Feed in or out of enclosure? - Page 2

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.

hooter · 10-27-04, 02:12 PM

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...

Xetox · 10-27-04, 03:30 PM

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!

munchy · 10-27-04, 07:03 PM

Quote:

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.

Jayson · 10-27-04, 07:30 PM

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?

Linds · 10-27-04, 09:27 PM

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

And with the amount of snakes I have... well I don't know where I would keep all those feeding containers!

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeff_Favelle
Life's tough enough as it is without making nonsensical work for myself.

LOL agreed

Quote:

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.

Ptindy · 10-27-04, 09:43 PM

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.

Will · 10-28-04, 01:29 AM

Everyone's on Aspen, except hatchlings(under 2-3months) which are on papertowel.