Feeding

[Boafan9876]

So I'm jus wondering what your opinions on feeding your snake in or out of it's enclosure. I feed mine in his enclosure and had no problems with him getting cage aggressive bit he is still young. So I guess my question is, will snakes become aggressive and mistake your hand for food if you feed them in there enclosure?

[NennaMeerkat]

I feed in my snake's enclosure because that is what she is comfortable with. Being in anything else and she stresses out. But she is a finicky eater overall and so if everything isn't exactly right, you aren't holding your head a certain way, not breathing, and singing "Old Man River" she won't eat (obviously part of that is a joke). Point being you do what you can to get your snake to eat. If it will eat in its home then go for it...if it will eat outside its home then go for it. Outside the home might be safer only because the snake has no chance with ingesting substrate.

Honestly though some snakes will be aggressive no matter where they eat. If a snake is hungry it could see your fingers as food at any time. If you take it out to feed it could think that every time it is being taken out that it is time to eat. You take the "risk" either way in my opinion.

[TeaNinja]

honestly it's ALL up to your opinion. people DO say snakes think your hand will be food if you feed in the cage, personally i don't see that AT ALL. for ME, it's all about ease. i feed my little ball python in a shoebox outside of his enclosure, because it is very easy to put him back after feeding (and so he won't ingest substrate like nenna said) my 5 1/2 foot dumerils is a bit more difficult to lug around after feeding, and to be honest my dum didn't want to eat unless i put the rat in his enclosure (i'm sure he feels more comfortable)

so in closing, it's whatever you want to do. if it's easy for you to feed outside the enclosure and return after and it gives you peace of mind when trying to grab it out to handle, i say go for it. as for me, i have never seen any of my snakes think im food when i feed then in their home.

[kenchenzo]

i used to feed outside of there enclosure but now that i have 20 snakes it is just easier to feed in there enclosure's & there has been a problem as yet.

[Lankyrob]

I feed in enclosure - arboreals feed hanging form perches so no worries about the substrate - the others get a plastic picnic plate to eat on - one thing i have notices with my SD retic, as soon as the plate goes in you CANNOT put your hand in without being struck. without the plate he is as gentle as a kitten. he has obviously associated teh plate with food and "switches on" when he sees it.

[Sapphyr]

one thing i have notices with my SD retic, as soon as the plate goes in you CANNOT put your hand in without being struck. without the plate he is as gentle as a kitten. he has obviously associated teh plate with food and "switches on" when he sees it.

I found that to be really interesting. I don't know, I just find it amazing how snakes can learn to associate one thing with this or that.

At any rate, I'm feeding mine out of his enclosure in the little plastic box he was brought home in, but only because the breeder I bought him from recommended this and he eats well in it anyways. So, it's probably just what works best. If you've been successfully feeding your snakes in the enclosure, then it's probably fine. Though, Nenna's comment intrigued me and I do agree. The only taking it out to feed and not handle or anything? If you're handling frequently, along with going into the cage to clean water, etc., since you're feeding in cage, then it won't learn that only the cage opening/being taken out means eating time. Otherwise, if you're not doing those things, it may learn that cage opening or being taken out means food.

After reading some posts here, I'm beginning to think I was lucky and got a pretty mellowed out snake that's okay with pretty much everything. He doesn't mind if I come in to pick him up and give him some attention, he's never struck at me, and he seems to be able to distinguish the difference between my hand and food. Then, again, he's only been fed once, but everything's been going extremely smooth thus far.~

[infernalis]

I do both. Most of my solo snakes eat in the enclosure.

several eat while held.

The garter snakes mostly all live in multiples, so I must feed them outside enclosures or they will fight over the food and sometimes it's fatal, so to keep them from killing each other over a pinkie, I feed them in boxes (small poly totes)..