Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Since i Aquired me corn iv always fed him in his tank, iv never botherd transfering him to a container, is this going to cause any problems or is it only personal preference?

Cheers Anthony.

Unless your snake has a particulate substrate (like aspen), there's no problems with it. The biggest reasons for not feeding in the cage are:
a) if the substrate is loose, like aspen, the snake might ingest some
b) if you're housing more than one snake together, it increases the chance of cannibalism
c) some snakes might associate cage-opening solely with food entering, and thus start striking at everything that comes in.

C sounds to be the only issue that might affect you, but unless your snake starts getting aggressive, I wouldn't worry about it.

-Kat
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"You keep WHAT in your freezer?"
"Mice. And rats. If that bothers you, I can call them 'cows' instead."

In my opinion it's always best to feed in a seperate container. If you feed the snake in the same container, it will associate that container with food. When you place the snake in that container it will know it's feeding time, and could make feeding alot easier. I feed all my snake in the same tub, and it seems to work well for me. As for hatchlings I've always fed them in deli cups. It makes it easier for the snake to find. They can't help but to see and smell the pink.

>>In my opinion it's always best to feed in a seperate container. If you feed the snake in the same container, it will associate that container with food. When you place the snake in that container it will know it's feeding time, and could make feeding alot easier. I feed all my snake in the same tub, and it seems to work well for me. As for hatchlings I've always fed them in deli cups. It makes it easier for the snake to find. They can't help but to see and smell the pink.

I mostly feed in the living enclosure. But I do a couple things first. One, I have paper towel or newspaper substrate. Two, all my snakes live alone unless they are breeding. Then I separate them to feed them. Three...I take the snake out and handle it, then either put it back and feed it or put prey in it's enclosure and put it back in to find the prey. Also, I consider the individual. I know some of my snakes are gonna want to eat NOW and those I tend to feed, so they have something to do with their mouths other than bite me while I clean the cage and change water. Most of my snakes will eat with me moving them around a bit to rearrange the cage or clean it and none of them have problems. That too is taking in consideration the individual. NO WAY would my Ball Pythons tolerate me moving them around while they fed. But the corns, rats, children's pythons, rainbow boa, sand boas are all fine with it. Babies are less tolerant of any distractions and either get fed in deli cups or at least in their cage and left entirely alone.
My point is, snakes can be taught not to strike first and ask questions later. And the ones that do strike are, IMHO, likely to do that when you are moving them anyway and are just monster feeders.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

In my opinion feeding a ball python in its home is not a good idea. I,ve been biten by an adult who could just smell mice in the room. It isn't fun. I don't think it is possible to teach a snake to not act to what is natural, feeding instinct. I think I speak for the majority of the people on this forum when I say it is best to feed in a seperate container.

>>In my opinion feeding a ball python in its home is not a good idea. I,ve been biten by an adult who could just smell mice in the room. It isn't fun. I don't think it is possible to teach a snake to not act to what is natural, feeding instinct. I think I speak for the majority of the people on this forum when I say it is best to feed in a seperate container.

The only reason I don't feed my snakes in their own enclosures is the substrate.
If you handle your snakes every day they do not associate the opening of their enclosure with feeding time.
I fed my creamsicle in her "home" for a year before I started hearing all the stories of impaction.(also all of the snakes I had in the '80's)
In the wild they eat on grass, twigs, leaves, gravel and any other imaginable surface so it never seemed unnatural or dangerous to feed them on aspen.
Anyway, I digress; my point is that due to daily handling my snakes were not aggressive when I opened their enclosures. They did become excited when they smelled prey but that is normal behavior.
If you are using paper towels or newspaper substrates I don't see any harm in feeding your snakes in their enclosures.
Preferably one snake per enclosure but that is another can of worms.
Once again I must stress...let your snake decide. Once you know your snake you can decide what is best for it.

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Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)

My $0.02. I feed in the living space using a hemostat. I do not handle my snakes on feeding days. I do handle them on other days with no trouble at all.

I actually tried using a 'feeding container' with one of my rainbows. Once he was done eating I reached in to put him back in his cage and got tagged. He was still in feeding mode--half an hour later. Yes, my hands were clean and I had not handled any rodents, but the 'feeding cage' sure smelled of them!

>>In my opinion feeding a ball python in its home is not a good idea. I,ve been biten by an adult who could just smell mice in the room. It isn't fun. I don't think it is possible to teach a snake to not act to what is natural, feeding instinct. I think I speak for the majority of the people on this forum when I say it is best to feed in a seperate container.

I wouldn't propose to speak for the majority of the people on the forum....since I don't know them. But as I said. I haven't been tagged by a BP as a feeding error ever. My BPs are the most docile feeders of all my snakes. Heck, my BPs won't eat if I am watching! And, as I said, the only snakes that would tag me during a feeding are the ones that would tag me no matter what. Like my slightly psycho black rat who goes for your face. Or ones that made a rare error if I am too close to the prey (generally inexperienced hatchlings). (which is why I have 18" hemostats) And I have been bitten (and wrapped on occasion) by snakes from ten feet on down to hatchlings. It isn't fun. It isn't meant to be fun.
Since my rodents all live in my snake room it is kinda hard to avoid the smell of dinner in the air.....don't think that matters either.
I didn't say I taught the snakes to change their feeding instinct or response, I said I taught them to expect a differnt procedure and not strike just because I opened the cage. They don't expect me to open the tub and toss in prey. They expect me to reach in and take them out and handle them and then feed them. How is that different than what you have taught yours? You reach in and put them in the other container and then feed. I could feed mine on the floor, the table, the top of their enclosure or in my lap or in my hands. I have had snakes that ate in any or all of those circumstance. I have seen over and over that snakes, though not the shiniest tools in the shed, are smart enough to learn simple procedures.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

I feed most of my snakes (mostly corns and "other" ratsnakes) in their cages, even though I use aspen. I use tongs (hemostats) and when the snake grabs on and starts eating, I hold the mouse or rat up off the substrate until in is mostly ingested. I never just toss a rodent in on top of the aspen. This has worked well for me. Also, I handle my snakes enough that they don't seem to go right into a feeding response when I open the cage. It sort of amazes me how gentle they can be when I reach in and pick them up, even the ones that feed like piranah. The only one of my snakes that has bitten me so far was my little Texas rat. This had nothing to do with feeding...she was just a biter when she was young. Now she's as gentle as my corns.
Sometimes I will feed a problem eater hatchling in a deli cup when I am using the "decapitation" technique to entice. This has worked for me on most of my problem eaters. Duffy

I agree with what you say. I have two Texas rats. One has never bitten me. The other tags me every once in a while. Not while feeding though. I'll be holding him and out of the blue he'll strike. Just litlle love kisses. Feeding snakes is up to the individual. What works for you is the best.

Actually, I have two Texas Rats now also. My leucistic (of which I spoke earlier) and an '03 flame that a breeder friend of mine was about to give up on as a non-feeder. She was scrawny and wrinkled and about to go into the freezer. I took her and started tryin' different things. She began eating headless pinks a few weeks after I took her in and has not missed a meal since.
When I got her, she didn't have the energy to strike, and now it just does not seem to be in her repertoire of behavior. She's nowhere near as big as her littermates, obviously, but she's no longer wrinkly either. She's one of the ones that got fed in a deli cup...mostly because that's what "worked" with her. My leucistic is actually a bug-eye that my friend gave me since she was "defective"...I think she's beautiful! Duffy

I like to feed in a separate container because I usually feed freshly killed and there is sometimes blood (I whack the mice on the edge of a table), and my boa once popped a mouse open constricting it, I think this only happened because it had been frozen.
I feed in a separate container because if there is a mess, it is easier to clean. And depending on which snake it is it cannot eat any of its substrate.

MrBfrog
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0.0.1 Common Columbian Boa (Damian)
0.0.1 Amel Cornsnake (Kernal)
0.0.1 Okeetee Cornsnake (Guido)
1.1.0 Lhasa Apso's (Monkey, Tiffany)
1.0.0 Rat Terrier (Ricky)
1.3.0 Mice (nameless)
0.0.4 Goldfish (nameless)
0.1.0 Beta Fish (nameless)
0.0.1 Snail

Also Canibal the Musical is just about the the most funny movie ever!!!

because I dont want to chance any of my snakes accidentally ingesting substrate.

However, I keep my hatchlings on newspaper and do feee them in the housing container. But will start feeding them in seperate containers once I switch them over to aspen substrate.

Feeding in seperate containers also gives me a chance to clean all the housing containers. Since I have switched over to a rack system, it is a breeze. The sterilite boxes are much easier to clean than the 20 gal long aquariums I was using.

So while the snakes are in seperate containers eating, I pull all the boxes, clean them and the hides and water dishes, and replace the aspen. I do this every week, and it works great.

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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

I've always fed my snakes in there own tanks.I use newpaper as a substrate so i dont worry about impactions.If my snakes dont smell food i dont get bit,ever.My adult amels will come right up to my fingers and i rub the undersides of there mouths and they just go about there business.I do have a juvie hypo that will try and kill me any chance she gets, food or not.Im sure she is a mamba/corn morph....Paul.

My corns are usually fed in their enclosures unless I'm cleaning those on feeding day. However, with the exception of my burms, my boas and pythons are usually fed in separate feeding tubs. It is mostly personal preference unless you have an easily ingestable substrate, then it's simply safer to feed in a feeding tub that has no substrate.

Just my .02
Raven

>>Since i Aquired me corn iv always fed him in his tank, iv never botherd transfering him to a container, is this going to cause any problems or is it only personal preference?
>>
>>Cheers Anthony.
>>