Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My two balls are becoming more aggressive eaters (I think because I've been so busy that the only time I open the cage is to feed them). I always separate them before feeding, but that's becoming more & more difficult, as they immediately become alert when I open the cage and will strike when i try to grab one. I'm looking for a safe way to separate them from a distance, and my mind started looking at a snake hook.

So, my question is: What size snake hook is appropriate to handle 2 normally totally nonagressive ball pythons who get more active when feeding? The only reason I need it is to pull them from the cage and avoid getting struck at. Once I have them in my hands, they are extremely easy and gentle to handle.

I would appreciate links to online stores, also, or any other suggestions for ways to safely (for me & them) pull them out of cage (opens from front). (Please, I would prefer to avoid arguments about housing 2 together).

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you want to avoid arguments about keeping two(or more) snakes in one enclosure, why do you do it? Aside from health issues, the razzin' you'll get is unbelievable.lol

Have you tried using a different cage for feeding? i.e. Moving the snake from it's "home" to another cage that is just for feeding.That way the feeding responce is triggered by being moved into another cage, and not nessesarily by being picked up.

Anyways, I like the bitters! They'll keep you on your toes. Funny thing is- it dosen't matter if the snake is 12" or 12' it still makes me jump just as high. lol

Well I'm not nearly as experienced as most of the other here but that's exactly how I feed Dagon. Primarily it's because I knew that's how they'd been feeding him at the shop. The shop gave me the exact same enclosure (just a box) that they had used for all his feedings.

The 2 benefits of this have been...

1) He never strikes at my hand when I reach into his tank because he's never had food in there with him.

2) Because the box was his normal eating environment, he successfully fed on just his second day home.

How often are they being fed. Sounds like too long between meals . You can do a search for 'snake hooks' and find several links. Here is one.

Quig
Link

I think using a snake hook would just be clumsy and annoy the snakes. Just reach in and grab them. If you don't want to get tagged, get a pair of leather gloves at the hardware store. It'll be cheaper and easier.

Laura

np
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