Feeding in your enclosure

[Bruce Whitehead]

I feed all 24 in their enclosures... that came with experience as to what kept my BPs eating with consistency.

When I had one, he came with a feeding enclosure, I used it for six months... had many refusals, a few snaps (no bites), and it was a pain.

I started feeding in the enclosure and he started eating consistently, I threw out the feeding tub, and would never move a snake on feeding day or consider out of tub feeding.

Bruce

[blackcrystal22]

I too hear a varied opinion on both ways. I feed my boa in its enclosure, for mine it's what he is most comfortable with. When it's feeding time I would almost for sure get bit if I tried to take him out when he's hungry, as soon as I open the top he knows whats coming and he is eying it and ready to strike So for me it would add more stress to my boa to remove him from his enclosure and feed him elsewhere. If you are feeding live, which is how I feed, it's extremely important to keep and eye on the rat and make sure you never leave a rat unattended in the snakes enclosure. I know that some say that there is a lot of risk to feeding live but if done properly it shouldn't pose any harm to your snake in my opinion. I think it alot depends on the snake and what they are more comfortable with during the feeding process.

Many other species of snakes can go both ways.
But because ball pythons are very shy, feeding them in separate enclosures is just asking for stress and feeding issues.

[ballpython19]

If your worried about it being uncomfortable then you should look into softer aspen brands or use paper towels/newspaper for substrate.

No his head isn't going to swell up and get infected. :]

The reason im worried is becaue my enclosure has alot of decoratives..You've seen it in the other post..Does my snake have any danger of getting injured by hitting anything by missing or what not

[blackcrystal22]

The reason im worried is becaue my enclosure has alot of decoratives..You've seen it in the other post..Does my snake have any danger of getting injured by hitting anything by missing or what not

Probably not. Unless your decorations are sharp or theres a bunch of hard rocks everywhere, it's probably fine. Snakes are very good at aiming for their prey, and when they miss they usually won't go far enough to hit anything.
I've heard of ball pythons biting and hitting the glass of their enclosures when they first go to a new home due to stress, and I haven't heard of any problems after that. :]

[_Venom_]

I fed it out once and it bit me when I tried to put him back in.
So now I feed in the enclosure.

Those stories of mistaking you for food are fairytales

[casperca]

I feed all of mine in their enclosures (10 total). I don't see a need to handle them any more than nessicary on feeding day. As for the notion that they think you're food when you reach into the tank... over time I've learned to read my animals' behavior. When I look in the tub and see that they are in "hunt mode" I take extra caution when changing water or whatever.

[frankykeno]

I actually just finished feeding our entire collection (you can count them in my signature LOL). From the little hatchling ball pythons all the way up to the 8.5 foot boa constrictor. Everybody eats in their home enclosures, nobody bit me, nobody had a problem with their dinner, nobody fell over dead from a scrap of substrate in their mouth.

Pretty much a typical feeding night around here. Snakes are all happy with full bellies, I'm tired and smell faintly of rat.

[TanyaL]

We use a feeder tub for several reasons...son is more comfortable doing so, no worries of ingesting substrate and she was fed in a seperate tub before we got her. She seems to be doing just fine. We give her some time to settle in and give her some time after putting the rat away before moving her.

But, I have considered feeding her in her own tank...just because I think it will be easier in the long run.

[halfwaynowhere]

i feed all three of my snakes in their tubs. i try to keep an eye on them as they eat, and never see them even get a tiny piece of aspen in their mouths... They seem comfortable in their tubs, and they don't associate my hands with feeding, as I make it a point to handle them daily (except after feedings).

[dadspets]

all my snakes big and small get fed in their enclosures except my kenya sand boa. I put her in a 10 gal aquarium w/ paper.