... then I'm at a loss. I guess you could just try the gentleness method for a while and see if he chills out... Good luck either way.