Do you use a feed box?

[MouseKilla]

Personally I don't use a feed box but I know a lot of people do. I've heard arguements for and against. I don't have any strong feeling about it but I've never found one necessary. I've heard the purpose is to avoid the snake associating your presence with feeding and thereby reducing the risk of being bitten. I've also heard that it won't do a damn bit of good because then the snake will have to be taken out of it's enclosure and will detect the presence of the feed box, which it now associates with feeding, defeating the purpose. It seems safer to me (if you're worried about being bitten) to just feed it in it's enclosure. Just wondering what people's thoughts are on this.

[Linds]

I do not use or advocate the use of a feed box for routine feeding. I use one little container, not by my choice, but snakes choice, little girl refuses to eat anywhere but crammed into a tiny space I've never seen any evidence (as once upon a time I did use them long ago) that they had any effect on a snakes behaviour, other than you were more likely to get bitten by removing your snake since some stay in "feed mode" for quite some time after (not to mention the scent of rodent in the air), and it obviously is more stressful for the snake being moved from A to B to A. I think they are useless in that respect. They do have a place, such as for animals that are housed together, or for animals that need a tight-fitting place to eat.

[marisa]

I agree with you. It's silly for people to assume a snake will associate feeding inside the enclosure with your hand and bite you. If you fed once per week, clean once per week, handle once per week and maybe spot clean/water change once per week, that's 3-5 cage opening per week if you practice proper husbandry. And some people think that feeding that ONE time out of 3-5 times will make the snake conditioned to that? Doesn't make sense.

My other point that I always make is the same one you did. If snakes are so easily aggresive from in cage feeding, and associate your hand with food because you feed in cage, then how is a feeding tub any different? LOL. If you use that logic then the snake will learn to associate you picking it up with feeding time! Duh.

So MouseKilla I totally agree with the secon part, and I feed ALL my snakes in cage. Besides, the best time to get bit IMHO is when you remove a snake after eating from those "wonderful" feeding tubs.

Marisa

[OttawaChris]

I just feed them in the cage... they are both PIGS when it comes to eating so I have never had to worry about prey touching the ground or not being eaten... I just have to keep my fingers to myself because my normally gentle corn turns into a monster when the smell of rat is in the air LOL

[Pixie]

Since I have pretty much all of my snakes on some form of loose substrate: aspen, cypress mulch, I prefer feeding them in a separate container to avoid them ingesting something that could cause them to be impacted.

It's funny that this thread is brought up as I was feeding my snakes last night and when it came to my boa (9 months, 3 1/2') she has become quite an aggressive girl at feeding time. I know it's just a question of time before she tags me good when I'm either taking her out for feeding or putting her back home afterwards. She almost did last night!

So, I am changing the substrate in her enclosure in a couple of days to newspaper cause she will be eating in her enclosure from now on!

Pixie

[sapphire_moon]

I used to feed in a feeding tub...but I only had one, so when I got my 2nd BP It became a pain to wait for one to get done so I could feed the other one...so I feed in tank now........I would think you would get bit by picking the snake up after eating...

[MouseKilla]

So far only one person uses one and she seems to agree that it's more dangerous if anything. I'm sure someone will show up to tell us we're all morons. I hope so or there is no point in asking the question.

[marisa]

MouseKilla- I also did a little personal survey on this....there was about 8 questions. Not the most scientific survey but I was interested in seeing if people thought it made a differance, and how many times they have gotten bitten during either method. I have like 400 people done with it or so, and when I have more I will post the "results" as unscientific as they may be.

Marisa

[liltattyprinces]

i do and i don't depends on the snake my soronan i'm thinking i'll stick to in tank feedings cuz he's not the friendliest afterwards it just depends on time and if i'm teaching my kids different methods of feeding, as of now we have 7 snakes soon to be 8 ( yeah i'm getting a bp)certain snakes i have will not eat in their tank only in a box in the linen closet..lol...but i don't find it makes a big difference either way. i feed some of mine on a towel on the table when my son or daughter feeds them. they love watching the babies eat up close.

[elevation24]

I always had problems trying to feed outside the enclosure. I could not get my female ball python to eat outside of it, and had 3 failed attempts after receiving her. The 4th attempt, where I fed her in her enclosure, she ate just fine Because of this I have just been feeding my male in his, too. My older female ball python is also fed in her enclosure.

[snake_lover]

Well ...
I feed my snakes in boxes because when you feed your snake in his cage ..Everytime you try to take the snake out of it's cage it will think you are ganna feed it again so before you get bit it's better to feed your snakes in feed boxes .. I bought my albino king snake from a pet store in miami they fed him/her in it's cage and now everytime i try to pick it up it bites me .. hehe ..

[marisa]

snake-lover that is simply not true. Feeding in cage has little to do with agreesion. I figured the above posts had explained that in detail to anyone reading them.

It makes no sense to feed out of cage because you think the snake will bite your hand, which I also clearly explained above.

If you practice proper husbandry you will be opening the cage 3-6 tijmes per week. One opening for feeding CANNOT condition the snake to think your hand is food. Period. Not to mention snakes should be fed with TONGS, so why a hand would ever be food no matter what, I have no idea.

Also, the most bites most liekly come from taking the snake OUT of a feeding tub,. they are in eating mode. Putting them in a tub once per week for feeding would condition them the same way feeding in cage would. Which is doesn't. That's obvious.

Like I said, I feed ALL our snakes IN cage and I haven't been bitten by anything over 15 inches long in two years.

Marisa
P.S. The only good reason to feed out of cage is to avoid substrate ingestion which is very dangerous. Also my logic above may or may not make sense to LARGE snake keepers as I don't know anything about the feeding/agreesion habits of retics, burms or anything else that size.

[MouseKilla]

I don't use tongs either myself. Dangle and drop. Of course I always us newspaper as a substrate so there's nothing to worry about.

[Invictus]

RedDragon and I use a combination. For example, our BCIs are just too aggressive after feeding, so they get fed in-cage. NEVER been bitten by either. Then again, we've had the female for all of 3 days now, and only 1 feeding, but I digress. The female is on newspaper, so no fear of substrate ingestion. The male is on bark, which is big enough not to worry too much about, and we feed dry prey so nothing sticks.

The VBBs also get fed in their enclosure, because they get scared when we dangle prey in their faces. I put the mouse on a feeding dish inside their hide box, and check on them an hour later.

The adult corns get fed on the floor. They have smallish enclosures, and NEVER bite after feeding, so we put them on the herp room floor and transfer them back to their enclosures when they are done. Never had a regurge or a bite.

For the neonates, we do use a feeding box, as they have ingested aspen before. Besides, it's a great way to get them to take the prey if its just them and a mouse in a small tupperware container.

Same with the Kenyans - good ol' feed bucket in a dark closet t eliminate risk of substrate ingestion.

So there ya have it. We feed in-cage when we can, out of cage when it's more practical to do it that way.

[MouseKilla]

Do you not use ingestable sand for the Kenyans? Or is that stuff maybe less ingestable than the package claims?