Reptile & Amphibian Forums

K so my ball has always been a bit of a pain in the ass to feed. I used to feed in a separate tank but found it too much of a hassle so put down in her regular tank newspaper and that made feeding and cleaning up after her much easier. I switched back to cypress maybe 3 months ago because it allows me to keep good humidity levels in the tank...but it is a pain to feed her! I used paper towels when I switched back to cypress, and for a while I had no problem. Now the past few times she's been getting tangled up in the paper towels and eating small bits of it and the cypress. I tried putting her cave down on the paper towels so she wouldn't get tangled in them and she still managed to do it and ingest pieces of it. She's been on the cypress for at least 3 months if not a little more and I've only been having problems the past 4 feedings or so.

Tonight to make it easy and less stressful for both of us, I put the small plastic tank in her regular one and put her in it. She then dragged the mouse out through the cypress and probably ingested small pieces of it (I couldn't really tell because she was in her cave- but she did drag it through the cypress and the mouse was wet, I use F/T). Should I be really worried about this? How much is too much? And any useful tips on what to feed her on, or should I just change back to newspaper to make it easy?

I get the plastic canvas (sewing or craft dept.) and cut it to fit my tubs, put on top of newspaper. It's a little more trouble on cleaning day but eliminates feeding problems and also liquids go through instead of having the snake lying in wet so much.

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Dale....dgoins222@yahoo.com
www.LibertyReptiles.com

I also feed most of my snakes frozen thawed. But I don't get mine wet. I take mine out and let them thaw out in a zip lock bag. 5 hours or so, then I take them out of the bag and put them under a clamp light. They are nice and dry and are less likely to pick up substrate. I use Aspen and Cypress bedding. A little ingestion won't hurt them. Good luck Claude

I like liberty's idea, not a bad one at all. I would def. keep them seperate to feed, or you may end up with problems. I also feed f/t and the little kenyans i have i put theres under the light to thaw out and they are on desert snow which i prefer verses aspen or cypress, not as dusty and alot healthier if ingested. The big guys get thawed out in warm water. Although i don't feed any of them in there tanks and i have 9 snakes, so i don't have a problem ingesting any foods! Good luck!

Everyone before me has given you some fair advice. Some disagree, but I am a huge advocate of feeding the snake in a different container from the one that they live in.

I have two different sized "feeding bins" which are just some rubbermaid bins with locking lids that you can get from anywhere. I bought mine at Walmart. For my smaller snakes I use a 19qt size, and my larger bin is a 50qt. These are volume measurements, I know, but I went for containers that are about a foot or more tall. By "locking lids" I mean the ones that have a tab/handle on the lid that is an attached piece of plastic that has to be manually slid to a "locked" or "open" position. I went for the clear containers, because I like to be able to see inside without having to open the lid. For shy feeders, I cover the bin with a blanket, so they can't see any movement outside of the bin.

The feeding bins are also perfect for soaking, should any of my snakes need a humidity boost before a shed (they probably don't need it, but I like to soak them when I know they are about to shed), and also a great place to put the snake when you just need them out of their cage.

The bins do not have ANY substrate whatsoever, so none can be accidentally ingested. Another great side effect of using feeding bins, is that when the snakes are put into the bin, they know where they are, and they are in feeding mode! This way, they also do not associate hands reaching into their cage with food, and aggressive behavior is a lot less of a problem!

As far as whether a f/t prey item is dry, I thaw prey items for my snakes in hot tap water, with the prey item inside a ziplock bag. I buy cheap bags, so they prey is usually damp but not soaked. I happen to think that a damp prey item is easier to swallow, as long as the snake still identifies it as food - after a snake eats a completely dry prey item, I usually see it drink a lot of water when it is placed back in its cage. When I feed damp f/t prey, the snake usually drinks some water when it goes back to its cage, but it is nowhere near as much, nor with the same urgency as what I see after a dry prey item is consumed.

Just my 2 cents, like I said... and maybe some food for thought.

~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

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I now use aspen and cypress as well as newspaper.......

.......big balls get mulches.........babies paper.........they are pigs ........

friends' started the thought.......feed them in it on it whatever........"if I don't see them eat it who can worry"".......you know they eat it.....you know sooner or later one or more will get clogged or have a wood piece cut or scratch it's throat and it will get infected....rodents teeth and nails can do it too.......yes I had one snake have a ripped throat ..........

no way I am feeding in a seperate container.......up to 300 snakes and most wouldn't eat if you move them first.........

.........I feed on it....don't watch..and if they die they die........can't cry about it.........
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...........all you have to do is try it........
...........studies are fun.............

I agree 100 percent. I am sure that in the wild they ingest all sorts of dirt and substrate. These animals have survived thousands of years without a table cloth or a napkin. And I dont handle any of my ball pythons before or after they eat.

Jeff

I am a strong advocate for feeding in the enclosure but for a seperate reason entirely. I totally agree that once you get to the level where you have 100's of snakes it is completely inpractical to feed in seperate containers. But my primary reason is that quite a few herpers who have snakes or individuals who are new to snakes will get small snakes at first and as their level of experience grows will get into larger snakes. It is recommended that large snakes always be fed in their enclosure, for both stress and safety reasons. IF you develope habits of feeding your snakes in seperate enclosure then it is not unfathomable for them to attempt this technique with larger ones and this is where they could get themselves into a situation. Just my opinion. Todd