Boa feeding help needed!

[kaylac]

Hi I am totally new to this site, but I don't have a lot of friends into reptiles and so I need help. My boa is hungry, it's time to feed her but I can't. Every time I uncover her cage, and go to open it she gets into a striking pose. She even tried to strike me through her tank. I am scared now to even go near it because I am scared of her biting me. I feed her in a separate tank normally, I was thinking of just tossing the rat into her tank, but she is following me and striking so I don't know what to do. Thank you!

[riddick07]

There isn’t any reason you can’t feed in the tank. If you just want to toss in a frozen feeder make sure you unthaw it dry so when you toss it in it’s not soaking wet. They can handle some substrate fine but coating it is a bit much. If it’s a live feeder you are going to have to remove the rat if she doesn’t eat it. No matter how nervous you are the rat will have to come out if she doesn’t eat a live animal. Since you are nervous buy a hook to help you out and some long feeding tongs if she’s still relatively small. Anything 7ft plus I just toss feeders in their cage and close the door but use tongs for everything else.

[craigafrechette]

You should be feeding in the enclosure anyway.

Seperate feeding tubs are old school and proven counter productive.

There literally is zero benefit to using a seperate feeding tub.
Using a seperate feeding tub will:
A) Increase the chance of the snake refusing it's meal due to being moved. Being moved = stress
B) increase the chances of the snake regurgitating it's meal, again, due to being moved after eating
C) will drastically increase your chances of being bitten. A snake will remain and feed mode after eating for hours.

Feed in the enclosure and you and your snake will be fine.