I have a large plastic bin about 2 feet long and a foot wide. It's sort of like tupperware, clear plastic. I line with with a few layers of paper towels. This is the "Feeding Box."
If you have mulch, repti-bark, aspen or some sort of shavings in your setup, these could stick to the mouse and then the snake could swallow a piece of this foreign material and could actually hurt them significantly. That's one reason for not feeding in the tank. If you have newspaper, paper towels, or some sort of mat material in the setup, then you can feed the snake in the tank.
A second reason to Not feed in the Tank is because of "Learned Behavior." Yes, snakes can learn stuff- they're not stupid. If the snake gets used to eating in his main tank, then he could associate your hands in his tank as "Feeding time." And you could get bit by mistake. If you remove the snake to a separate feeding box, he will learn that activity, and understand what is going to happen when you place him in that box.
When I place my corn snake in the Plastic Feeding box I mentioned above, he immediately starts looking for the mouse. He knows what's about to happen.
He never snaps at me when I reach my hand into his cage, and I don't have to worry about him swallowing something that might get stuck to the mouse.
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