How do you feed your snakes?

[Jimmy Johnson]

I voted other

I voted other because I will feed some in their containers, and some in separate containers. Just depends on the snake.
Some will take the prey from my hand some want privacy.
If they will not take from my hand they are fed in separate containers (small containers) so the mouse doesn't lay in their containers all night.

they all get frozen/thawed

 

[Jay@PJCReptiles]

I house them on paper towel until they reach 30-40g. I feed them in their living enclosures while they're still on paper towel substrate. After they're switched to aspen, I feed them in separate tubs. By then, their feeding response is well-established.

We do similar to Dean. I voted other because it is a combination of both. The only thing we do different is the fact that the babies are placed in delicups inside their bins so they are in more direct contact with the prey item. We feel this helps with any non-feeder problems that may occur. By using this method we have never had any non-feeders whatsoever. I am not saying this is fool proof but it does seem to work for us thus far. Once they are big enough to be put on aspen they are all fed in separate feed bins.
Jay

Add On: I forgot to say we feed only frozen thawed.

 

[XIIIHour]

"F/T in separate container"

I just take who ever is being fed out of the tank and put them into a plastic shoebox container with holes. They usually sit in that while I run to the freezer and get a few pinkies/fuzzies which I put in hot water. I check to make sure the pinkies aren't too hot, just warm and thawed (would you like to eat a partially frozen steak? eww.) and then I hold it up to the snake with a pair of feeding tongs.

I never used to use the tongs, but my biggest corn, Buttercup, has horrible aim. She has bit me a few times going for the pinkie!

 

[Korrin]

I feed Vespa f/t in a seperate container.
I just slide her in it, facing the mice, and she usually finds them.
If she doesn't seem to notice them, I'll grab them with tongs and try to get her attention with it.

 

[RyanR]

FT in 24/7 housing in the hide (i over turn it)

 

[tricksterpup]

I feed most of my smaller snakes (anything under 6 feet) in separate containers. I now only have 2 snakes that require live/freshly killed food.

 

[CALIVIK]

I put other since it was my first time...

This is a very educational thread for me. Being new to the snake world. My little boy 7wks old had his first f/t/p on Sat night. I waited til dark for the big event, put gloves on dangled the f/t/p in front of his den & nothing! I was thinkin' he was going to jump out & pull it right out of my hand & nothing! lol I understand he is a juvi but still I thought I was gonna get this mean ole snake attacking his prey.
So finally when he figured out what it was I laid it down in his viv on substrate like a @$$ & watch him slowly suck it (pinkie) back.
So for me I was wondering if it IS important for him mentally to strike his prey.
Also I wonder if it is important to have the prey in a separate area to cut down on any diseases etc.

Bill28~ glad you got your CA King back would love to hear that story. Plus for me a lot of your advice I will take thx

Vikki
7wk Male CandyCane

 

[Matthew]

I'm in the *F/T In a Separate Container* boat.

One of my favorite parts about owning a snake is watching it eat. Tootse is very shy in her enclosure, so if I fed in her house I'd never get to watch her eat.

Plus, it just made sense (in my mind) that establishing the "Hand coming in house does NOT equal food" rule was what I was after.

Somewhat unfortunately, I now have to hide Tootse's feeding tub until I'm ready to be done holding her. The durn little lady constantly tries to head towards that tub if she can see it. She's a fuzzie eating fiend, I tell ya.

 

[rolandslf]

Feeding

I stun the prey item. Put it in the 24/7 housing and let the snake do its thing.
It's easier this way when you have 19 snakes to feed.

Ciao

 

[pelloanderson]

satan the corn snake

i have just bought my first corn snake sometimes he just lies there as if hes ill can they bcome constapated or get food poisoning from pinkies. :eek1:

 

[Tula_Montage]

I have, from the beginning, fed my snakes in their individual vivs, WITH the exceptions noted below. I do use aspen as a substrate, but have developed a protocol that avoids ingestion of the substrate. I put the prey in a container large enough for the snake to crawl into, but small enough to fit in the viv. I put the container in the viv and leave it overnight so the snake can eat at his/her leisure. I feel feeding in the viv has several advantages:

You don't stress the snake by chasing it down and putting it into a strange enclosure.
You don't risk the snake escaping.
You don't have to handle a snake after it has eaten. That aids in the snakes digestion and avoids being bitten by a snake still in hunt mode.
You don't teach the snake that it's going to eat when it comes out of the viv which makes the snake easier to handle.
It's way faster and more convenient for the multiple snake owner.​

Now, I do feed in a separate enclosure when a snake is a picky eater. I have two that I pretty much have to put in a small container with their food and leave them in a dark quiet spot to eat. One is my always contrary albino california king. She had been loose in the house for five months and it apparently traumatized her. I have had her back for about three months now and she still musks and attempts to bite every time I take her out.

Great points.

Try putting a royal python in a silly little container it doesn't like the smell of, THEN dangle a rodent above its head, I guarentee you that royal doesn't eat. Whereas leave it in its viv, and drop f/t into its coils... no ratatat is ever visable for more than 20 seconds LOL

Like I said, everything of mine is racked on newspaper. Feeding is a 30 minute task as all the rodents are thawed out in HOT water, and then thrown into each snakes respective enclosure. Guess how many refusals I have ever had

 

[tom e]

F/T in viv. When I had them on aspen I used a cardboard box hide with a mouse in it that I would plop in the viv. That kept the aspen off the food and the snakes got to know what that box means. (Either that or it got to smell like mouse..)
Now they are both on newspaper so I forgo the box.

 

[v_various]

I feed my snakes out of enclousre. I worry more about aspen ingestion, than the possibility they might become nippy (and so far, no sign of that!)

I use tongs, which is a lot more fun with my amel boy. What a striker! Sometimes he'll just sit for a while with the mouse in his jaws, when that happens I just put a t-shirt over top of him and then he's fine. He just gets shy sometimes, for whatever reason. And neither freak out when I pick them up to put them back, I've never had a problem.

And if I ever do start having problems, I'll just start trying something else. It's not like refusing few meals will kill them.

 

[Corny Noob]

I feed my snakes out of their enclosure. I haven't had any problems with this so I suppose untill I do I'll just continue it this way. Although I am housing her on newspaper right now it's only so I can monitor for bowel movements and regurgs because we've had a problem with that. But I will shortly be switching back out to Aspen again shortly and I'm sure with my luck she would manage to digest some of it because of me.

 

[SnakeCreations]

A little different

Hi All -

This is long thread, but what I do is a little different than everyone else, so I thought I'd throw my two cents in. I've tried a couple of different things over the past year to improve efficiency. I'm not comfortable feeding on aspen or paper towels even though I know the risk may be low. I also don't have the space/resources to have a seperate enclosure for each snake...

I feed 3 nights a week - most of my snakes are on a 5 or 6 day feed cycle, a few on a 4 day and a few on a 7 day. I feed approximately 20 snakes in one sitting. I move snakes from their rack onto a large table, take the snake out of it's enclosure and turn the lid of the enclosure up side down and put the snake on it. I then place the prey onto the lid in front of the snake. This requires that I am hyper vigilant - but I get to watch everyone eat while I'm rinsing out water dishes. I'll feed 5 - 6 snakes at a time this way. If they refuse or are in blue, sometimes I'll put them into a brown paper bag for hatchling size snakes or into a hatchling size box for larger snakes. That goes into the enclosure and is left out until I have time to check on them. I run those boxes through the dishwasher when they are done so I don't have to worry about who was in them.

My yearling and older snakes know exactly what's going on when I put them on the lid. I've had friends over who are surprised by it and say, "they're just waiting for you". It's true - they just watch me while I pick their prize. I do have a few snakes who will bolt and run. But I know who they are and watch em.

Good Luck in whatever you do!!

-Tonya

 

[slothrop]

i feed wiggley in his tank. he won't strike unless you make the mice look as if they are running around all bonkers like. if he doesn't strike then i leave the mouse in the tank and its normally gone within an hour(shy). if its still there in the morning then it usally means hes gonna shed in the next week, sometimes he won't take anything for a couple of weeks.

 

[texastailfeathers]

I feed mine in their 24/7 housing. I put the mouse on a large piece of cardboard or newspaper for the bigger snakes and on a big index card for the tiny ones. I have two that prefer to eat straight from the feeding tongs. They're spoiled.

 

[Corny Noob]

I forgot to mention in my post earlier, while I'm feeding in a seperate tub, it's F/T not live.

 

[texastailfeathers]

I forgot to mention in my post earlier, while I'm feeding in a seperate tub, it's F/T not live.

Oh yeah...F/T here too for the corns.

 

[slothrop]

me three. f/t(what does that mean. frozen something i guess.