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Where To Feed

B

bill38112

New member
OK, I've searched for previous threads on this, but haven't found much of use. What are the pros/cons of feeding outside the viv? Or, stated another way, what are the advantages/disadvantages of feeding in a small container,separate from the snake's living quarters?

Currently, I'm feeding my two corns in their respective vivs. Each viv is decorated with several large smooth rocks that keep the pinkies out of the substrate. I place the F/T pinkie on one of the rocks, remove myself to a discreet distance, and wait for the snake to chow down. Thus far, both snakes have found their dinner and consumed it within 15 minutes. I figure this method minimally stresses the snake, but I do worry that there is still a slight chance of ingesting substrate and I don't want the snake to think every time I open the viv he's getting fed.

I kinda like the separate container idea, but I don't want the snake to associate the stress of being popped into a strange place with feeding.

Thoughts?
 
Well i feed my snakes in seperate containers and they work fine. The only thing that could happen to your snakes is that they start eating it and it falls into the substrate. I would still move into a seperate container though.
 
I have had my cornsnake for about 1 1/2 years and I have fed inside the viv since the beginning. I use simple newspaper as my substrate and it works fine. I also heard the reason to feed outside the viv is because of the substrate (like wood chips) can get on the mouse and inside your snake.

I was also wondering what the community has to say about this subject
 
I yank mine out of his viv, throw him in a clear plastic box, put him in direct sunlight, shove a camera in his face and take some pictures. When I lift the lid, he pops up expecting dinner and I hand him a mouse. I pick him up with the mouse in his neck and put him back in his cage with the mouse tail hanging out of his mouth and he immediately swallows it and gets a big drink of water and goes back to bed.

Never had an issue with regurges or anything. It's all a matter of what your snake is used to. :santa:

Let me tell you, he has definitely associated the plastic container with food. If I lift the lid and I don't have a mouse ready he will come get me. Conversely I never have to open his cage in fear that he thinks a mouse is coming.
 
Checkerbelly said:
I yank mine out of his viv, throw him in a clear plastic box, put him in direct sunlight, shove a camera in his face and take some pictures. When I lift the lid, he pops up expecting dinner and I hand him a mouse. I pick him up with the mouse in his neck and put him back in his cage with the mouse tail hanging out of his mouth and he immediately swallows it and gets a big drink of water and goes back to bed.

Never had an issue with regurges or anything. It's all a matter of what your snake is used to. :santa:

Let me tell you, he has definitely associated the plastic container with food. If I lift the lid and I don't have a mouse ready he will come get me. Conversely I never have to open his cage in fear that he thinks a mouse is coming.
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Well, whatever works. It's cool that your single corn is this forgiving of risky behavior. Personally, I can't understand what need is so pressing that you have to return him to his cage mid-swallow, but if it makes you feel like a master, then don't let me deter you.

With my 50+ corns and kings, I put the prey item in the feeding tub BEFORE the snake. This minimizes the association of my hand with food. But I'm not very cool. I just have a lot of snakes.
 
Roy Munson said:
Well, whatever works. It's cool that your single corn is this forgiving of risky behavior. Personally, I can't understand what need is so pressing that you have to return him to his cage mid-swallow, but if it makes you feel like a master, then don't let me deter you.

With my 50+ corns and kings, I put the prey item in the feeding tub BEFORE the snake. This minimizes the association of my hand with food. But I'm not very cool. I just have a lot of snakes.
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i have heard of doing it this same way, and really like it...no personal experience, since im still researching before i buy.

1.do you place the mouse in a specific direction? to make sure he gets it head first?
2.do you have to heat his feeding container as well? if so how do you go about that? very small uth with a dimmer? or some other method?
3. how long do you wait to put him back in his enclosure? do you pick him up or just put the container in the viv and let him get out on his own?
4.how big is his feed enclosre, relative to the size of the smake?
 
Roy Munson said:
Well, whatever works. It's cool that your single corn is this forgiving of risky behavior. Personally, I can't understand what need is so pressing that you have to return him to his cage mid-swallow, but if it makes you feel like a master, then don't let me deter you.
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Ditto on what Dean said. Why risk the animal, when there is no need?
I feed everything still in shoe box size container in a 4 oz deli cup. This includes all neonates and up to yearlings. I put the mouse in first then fit the 2 foot emoryi in after the mouse/rat. I put the deli cu pback in the container and stack it back up. I come back 30 minutes to an hour later and put the snake back in the container. Every body in larger containers (31 qt) get fed in the container. I feed them off of forceps, or just place the mouse in front of them. Being older they have little problem with any aspen chips and compaction, and I remove any wood chips I see while they are swallowing.


Roy Munson said:
With my 50+ corns and kings, I put the prey item in the feeding tub BEFORE the snake. This minimizes the association of my hand with food. But I'm not very cool. I just have a lot of snakes.
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Like Roy said, What do I know? I aint cool. I just have 50+ (more around 90) corns and kings.
 
My normal only really likes to eat in his tank, if I place the fuzzies outside his hide. (he's on Kitchen paper, so no problems with eating anything apart from the food) Then he gently picks them up takes them into the hide and eats them. My little 2.5 month Snow, eats in an icecream tub. As soon as I put the food in there, he goes for it. He's gentle with it too, just goes up to it and starts eating.
 
i feed my two snakes outside of their tubs. Nyxx(my bp) gets fed in a 5 gallon bucket...with her i put the mouse in first(live mouse..sadly..not for the mouse..i mean i love furry crittters but i wish she'd eat f/t so i would have to worry about her prey biting her..i'm afraid for her whe it comes time to start feeding her rats) and then i go get her and put her in there and in less then a couple seconds she coiled around that mouse and then starts to swallow; Now my little corn snake hatchling Terra whos about 10 weeks give or take a week gets put in the deli cup she came home in to eat..i put her in and then drop the pinky in and let her go. I also let my snakes sit a couple minutes in their feeding containers just to let the meal settle a little before i put them back in their tubs to sleep



Beothon Lover
 
If you have a substrate that cannot be ingested, like paper towel or newspaper (not shredded) there is no problem feeding in the viv. If you handle your snake every day or so, they don't automatically associate the viv opening with food. We feed our ball pythons in their vivs--balls can be a bit more tricky than corns--but because we handle them in between meals also, they don't develop that feeding response.

However, I recommend feeding outside the viv because it gives you a good opportunity to clean the viv, in addition the other reasons mentioned.
 
Come on guys, I do believe that was Checkerbelly's attempt at being funny. :shrugs: I laughed. However, inappropriate advice to a newcomer.
 
Rorryy said:
Come on guys, I do believe that was Checkerbelly's attempt at being funny. :shrugs: I laughed. However, inappropriate advice to a newcomer.
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I actually thought it was a little bit funny myself. BUT, I can see an inexperienced snake owner taking his advice step-by-step thinking that it is good advice from an experienced keeper. It wouldn't really be that funny for the new guy's snake to spit out the half-swallowed mouse as it's being handled. Feeding time is a vulnerable time for snakes. There's no need to stress them out at this time.
 
Checkerbelly said:
It's all a matter of what your snake is used to.
I was just trying to get the point across that you don't always have to tread on eggshells. And it depends on the individual snake and how tolerant it is.

More backstory:
I used to try to pluck him out of the feeding container after eating. He would lunge at my hands and it was always a struggle. I would have to hold his head back with a coat hanger. Eventually I would have to dump him into his viv after swallowing or get bit and have to pry him off me. I thought that was unhealthy. So lately I wait until his mouth is too full to bite, but not so full that he will get woodchips stuck to his food and I gently lift him and place him in the viv. It takes 2 seconds and I thought it was the best method in my case.

A simple "Checkerbelly's method is not recommended" would have sufficed.

Do I feel like a master? no. But thanks for inferring that I'm cool.
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Checkerbelly said:
Checkerbelly said:
It's all a matter of what your snake is used to.
Click to expand...

I was just trying to get the point across that you don't always have to tread on eggshells. And it depends on the individual snake and how tolerant it is.
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That's not a bad point. Sorry for being a little off in my reading of your post.

Checkerbelly said:
More backstory:
I used to try to pluck him out of the feeding container after eating. He would lunge at my hands and it was always a struggle. I would have to hold his head back with a coat hanger. Eventually I would have to dump him into his viv after swallowing or get bit and have to pry him off me. I thought that was unhealthy. So lately I wait until his mouth is too full to bite, but not so full that he will get woodchips stuck to his food and I gently lift him and place him in the viv. It takes 2 seconds and I thought it was the best method in my case.
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I wondered later if this was the reason for the "unorthodox" feeding tub extraction. If the snake has no problem with it, it's really not a terrible idea under the circumstances.

Checkerbelly said:
A simple "Checkerbelly's method is not recommended" would have sufficed.
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I reckon so. :eek:

Checkerbelly said:
Do I feel like a master? no. But thanks for inferring that I'm cool.
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I'll bet that you are pretty cool, even if you aren't a master. You're one up on me. I'm neither cool, nor a master. :grin01:
 
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