Feeding in the enclosure

Calihusker · 01-03-13, 10:31 PM

Now, I feed all of my snakes inside their enclosures except for my 7ft. Central American, until recently. I used to pull her out and feed her in a separate container, but for the past few weeks I've just been feeding her inside her bin like all of my other snakes.

Is it bad to switch from feeding outside of the enclosure to inside the enclosure?
Are there any consequences?

And I know it's preferred to feed inside the enclosure, as long as you know how to let the snake know it's handling time opposed to feeding time.

-Thanks guys, Roman.

Jay · 01-03-13, 10:39 PM

Not that I'm aware of.

Calihusker · 01-03-13, 10:46 PM

Offtopic but, Something pretty funny, is when I fed my Harlequin today, she took the mouse, put it in the corner, dragged her hide to the back of the tank, retrieved the mouse, and continued to eat it.

Mark Taylor · 01-04-13, 04:55 AM

Well I think you should be OK. I had to feed my male bci in a separate tub as he was housed together but now he has is own and ill feed him in his own enclosure next time and from then onwards only time will tell.

I could never understand why people remove the snake to a feeding tub once the snake has eaten the last thing it needs is stress of you picking it up straight after a feed.

rmfsnakes32 · 01-04-13, 12:29 PM

I used to feed in feeding totes major pain when you have alot of snakes now I feed all mine in their enclosures and all are fine

jovamabob · 01-08-13, 04:08 AM

i have a fussy feeder that only feeds when he feels comfortable, so he is always fed in his vivarium.
I'd prefer to feed any future snakes outside of the viv, purely because i want to ensure they have healthy feeding habits and i feel it helps them take better to new situations and be comfortable a little easier.

Lankyrob · 01-08-13, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jovamabob

i have a fussy feeder that only feeds when he feels comfortable, so he is always fed in his vivarium.
I'd prefer to feed any future snakes outside of the viv, purely because i want to ensure they have healthy feeding habits and i feel it helps them take better to new situations and be comfortable a little easier.

This doesnt make sense to me, what do you mean by "healthy feeding habits"??

jovamabob · 01-08-13, 04:52 AM

I just feel it instills more of an adaptive nature.
It takes a lot to be comfortable feeding in an exposed area that is not the 'home' and i've found that snakes who are fed in a seperate enclosure tend to cope better when placed in different, new situtions possibly because of that.

I noticed that snakes who are fed in the same seperate feeding tub, in the same location every week show this less though. I do know several people who inadvertantly have always fed their snake in whatever tub is to hand, and often in several different locations and they adapt better. A friend often feeds some of his in front of children/friends in whatever part of the house they happen to be entertaining the guests in. They're comfortable being handled in unusual situations, seen in how they cope when the enclosure is changed. He will only feed his higer end morphs in the enclosure, and although they're handled the same as the others apart from feeding times, they really dislike any changes.

From this i've found that all the snakes i know are only feed in their vivarium don't adapt well to new situations. From what i've observed, its easy for a snake to slip into the habit of only wanting to feed in the viv, and the ones that are fed in the same viv week in, week out tend to stop feeding if anything in their vivarium is changed too much. This is fine for the average snake owner, who wouldn't be putting them in any new situations, but i have my snakes handled by autistic and other disabled children often, and i'd prefer to have them cope better in situations that have potential be unpredictable (i always supervise them and observe both the snake and childs behaviour, removing the snake at any hint of danger)

That's just my opinion and things i just happened to have noticed though, and people may disagree

I do feed in the enclosure due to the numbers i have, and some fussy feeders but when im back down to just a few i plan to try outside the enclosure.

Lankyrob · 01-08-13, 06:29 AM

Thaks for the explanation, i dont have anything to refute your theory so cant even tho it doesnt "feel" right

Just two examples i have my gtp and jcp were brought home and put into their individual vivs, they both stayed in and were fed in their vivs for almost two years. In the last six months they have been moved to adult vivs. Both have fed in their new vivs with no issues at all, even after a complete change of environment

sws · 01-17-13, 05:08 PM

i feed in separate enclosure because when i feed my smaller BP in her pen she gets nippy and only stopped when i started feeding her in a tub. Also i believe its just healthier sense sometimes mice/rats/ect kinda pop and make a mess that i dont all over my snakes pen, and i have never had any of my snakes not feed even with the handling them to put them back after feeding.

Calihusker · 01-17-13, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sws

i feed in separate enclosure because when i feed my smaller BP in her pen she gets nippy and only stopped when i started feeding her in a tub. Also i believe its just healthier sense sometimes mice/rats/ect kinda pop and make a mess that i dont all over my snakes pen, and i have never had any of my snakes not feed even with the handling them to put them back after feeding.

The thing is, if you pick up your snakes in a quick and confident fashion, they don't mistake it for feeding time.

sws · 01-17-13, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calihusker

The thing is, if you pick up your snakes in a quick and confident fashion, they don't mistake it for feeding time.

i am like that with her she still tried to eat me and my parents, we did not let guest get her out. She is just one of those snakes that cant be fed in her enclosure or no matter how you approach her she tries to eat you.

Corey209 · 01-18-13, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calihusker

The thing is, if you pick up your snakes in a quick and confident fashion, they don't mistake it for feeding time.

Not all snakes fall into one category..

Lankyrob · 01-18-13, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calihusker

The thing is, if you pick up your snakes in a quick and confident fashion, they don't mistake it for feeding time.

Try it with a retic in feed mode