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Separate feeding cage?

Unicornman154

Unicornman154

New member
So I'm looking to get my first snake next month and my only previous experience with captive snakes was a class pet corn snake in high school. I remember that the own said she put the snake in a different cage for feeding so that the snake was less likely to bite her thinking her fingers were food when she wanted to hold the snake. Is there any truth behind this? I also read in the Q&A sticky that you might want to use a separate container for feesing to avoid having the bedding material sticking to the mouse and being swallowed.

So what do most people do and if you use a separate container, what do you use? Thanks in advance!

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I feed my kiddos in their enclosures. I place the feeders on paper towels to avoid substrate ingestion. I've never had an issue with my snakes mistaking my hand for food. I view "food agression" in snakes as a myth. The only nippy snakes I've encountered are those that aren't socialized or used to handling.

I hope you enjoy your future snake as much as we all enjoy ours! Be sure to share lots of pictures!
 
I've been feeding in their tubs as well. The only one who might develop any sort of "food aggression" is my yearling mystery hypo-type, Zulu, who looooooves food and seems to always beg for more. She watches my fingers and always seems eager to taste them, though she only tried once when I had her out for a while.
 
I guess it's a matter of personal preference, but since I cohabbed my 3 adult snakes for the most of their 8 years, I was compelled to feed them in all in separate tubs to avoid any problems with each other, usually waiting up to an hour prior to putting them back together. My smaller guy (a hatchling which is now almost a yearling which is the only survivor from a small clutch last summer) is usually fed in a separate tub also as since he is growing faster than a government mule and I like to weigh him prior to most meals.

Since they each currently have their own enclosures (thanx exclusively to the advice and polite suggestions of members of this forum which led to me reading some real horror stories on cohabitation and the fact that I love my little sneaky ones too dearly to intentionally harm any of them!), I continue to feed them in a separate container MOST of the time and DEFINITELY WHEN I don't have the time to supervise them appropriately. If you can't actually WATCH your snake eat, you might be surprised one day to discover WHAT can actually occur to a food item that is not eaten for any number of reasons, from a snake being ready to shed (my snow corns or "albinos" have such devilishly red eyes that there is only a short time when they might be a little too dull to notice and their skin so bright it's almost impossible to predict when they might be considered in "blue") to the relatively long period of time which is known as "breeding" or "mating" season, which can begin as early as February and go on until late June or even July! I've never (at least during their adult lifetimes) experienced real problems with my adults in terms of their willingness to eat regularly as I have with a couple of stubborn hatchlings, but if any of my snakes don't automatically ATTACK a rodent who has been dangled over or in front of them, then I have found it better that they be left for awhile in a separate container. Easier to deal with any mess, the rodent can't be lost somewhere or pushed under something to be discovered later on (YUCKY POO!!), minimizes the potential of the snake swallowing something else with the meal, and the scent of the rodent is left with the tub or feeding container and not in the snake's regular home. There are probably other reasons I could come up with for feeding in separate containers and I don't ALWAYS do it, but I do for the most part and for all of my snakes MOST of the time and it seems to be the better choice for those reasons and for me and my little sneaky ones.

My own .02 on the issue.

Later On Snake Lovers!!!

Happy Friday!!!!!
 
I feed in separate tubs for a few reasons, none of which have anything to do with keeping my snakes from thinking I'm food. If you are handling/doing maintenance regularly-ish, they won't assume food is the only reason for intrusion into their cage. But each snake is different, and some will "taste test" anyway, while others won't bite even if I am covered in mouse smell. I have figured out that they DO respond to certain feeding cues though. So for example, if I turn on a certain light in the living room, which I only use at feeding time, they all start acting very excited. Also, when I used to always feed right at 8pm, they used to get excited if I starting working around their cages at 8pm. Now my schedule is more random and they only get excited if other cues are present. So if opening their cage and sticking your hand in is always an indicator of feeding, and doesn't happen at any other time, I could see it turning into a problem.

One reason I feed in separate tubs is for better hygiene, when mouse blood and guts spill out it's easier to clean the snake and tub than to try to clean it out of the cage. Also I believe regular hands-on with your animals helps you to know what's normal for them, how they're doing, and to spot any problems more quickly. Understandably the experts may be able to keep tabs on health without this, but I'm no expert. Also, big breeders don't have time to do this, but I do. In short, I feed in tubs because I can and I want to, rather than because I think I have to. It's just my opinion, but I hope it's helpful.
 
When I got my corn, I followed the tub-feeding suggestions, but later I got other rat snake species and found that some of them (particularly my Everglades) simply will NOT eat in a separate tub. Now I just feed them all in their assorted vivs.
~Beau
 
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