Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I always thought it better to feed snakes outside of their cages, but have seen more than a couple posts against it. I have had my male rtb for four years and have always fed him in the tub with no problems. I also do my almost three foot burm this way. I can see how some snakes would seem too big to do this with but my boa is nine foot. I guess I'm just wondering if I'm the only moron to do this (which it seems lol) and if it could be harmful to the snakes? All opinions are appreciated!

Thanx

I used to feed out of the cage as well, because I heard it tames the snake down. But I had a separate enclosure that I did this in, so I didnt have to handle them right away and stress them.

I dont know if boas are normally a bit more subdued feeders than burms or retics, but I can tell you that messing with a 9' burm in feeding mode, can be quite a scary incident. My burms and retics, even though I feed frozen, change dramatically when its time to feed. It truly is a jekyl and hyde trasition. I have a 13 ft female whom I fed yesterday almost take a chunk out of me. This is a snake that normally has no quams whatsoever about being touched inside her enclosure. But I moved a bit too quickly after dropping the rabbit and was about 2" away from her open mouthfull of teeth.

Ive never owned a boa, but I can tell you that you will probably want to start feeding in the cage with your burm. if you handle your snake regularly, and make sure you dont smell like a prey item, you should have no worries about being struck just by reaching in to handle them. I just tap mine on the side with my hand, away from their head, to let them know its not time to eat. Some people use a hook, or other less sensitive object.

I wouldnt worry about them ingesting any of the substrate. It will usually fall off before it hits the mouth, and if its something that is bad for them to eat, you probably shouldnt have it in their enclosure. Just my opinion.

Dustin
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

I too remove my burm to feed her, she is about 11 1/2' and has never had any trouble with getting her in or out of cage.I know why a lot of people say to feed inside of the cage and it makes sence to me. I might even try it next time I feed her.

Now I do feed my retics in there cage, not cause they are aggresive (they truly are not) but I didn't get them as babies, and that is what there first owner did.

I have typed this response many times but it really is the best information I can give anyone so I went and found it and copied and pasted it here for you.

Feeding in the enclosure is the best choice (really the only choice) for feeding large constrictors. The only solid defense for feeding out of the enclosure is so that the snake will develope a feeding response when the door is opened. However this is not the case. As long as you regularly open the cage for other reasons beside feeding your snake will not get conditioned to the door and food.
Problems that arise with feeding outside of the enclosure is the fact that you must handle your snkae after it has been fed. This puts the keeper in a situation that is potentially dangerous. Most snakes stay in feedign mode and will continue to look for more food after it has consumed its meal. When you present yourself to relocate the snake back to its cage you are putting yourself in a position that could have your snake misconstruing you for its next prey item. Secondly you have to handle the snake after a feed which is stressfull to the snake and can result in regurgutaion of its meal. Hope this clears up any doubts about how you should feed. You are doing it correctly and please do not change,

Hope this can sway some of you out of cage feeders. Todd

Feeding time..exciting isn't it!

I feed out of the cage and very slowly and carefully transport back into the cage. Todd recommends feeding in and I totally see his point. Instead I'm going to try feeding right next to the cage in a kiddie pool so I can direct him back into the cage without picking him up, then rinse the blood from the pool. Even from F/T I get blood on the floor. I used to feed in the tub also so don't feel so bad. The clean-up is easy. The Jeckel and Hyde thing, no joke!

Well good to see I'm not the only crazy person feeding out of the cage. Todd does make a good point though. I like drkinds sugestion of a tank specifically for feeding best, thanx. Oh and captain ,when I feed my 9' rtb he gets in and out of a pet taxi from his cage to the tub and back to the cage. Its really cool, I'm not sure if a burm will do that though, but I'm working on it. Thanx for all the opinions.