Quote Originally Posted by UnforgivenScarz View Post
Many people I talked to told me not to put food directly into her cage like that because they begin to associate anything entering the cage as prey and they tend to strike out at anything that enters the cage. Is that something I should consider or is it not a problem? I've heard mixed opinions on the subject so I played it safe so far and tried to avoid it. I'm not afraid of getting bit every now and then but I'm not the only one who picks up her and I don't want them getting hurt. Would this feeding technique cause any problems with that?

Thanks agian
- AJ
That is a myth... and not a maybe myth.

Snakes need 3 things to recognize a prey item....

1) smell
2) heat
3) movement

I feed 45 snake every week in their enclosures and have never been mistaken for food.

Snakes need to be "warmed up" to a feed, meaning they need cues, and a process to get them into feed mode. Randomly reaching in to tend to them will not get you mistaken for food.

Reaching in when your snake is in feed mode and you smell like a rodent, THEN you stand a good chance of being hit.

I never handle any snake on feeding day, and how you are feeding you do run a good chance of getting tagged, which is what you seem to be trying to avoid.

Ironic, eh?

Bruce