Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When feeding your BP how do you make sure the substrate doesn't get ingested. I don't want to feed out side the cage because i dont want to deal with a BP in feeding mode.
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

When I had aspen in my snakes tank I always fed him on top of an overturned bowl he has as one of his hides. Its not a BP but it might work for him too. But if the mouse falls off for some reason he might still ingest the substrate..I switched to using a repticarpet in one cage and cheap paper towels for the other. Either one works great. The repticarpet can be thrown in the washing machine and dryer but it is still more work than paper towels.Or You might try serving him his dinner on a plate or piece of cardboard..

im just wondering what would happen to snake if it does digest some of the aspen or alot of it??? because i have the same problem too....

We have recently started using orchid bark as substrate for our BP's and small boas, and find it to be ideal for our purposes. I wouldn't say that bacteria doesn't grow on it, but we have spot cleaned for a few months and find that Orchid bark is the best substrate we have used so far. If medium sized chips are used, there are no sharp edges to damage the snakes if they ingest the bark and it is completely natural. Eric Davies

np
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~dana~

1.1 ball pythons (hailex and roxy)
1.0 cat (whiskers)
1.1 russian hamsters (peanut and tj)

I rather feed outside the tank than risk getting my BP sick. It is not that hard to do I just have a feeding tank that I put her in for feeding it has no bedding. She knows that when she is in there food is there.

I completely agree that this feeding method will work fine with balls but I do have one word of caution about this method. That is that it should only be utilized with smaller snakes. Using feeding bins or anytype of method outside of the enclosure for large snakes (burms, rocks, retics, anaconda's, etc...) is extremely dangerous and foolish. I know that you were not suggestiong anything like this but I thought I would incase some one read this and thought "hey, this is a good idea I should do this with my retic." Todd

I use CareFresh and Dex just kind of compresses it down after a few days. Or I'll put some paper towels down on top if it's still really fresh and loose.

LOL! A BP in feeding mode

There really is nothing to fear when transferring a BP to a different container...just wash your hands first as a precaution. It seems that a good bit of the time, most need at least a little 'convincing' before they take the prey in the first place. Wait until you've had a charging 9' Retic try to make it through the glass...that would be something to be concerned about