Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering do you just feed them in their racks? or do you pull every one out and feed them in their own seperate container? i have been pondering this for a while. i have 7 diffrent snakes of 3 diffrent species and i get them out and feed them in a seperate enclosure, but for those that just have oodles of snakes what do you do?

We keep our snakes in racks and feed them in their racks. They do not get cage agressive and it's way too much trouble to take them all out and feed in separate containers.

A herper should know the "personalities" of her snakes and know which ones to watch when you open the tub . . . some are always ready to eat and others are more laid back.

Good luck!
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Alice Cobb
Florida Reptile Room

one of the benefits of the rack is being able to throw food quickly into all the units and then come back and check later to see who ate and who did not.

That only works if your feeding p/k or f/t , you cant do that with live , as you should not leave live pray unattended . I have over 150 snakes and 14 different species and I still feed one at a time so that I can observe the snakes condition and the condition of the cage as well .I also have a mix of the ones that feed in a separate tube and those that feed in there cages . I go with what is safe first and then what the snake prefers and I use about 6 different feeding methods every week and that is just the snakes ! Lol .thanks David

I have done exactly that with live food for 20 years. mice and rats do not attack snakes if left in for 30 minutes to an hour.

Same here for 10 years. Maybe I'm overdue but never had a problem feeding live. I wait 15 to 20 minutes until they should have finished eating to check and if not eaten remove the rodent. I also sometimes put a kibble of food in for the rodent if I have any reason to believe it could be hungry or might not be eaten immediately. My younger balls have inverted pots for hides so they come out from above and are pretty well separate from the feeder until they strike.

I have to agree also. We have close to 1500 animals,we do not however feed them all at once, but we go through and feed live in the racks since there isnt enough time to go through 1 at a time. I know the snakes for the most part and feed pre killed to the ones i know will eat right away. Most of our snakes have a feeding response and are waiting for food. The more timid ones I leave live in with for about an hour or so and never have any problems with them. As long as the rodents are fat and healthy and had acsess to water and food prior too there shouldnt be any problems. If you are uncertain you can always leave a piece of lab block in the cage with the snake and rat or mouse. I do that with hatchlings in the beginning just in case they do not take it right away. We breed our own rodents so live is easier, quicker and more covinient for us. I only pre-kill with the ones I know will eat right away b/c I dont want to waste the rat if they dont take it.
As for the first question, I honestley beleive that with ball pythons if they are taken out of a rack and put into a new enviorment to eat they just end up more stressed out. Ball pythons are use to living in termite mounds and ambush their prey. If they are taken out of their "home" and put into an unfamiliar place they are less likley to eat. I know alot of people do this and I am not saying it is worng. I just feel that ball pythons will be more consistant with food if they feel safe and secure. If you have enough snakes to buy a rack I would just feed in the rack to save on time and to keep the snakes feeling comfortable. Some may develope a feeding response but I look at that as a great sign b.c I know I have a snake that will seldomly refuse food. I have many yearling to adults that will latch onto the first thing they see, wether it be me or the rat, but I just work around them and make sure I am ready for them when I open their cage. Each snake is different and over time you become familiar with who is going to react in timid or aggressive ways.

Good Luck -- Sorry about the long post
Kim
N.A.R.C
WWW.northamericanreptileconnection.com

Well you have been very lucky , here are some pic.s of a snake that was brought into my rescue that was left in with a small rat and unattended for 15-25 min. she could not be shore of the exact time . And she lost a lovely snake . It isn’t if but when it will happen , and if the damage is bad enough you will loose animals . Just a friendly warning from a 36-37 year veteran in the hobby . God bless . David

Three more .

I've always fed in the enclosure. Even when I started with just one ball python, he was fed in his enclosure. I like that they have the security of their hides to feed from. I know that most of mine probably wouldn't feed if they were moved to a separate enclosure, because moving them to a feed enclosure with no hides would be too disrupting to them.

I don't have all that many but I'm with you on this and would worry too much about moving them causing some of the more shy balls not to eat. Years ago when I switched from corns to balls I quickly gave up on feeding dead because I experienced a lower success rate and I've become a bit paranoid about anything that might interfere with my balls eating. My spiders where well over a year old before I finally broke down and watched them feed for the first time to see if they strike well or wobble because I had read about that as a possible time to see problems but normally I never watch balls feed. Recently I started raising ASF's in the same small snake room and I am starting to have to be a bit more careful cleaning cages as having ASF's inches away seems to get a good feeding response out of them but I'll take the occasional strike as long as they feed well. Never used to have a problem when rodents weren’t present as they quickly sensed the difference between a cleaning cage open and a feeding cage open (except for a particularly mean mom and daughter that strike defensively).

I've always preferred feeding in a separate tub. When we moved the feeding tubs got used to move stuff and I got lazy feeding them the snakes their racks. I don't like feeding them in the racks but I still do it as a matter of convenience.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

fill bucket ( bottom )
open box
drop in prey / food item
close box quickly
try not to get grabbed by snake....

...recheck and repeat when necessary...

....and write down what they ate....

....always have fed in the boxes......
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and the drinks are on Pearl.............

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As Alice and Evans said its much more convenient to feed in your rack and you should know which snake you have to watch for when you open a tub. That doesnt mean that they are aggresive animals just real good feeders.
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Damian Macioce
www.strongholdreptiles.com

Current opinion with the big snakes is that it is safer to feed in the cage. In the past it was believed that moving to a feeding box would get the snake to associate the box and not the opening of the cage with food. But then you end up with an enormous snake, that is very hungry and in feeding mode that you have to move between the cage and feed box. The best solution is to hook train your animals. You take a snake hook or another long device, and when not feeding, tap the snake on the head a couple times. I have a few young burms myself, and it does wonders.

I open the cage to clean or change water, and the burms are looking straight up at me like I'm going to be their next meal. I tap them a couple times, and they're immediately out of feeding mode. I've found it to be effective and my girlfriend and I even do it with our ball pythons. The most important thing is that you must remember to be consistent with it in order to get the snake to associate the tap on the head with the absence of food.

Thank you for the tip.
Toni

Exactly Jay thats what I do if I have a girl come out just a slight touch on the top of the head lets them know its the owner not food
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Damian Macioce
www.strongholdreptiles.com