View Full Version : Feed in or out of enclosure?
CDN-Cresties
10-27-04, 12:02 AM
Im just curious to your thoughts on this question, should snakes be fed inside their enclosure or in a completely different "feeding" enclosure and why? Thanks, my apologies if I'm beating a dead horse which I bet I am. :)
Out as they won't associate you opening the enclosure for food ever. But I can understand why some people do it inside, if I had over 10 or 20 snakes I would do inside as well. But I have 4 so it doesn't hurt to pull them out, stick em in a box and feed em in there. Then I don't have to worry about them eating substrate. I don't want to be poking them with feeding tongs to get substrate outta their mouth. Just my opinion.
Mike
HeRpZ03
10-27-04, 12:12 AM
Well it's all pretty much preference. The reason behind feeding in a separate enclosure is to minimize the association with the handler as the food, or bringer of food. Personally, i don't feed my snakes in separate enclosures, never have, but thats just me
CDN-Cresties
10-27-04, 12:12 AM
Originally posted by Ptindy
Out as they won't associate you opening the enclosure for food ever.
I don't buy that reason for second, I could only see that happening if the only time you opened the enclosure was to feed.
Tim_Cranwill
10-27-04, 12:14 AM
In.... always have.
I don't buy that either.
I feed 'IN' simply because it would take WAY too much time if I had to move everyone to a seperate enclosure and feed them there, not to mention I'd need a whole lot more cages too...
I have two dozen milks and kings, and if anyone were apt to get into a 'feeding frenzy' and snap at you it'd be these guys. As it is, that has not happened once. *knock on wood*
If you are worried about ingesting substrate or whatnot, that I could go with...
Yea the substrate worries me more. I always stick my hand in their feeding boxes and never been struck so maybe the association with feeding that you guys don't but is false.
i used to feed in a separate rubbermaid but that was a colossal pain. my kings would always defecate and musk in there and id have to clean it after each king and when id try to take them out theyd go buckwild and try to kill me. the BPs seemed to have a tendency to sketch out and refuse meals sometimes. just an unnecessary pain.
i use care-fresh and aspen pellet (sometimes a mixture of both)substrate now and if im feeding F/K i just feed right on the substrate but most of the time its F/T so i just take out most of the hides and lay newspaper over the substrate and take it out after the feed. works pretty well and if your worried about the snake taking the food item under the paper into the substrate, just weight down the paper with a water dish or whatever...
daver676
10-27-04, 01:44 AM
I feed inside as well. I believe that the only reason a snake would ever mistake your hand for food is if it smelled like food (you were recently in contact with a prey item and didn't wash), or the snake just doesn't like you. :p
Jeff_Favelle
10-27-04, 01:57 AM
There is no "should" and there is no right or wrong. Do what YOU want, it will be fine either way.
I feed in because I see NO benefit to feed out. Why make more work? Life's tough enough as it is without making nonsensical work for myself.
I do a bit of both. I feed out for any snake that will eat that way. Partly because I like to have a good view, and partly to avoid substrate ingestion. Some of my snakes are shy feeders, so I have to feed them in.
djc3674
10-27-04, 11:00 AM
When I got my first BCI about 4 yrs ago, I had read that they should be fed in a different enclosure. I did just that for a short time, but then became more and more comfortable with caring for him. I now exclusively feed IN the enlosures. Not to mention the fact that he is now over 7 ft long and I just do not have the room for a feeding enclosure that big.
However, I think (although I may be wrong) he knows when he is going to be fed and when I am taking him out for handling. First off, when it is feeding time, I bring the boxes with the prey into the room. I then take the top of the enclosure off, pull out the hide and the water bowl. Once I start doing this, he just seems to know, starts flicking his tongue crazy fast, will start to slither up to the top of the tank etc...most likely it is because he smells his food and all of a sudden his enclosure is empty with only him remaining. He just senses that it is feeding time.
When I take him out for handling, I take the top off, then immediately begin to touch him...move him a little etc...before picking him up. I am proud to say (knock on wood) I have never been bitten by my snakes..not even once. My big BCI does not even strike at me..seriously...he doesn't. My Hog Island boa on the other hand is an eating machine and when he smells his food...he strikes at everything.
I feed IN and I agree with CDN and Will. I open my cage a lot more to handle than I do to feed. Also my bp is usually in a hide when I put rats in the cage so he doesnt necessarily SEE me putting it in. I use very long bbq tongs so I dont think he relates my hands with feeding. I havent been hissed at or bit once yet...KNOCK ON WOOD...Im still careful..lol
BoidKeeper
10-27-04, 11:36 AM
I feed in except for my sand boas. All of my snakes are on newspaper except for the sand boas which are on shreded aspen. I feed them in rubbermaids.
Cheers,
Trevor
I'm with the "In Crowd". I feed in, and on unprinted newspaper stock. Never had an issue with striking either.
vanderkm
10-27-04, 01:13 PM
All ours are fed in their enclosure - no issues with striking at other than feeding time - they know when there is prey thawed out - every face in the place is peeking out of their hides as soon as the scent of rodents is in the room.
No worries for ingesting substrate - most are on CareFresh which rolls off the prey even if mice are damp. Those snakes on aspen are fed dry prey on the top of their hide - doesn't usually touch the bedding.
We fed in separate containers for a while with some but they all seem more comfortable feeding in their own secure environment and we saw no advantage to moving them about.
mary v.
For the people saying feeding inside the enclosure doesnt make the snake associate your hand/arm as food your wrong. I know because for one year I feed my IJ outside of his enclosure and everytime i went to get him out to hold him he never bit me or struck. I feed him in his enclosure 2 times here recently and now for the past month everytime his lid is opened he goes in strike mode looking at me like im food. I got bit 2 times so far and now that i feed him outside of his enclosure he is slowly getting used to me again and thinking twice about me being a rat.
There is NO way you can tell me that isnt true because I have seen it with my own eyes and it is true.
Tim_Cranwill
10-27-04, 02:27 PM
Well, you don't just open the door and grab the snake or reach your hand in! You need to have a look at it and see what it's body language is telling you. I have fed 100's upon 100's of meals in the enclosure and never ONCE been bitten in a scenario like that.
In my experience, snakes know when food is thawing. They act VERY differently when I open their bins for feeding or cleaning.
JMO...
I have been dealing with reptiles for 14 years now....I have always fed in and never have had a problem. Now I have had some aggresive snakes before...but I dont thing that is was because I fed them in! They where aggressive from day one, I just knew to handle them more carefully.
Just my 2 cents
TerrorFox
10-27-04, 03:41 PM
I tryed feeding my snake in a seperate container and It got way to curious/stressed when placed in so It didnt eat. So far I have never been struck by my snake and it has never gone into "attack mode" since I got it. I usualy use tongs or Plyers or anything similar to dangle the food in front of it, It sometimes strikes the device used because I think it associates eating with the device.
Jeff_Favelle
10-27-04, 06:50 PM
Exactly what Tim and Xetox said!
Originally posted by hooter
For the people saying feeding inside the enclosure doesnt make the snake associate your hand/arm as food your wrong. I know because for one year I feed my IJ outside of his enclosure and everytime i went to get him out to hold him he never bit me or struck. I feed him in his enclosure 2 times here recently and now for the past month everytime his lid is opened he goes in strike mode looking at me like im food. I got bit 2 times so far and now that i feed him outside of his enclosure he is slowly getting used to me again and thinking twice about me being a rat.
There is NO way you can tell me that isnt true because I have seen it with my own eyes and it is true.
im sorry 'hooter.' we are all wrong. :(
For the past 11years and thousands of feedings I have fed in the inclosure and never had an issue.
So apparently I am also doing wrong. :)
TerrorFox
10-27-04, 07:39 PM
I've heard many stories about attackings due to feeding inside of the cage though, I tend to throw caution to the wind anyways.
CDN-Cresties
10-27-04, 07:54 PM
Hooter, are you basing this on the principles of classical conditioning?
I'm for feeding inside enclosures all the way. I house all mine on safe substrates (carefresh, newspaper, towels, etc.), so it works out fine. LOL... especially since it would be a serious safety hazard since many of my snakes are stronger than I am :p And with the amount of snakes I have... well I don't know where I would keep all those feeding containers! :p
Originally posted by Jeff_Favelle
Life's tough enough as it is without making nonsensical work for myself.
LOL agreed :p
Originally posted by hooter
There is NO way you can tell me that isnt true because I have seen it with my own eyes and it is true.
Not really. Snakes change with time and other influences (such as different enclosure, location, handling, etc). There is virtually no evidence in all the years people have kept snakes to back up a claim like that. I've had snakes become agro over time, I've had snakes calm down over time, I've had snakes stay exactly the same... all are fed exactly the same. Some mature in to more accepting animals, some mature in to more fiesty animals that need more regular attention to stay a certain way, some animals might all of a sudden find something to be a stressful influence on their life, etc. None of this has anything to do with how you feed them, except that it HAS been proven that some snakes get stressed out over being moved around for that particular aspect.
How many of you who feed inside their enclosures use aspen? If all of you or most of your feed on aspen then I would most likely not feed them outside the enclosure. I rarely interact with my snakes except for my ball python, who's a doll.
Mike
Jeff_Favelle
10-27-04, 10:00 PM
I use aspen in about 75 of my enclosures. Womas, Jungles (some), and milksnakes. All on aspen.
TerrorFox
10-27-04, 10:07 PM
I use machine washable carpet, its just simple to grab one peice and toss it in the washer and then put another in. Takes less then 2 minutes.
Everyone's on Aspen, except hatchlings(under 2-3months) which are on papertowel.
Sean_.E.
10-28-04, 03:31 PM
For the most part it comes down to personal preference, do what works best for you (and the animal).
Personally, I prefer to feed all my animals in their enclosures. Its, quick, easy, effective and usually stress free. Feeding out sometimes doesn't work as some animals get stressed by the situation and refuse eat.
Originally posted by TerrorFox
I use machine washable carpet, its just simple to grab one peice and toss it in the washer and then put another in. Takes less then 2 minutes.
why dont you frig off rick?!http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/avatar.php?userid=6383&dateline=1098289615
lol the carpet sounds like a good idea...
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