Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering what you all do about feeding.

Do you feed in cage or feed in a different cage?

Do you feed live or frozen?

Thanks in Advance

John

First I always feed frozen thawed when I can. There are some instances that require the use of pre-killed and even live. But as a rule of thumb if forzen thawed is accepted that is what I feed-- many advantages are to be had:
1. Freezing the food may kill any potential parasites.
2. Much safer for the snake-- cant get bit, scratched etc.
3. And last and probably the most important, easier for the keeper--storage, purchasing (frozen can normally be purchased for less money per rat.

As for feeding them in the cage or in another container:
I used to feed my snakes in separate containers, before I had over twenty snakes. Now I always feed in their cages. I like this because I dont have to move them and it is easier on me as a whole.

Thanks and good luck. Here is a pic of my hypo Nicaraguan boa.

Since I only have a few boas and I bought all mine as babies. I have trained mine to feed in a seperate feeding box. This eliminates the feeding response whenever I open the cages.
Chuck

Also I feed frozen thawed rats whenever possible.
Right now they all accept frozen.

I do much the same as CNB2, for the same reasons. I also find it easier to clean the cages while they are in feeding tubs. Just a couple of things to mention though-
- If you feed them in separate tubs, they still may have a feeding response when you're ready to put him/her back, and it may find your hand to be the target of natural instinct. I place a towel over their head before I reach in to put them back into there cage. Please only handle them long enough to get them back to their home, and give them a day (preferrably 2) to digest before holding them.
I feel that it is very important to mention that it is good to know how much food is tooo much. You can get your snake to eat much more food than they should be having, with little effort on your part (they are eating machines). There is no need to rush a boa into adult-sized status. If you going to feed it every couple of weeks, then give it something big enough to make a small lump in its belly. If your going to feed it weekly, then make the food size smaller, or else you'll cause stress on its internal organs, often resulting in a short life span.
The more research you do, the better. Take care.
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--aka DMOG68