Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys i have been keeping bloods and balls and hognosed snakes for awhile now and i have purchased a beutiful female hogg island boa. i have had her for a month now. she eats geat but i was wondering do you guys feed your boas in the cage? i feed all my snakes in the cage but this hogg has a serious attitude and was wondering if i should start feeding her outside the enclosure? are hoggs usually nippy and hissy when they are babies? any help would be great!!

Jeff

i always feed in the cage.
i would rather condition the snake to get ready to eat when i reach in the cage than be ready to eat when i take them out of the cage. just seems way safer to me.
also it is my opinion if you conduct regular maintenence such as changing water, cleaning substrate, checking temps, maybe misting, in addition to handeling and just interacting with the sanke in the cage, you should have no worrys abuot in cage agression.

A couple of Hogs that I've had were a bit feisty at first, but calmed down shorlty after.
I feed in separate tubs, and don't beleive that I'm conditioning them to aggression when handled, but rather conditioning them to know that its time to eat when in their tubs only. I handle them other times as well you know. This allows me to spend time on cleaning their cages without having to work around them. The only tricky part is their aggresive nature after feeding, and I hault that simply by slowly lowering a towel over them and then lifting them (supportavely). Once in your hands, they're back to normal. Keep your hands free of rodent scent when doing this.
Personally I think either way is fine, wether in the cage, or in separate tubs, and that it's just a personal preferance. This, to me, isn't one of those -- "my way is right and yours is wrong" kind of topics, as long as their isn't any handling other than the quick move. Good luck with your Hog, I hope he settles down for you. ------------David
-----
--aka DMOG68

i feel strongly that feeding in the enclosure is wrong unless your just too busy to do it any other way. every client i've built for, my own and many of the interns here all feed in either a specific rubber maid, cardboard box or with neonates, paper sacks. this way the enclosures won't stink, the snakes won't atticipate food eveytime i reach in, and besides, it cuts down on all the rodent juice that drips about with the FT's we use.

Deven
Terra5Designs | The Vivarium Group