while i agree with the others that it sounds like a problem of not handeling and associating anything entering the cage with food i do not however agree on the solutions as much. while i used to feed in a seperate container with smaller snakes it has become evident that especially with larger snakes it is not such a good idea. i have found that with feeding outside the cage there is more chance for getting bit. the reason for this is because once in the feeding container there is a feeding response, and after eating it is difficult to get the snake back into the cage without dealing with the feeding response and with larger snakes this can be a challenge. the way i see it if you are preforming regular mantinence in the cage as well as regular handeling sessions, it is only a very small percentage of the time that food will be going in the cage. this is not enough to cause a feeding response associated with cage opening. in addition it seems that you have a cage which opens from the top and in my experience some snakes tend to get defensive when approached from above as opposed to from a side opening cage. i think a snake hook would be a good investment as it comes in handy many times. but untill then if your snake is still small you could use alternative things such as a coat hanger which does not have any pointed or sharp edges. good luck and deffiantely hadel and interact with it much more then just feeding.

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