Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have eight snakes, and I have always put my snakes into what I call a feeding cage.

A long time ago I was told that if you fed the snakes in the same cage they live they may get aggressive towards your hand when ever you go in there to pick them up because they will think more food is coming in.

I was just told today that, that's not true. Am I the only one that has been doing this, or is there some truth in this?

I have always fed my snakes in a separate tub - I find nothing wrong with this method at all. My snakes go into the tub - they know it's feeding time and sit there like puppies waiting to be fed. When they are done - they are carefully moved back to their tub and life goes on.

We moved last summer - hubby used my feeding tubs to move some of his garage stuff - so with no tubs I was stuck feeding them in their cages - and got lazy - yeah it sure is convenient feeding in the cage. However now my sweet little snakes attack anything that enters their tubs at night - I swear they are like my GTP. I keep telling myself I need to get new tubs, but it sure is convenient. Oh yeah it's always fun to go tipping hides two days later to find that rat that someone decided they didn't want to eat but it's stinking up the room.

In a nutshell - do what works for you and your animals.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

I think it's true to some extent, but I also think it has to do with either not being fed often enough or not being fed large enough, or numerous enough, prey to last the length of time between feedings. That being said, I feed mine in their enclosure and the only one that's given me any trouble is my eight foot boa. But if I can give him a pat on the head before he zeros in on me he chills .

Quig

I feed most my snakes in their cages. not a one has bit me for any reason. I feed Live and FT in the cage. You need the snake to know you aren't food and you need to make sure the snake is awake and active before you drop in some food. I will sometimes handle them a minute before feeding or lift the top of their hide and gently pet them so they are flicking their tongues and looking around when the mouse is in there.

I have a texas luecistic ratnsake I only feed in a box. he is kind of wild, but my balls are all sweeties and investigate pretty well before they strike. As long as I don't do something stupid like try to grab them while they are feeding or not washing my hands after touching prey items, they will not bite me.
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http://darkbloodwyvern.deviant.com

There is nothing wrong with feeding in a feeding tub if it works for your snakes , I do it ! But some of my snakes will not eat if moved , so I feed them in there enclosure . Do what is best for your individual snakes . You need to evaluate each snake and learn what they prefer . Hope this helps . David

"I would rather be precisely wrong than approximately right"
Marion "Doc" Ford

i have always fed my snakes in the enclosure they live in as long as the substrate would allow it (would not be ingested with food)... i have never had any major probs with aggression, however i have had a couple of snakes that would strike on occasion right when i put my hand in the cage but would settle down as soon as i picked them up.

I feed all my snakes from ball pythons to my burms and retics in their own cages. I've never had a problem in all my years of working with my animals.
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Education is Everything.......

feed in the cage.
anything else is just folly.
way over twenty years doing it this way.
each animal is an individual.
know your critters.
ck

I dunno, I have a little female that I just got that I believe has been fed in her tub in the past, and she's a nasty little thing. Oliver is fed in a separate tank and I've never had a problem with aggression. I actually have to get in Marlee's (The new girl) tank with a snake hook to fish her out because she doesn't hesitate in striking... I just got her last tuesday, so I'm going to start handling her a lot more within the next few weeks to get her to simmer down!
What I have found is everyone is different, find something that works for you and run with it... a lot of people think my set up is bogus... but it works for me, the snakes are healthy and for the most part, happy... so... if if works for you... then I'd call it good!

Teri

I have a 16 y/o female who has only ever been fed in her cage. I worry about her the least when it comes to sticking my hand in the cages. As long as my hands don't smell like rat, I've got nothing to worry about.

All the rest of my snakes get fed in their cages. I like opening the lids to see their little faces come up to see if I've brought food. I wait for the excited ones to calm down and tongue flick (meaning that they can smell that there's no rat nearby) and then I pick them up.
I don't know about other collections but none of my ball pythons will eat with the lid open on their tub. The boa will eat anything, anywhere, anytime, as will the kingsnake.

I haven't been bitten by one of my own snakes in several years...and the last time one of mine bit me, I had been handling a rat just a minute or two before opening the cage.

~jenny
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"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words."
- Anna Sewell (1820-1878)