feeding in separate tubs vs in cage

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alex92

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just curious as to other peoples experience and opinions on the topic of feeding snakes in a tub outside the enclosure or feeding them in their enclosure and using tap training to avoid getting bitten. i leaned towards the feeding tub option as the babies are currently sharing the enclosure and i don't want them fighting over food and at this point i'd say they're established in their routine, i can reach in and get them out of the enclosure anytime and never get a defensive snake or have them bite me unless i'm dumb enough to smell like rat when i put my hand in there haha although i found that now they seem to know what the drill is in the tubs, as soon as they go in there they go straight to feeding mode, before i even touch or begin thawing the food they get ready to strike me coz they know it's feeding time.

so just curious if anybody else has done the same and noticed how quickly they go to a feeding response when put in the tub and other peoples experience feeding a snake in the enclosure and how that drill works out for them and whether they have to tap the snakes nose before handling it so it knows it's not being fed yet.
 
I've only fed my Jungle/Diamond hatchie 6 times now, every single time has been in his tank. Not once have I been bitten since I've got him. So I don't think it really matters unless the Snake is really aggressive and bitey then it would be advised to feed him in a click clack until they settle down more in their tank. I just leave and let him have his privacy while he feeds :) I also think I'm very lucky to not have been bitten yet, and am expecting to one day :( lol
 
mine tend to be evil when feeding, i hold the food just over the edge with tongs but sometimes they seem to wanna go for my hand more than the food haha
 
There r various threads on this subject... There is no mead to take the snake out for a feed... Once in food mode u r more likely to cop a bite putting it back
 
When feeding in separate tubs do you use a hook to move them so they don't get confused between handling and feeding times or it doesn't matter if you use your hands??
 
just curious as to other peoples experience and opinions on the topic of feeding snakes in a tub outside the enclosure or feeding them in their enclosure and using tap training to avoid getting bitten. i leaned towards the feeding tub option as the babies are currently sharing the enclosure and i don't want them fighting over food and at this point i'd say they're established in their routine, i can reach in and get them out of the enclosure anytime and never get a defensive snake or have them bite me unless i'm dumb enough to smell like rat when i put my hand in there haha although i found that now they seem to know what the drill is in the tubs, as soon as they go in there they go straight to feeding mode, before i even touch or begin thawing the food they get ready to strike me coz they know it's feeding time.

so just curious if anybody else has done the same and noticed how quickly they go to a feeding response when put in the tub and other peoples experience feeding a snake in the enclosure and how that drill works out for them and whether they have to tap the snakes nose before handling it so it knows it's not being fed yet.
as i said in another thread , i did this once but for totally different reasons ( paranoid about compaction) but only did while they where hatchies

i had very much the same experience , never got a defensive snake , they wiggled their tails (which womas do when excited about food) as soon as i put them in their feeding tub etc etc and i too thought that was because they had established a routine for feeding

when i moved them to their adult enclosures and started feeding them in there , there was absolutely no change in their attitude and they still wiggle their tails when i am getting the food ready
so no i dont think that feeding a snake in its enclosure will result in bites or defensive snake or that feeding in a tub reduces the risk

i do have to ask though , where on earth did you hear about tapping snakes on the nose to show them their not being fed , sounds completely ridiculous and unnecessary to be honest
 
Always fed snakes in their enclosures and never had problems

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Never owned a snake hook and have no plans to buy one. Never fed a snake outside its enclosure and don't see any need for it.
As I have stated on many other threads on this subject, I can't wait to see how people manage to do this when they have a large python with a full belly that they need to handle back into an enclosure and it doesn't want to go.
 
Never owned a snake hook and have no plans to buy one. Never fed a snake outside its enclosure and don't see any need for it.
As I have stated on many other threads on this subject, I can't wait to see how people manage to do this when they have a large python with a full belly that they need to handle back into an enclosure and it doesn't want to go.


Amen brother.
 
Moving the snake to a tub for feeding and back afterwards is an unnecessary disturbance of the snake. And no the snake will not become enclosure defensive. Defensive behaviour and feeding behaviour are two separate things that in my opinion are often misread by keepers. If defensive behaviour occurs during feeding, then the keeper needs to learn to feed in a less intrusive manner.
 
If I remember correctly there was recently a member bitten by a hungry snake whilst moving it to the feeding tub. I will try to find the thread and edit my post.


Edit.[h=1]Quick Release[/h]
 
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I don't think i would like to tap my darwin on the nose any time, let alone if he were hungry, and I don't wake him up just so I can handle him, and if I do go into his enclosure during the day (change water etc..) he generaly wakes up when I undo the latches on the door.
Feeding is done in the enclosure with tongs, and I don't use a hook for handling (I tried a hook once and he went off his brain) and I've never had a feed response bite.
 
I feed all of mine in separate tubs, use a snake hook only on feeding days, especially putting them back after a feed and have not been tagged as yet. My reasons are simply recommendations from breeders, reading and seeing posts and pics of substrate stuck in mouth and impaction from digestion of substrate. PLEASE NOTE: This is simply my personal preference and doesn't appear to cause my snakes distress (from what I can tell). Sadly I can also argue the other side of the coin and say I have seen breeders with large amounts of snakes feed on substrate in their enclosures with NO ISSUES. Just quietly I think this one is personal preference. Ps. I have a young BHP which may change my mind as he gets older about feeding out of his enclosure :shock:
 
Handle through the day, feed at night. Only ever fed in a tub when I had 2 diamonds sharing an enclosure on a short term basis and came closer to getting tagged moving them from cage to tub and back than I ever have feeding in enclosure. My snakes get handled more than they get fed so they hardly associate the door opening with feed time. I see tub feeding as being totally unnessasary, only increasing the chance of being bitten by unnesassary interaction with the snake.
 
People overcomplicate things.
Taking a snake from an enclosure to feed in a tub is a stressful and unnecessary step, I'm also of the belief that "tap training" is a load of rubbish as I feel there is no training involved. I think the theory goes right out the window too as soon as you try this on colubrids.
 
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