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new snake feeding questions??

Zimmer

Zimmer

New member
I have seen lots of opinions about whether to feed your snake in the enclosure or to remove her to a separate feeding tub..... and lots of people arguing that it doesn't matter either way. Obviously I don't want to have problems with cage aggression or hand/food confusion when reaching into her cage. But it also seems like handling immediately after eating to remove her from the feeding tub and back into the enclosure could be stressful and if she's still in feeding mode, a hand might look/smell awfully tasty..... I guess I can see the pro's and con's of each feeding style, and I'm not necessarily looking to start up a debate, but I'm wondering what you all personally do at home with feeding your snakes, and what has and hasn't worked for you?

I'm unsure how my new snake was fed at her previous home, and so I'm looking for insights into how I should offer her the first meal with us as feeding day is going to be coming up! Possibly tomorrow, or if not tomorrow then Saturday.

Personally I'm inclined to remove her from the enclosure into a feeding tub because I want to SEE everything!!
 
I feed outside the cage in a separate "Feeding Box."

It's not necessary, but a lot of us do it. There are also a lot of folks that don't.

The main reason I feed in a separate box- I do a thorough weekly cleaning of the cage. (Cleanliness is necessary for a happy healthy snake). I have to remove everything including the snake to do the weekly cleaning, so I time it with the weekly feedings. While he's swallowing his mouse, I'm cleaning his cage.

Other people have other reasons-

Some mice (live ones) have ticks, mites parasites etc..... and you don't want to bring them into the cage.

Some people don't want their corn snake to associate their hands coming into the cage with feeding, so as to lessen the likelyhood of being bitten by mistake.
 
I feed my corns in a separate feeding box outside of the cage as well. I too time cage cleaning with feedings. Plus, one of my snakes also began associating me in her cage as dinner time no matter how often I handled her and began to try and bite. Now that she gets fed separately she hasn't reacted this way. I have found that all of my corns go into hunt mode when placed in their feeding boxes. I wait until the mouse is about halfway down their bodies before placing them back in. I let them crawl out of the feeding box back into the cage without picking them up. I haven't had anyone regurge doing this.
 
golsama said:
I feed my corns in a separate feeding box outside of the cage as well. I too time cage cleaning with feedings. Plus, one of my snakes also began associating me in her cage as dinner time no matter how often I handled her and began to try and bite. Now that she gets fed separately she hasn't reacted this way. I have found that all of my corns go into hunt mode when placed in their feeding boxes. I wait until the mouse is about halfway down their bodies before placing them back in. I let them crawl out of the feeding box back into the cage without picking them up. I haven't had anyone regurge doing this.
Click to expand...

Aha I see now I was wondering how to get them from the feeding tub back into the cage.... it seems so obvious now, lol, but I was so worried about "handling after feeding"!! And our snake is very docile and sweet tempered so I really don't want to ruin that! I guess it's hard to say how every snake will respond to feeding in the cage, I'm sure there are some that do just fine. But I do like the idea of weekly clean up while feeding!

Next question: How long does it generally take from the time of feeding to the time of pooping? She hasn't gone since I've had her, and she was fed a few days before I brought her home. Should I wait for a BM before feeding, or did that probably happen with the breeder before I bought her?
 
if you don't have a separate feeding box yet, I found that a black 'file tote' with a clear hinged lid worked very well, I think the black sides make them feel a bit more secure, and you can watch through the clear lid (I put a weight on the lid)

I've used feeding time the same way as Karl, it's a great time to change out bedding, wipe things down and give water bowls a better wash.

It is similar to this one, but mine does not have handles. http://www.givesomethingback.com/It...Box-LegalLetter-Plastic-Black&ItemID=AVTTLF2B

A possible thought that might avoid 'hand/food' confusion, I often will take the snake out, and check her over and handle her for a bit while the food is warmed.. and I'll put the mouse (with tongs) in the enclosure, then put/let the snake crawl back into the cage where it finds the meal.. So the meal isn't being 'put into' the environment with the snake.. it's already there when the snake comes back. I have no idea if this makes a difference to the snake or not but maybe they will associate eating after being handled- it certainly won't hurt if it trains them to go easily back into the cage.
 
the time from feeding to pooping can vary.

It depends on the age of the snake and the temps in the cage.

Generally, if all goes well, a baby will poop about 2 days after eating, and an adult can go 2 to 4 days after. (Mine, a "sub-adult" poops like clockwork 3 days after eating).
 
Karl_Mcknight said:
the time from feeding to pooping can vary.

It depends on the age of the snake and the temps in the cage.

Generally, if all goes well, a baby will poop about 2 days after eating, and an adult can go 2 to 4 days after. (Mine, a "sub-adult" poops like clockwork 3 days after eating).
Click to expand...

Good to know!! OK. So she probably went before I brought her home (we've had her since Saturday).... Looks like we're all clear to feed our girl! Can't wait! Pretty sure I'm more excited for feeding time than Zelda :crazy02:
 
nancyg said:
A possible thought that might avoid 'hand/food' confusion, I often will take the snake out, and check her over and handle her for a bit while the food is warmed.. and I'll put the mouse (with tongs) in the enclosure, then put/let the snake crawl back into the cage where it finds the meal.. So the meal isn't being 'put into' the environment with the snake.. it's already there when the snake comes back. I have no idea if this makes a difference to the snake or not but maybe they will associate eating after being handled- it certainly won't hurt if it trains them to go easily back into the cage.
Click to expand...

This is a great idea. Another thing that seems so simple it didn't even occur to me. Thank you!!
 
Well..... First attempted feeding tonight. No luck. I feel like she has been fed in her enclosure in her past life because she was very put off about the feeding tub, I think. She showed zero interest in her mouse. I put the mouse in the tub and then her in with it. After about 15 minutes of nothing I used tongs to dangle the mouse in front of her. No response. Closed her up in the tub alone in the darkish room for about 1.5 hours... Nothing. So I tossed the mouse and put her away for the evening. When do I try again, and do I repeat the same routine? Or try feeding in her cage? Urgh....
 
Leave her a couple days, you don't want to stress her out from trying to feed too often. She'll be fine without food for a bit longer, so not to worry. It's up to you where you decide to feed and where you think is better.

I personally feed in the tank, using a pair of tongs to dangle the mouse in front my guy and he readily takes it. I've had no problems tank aggression or associating hands with food. The only thing you really need to watch out for is impaction, but you can put down a bit of toilet roll or something to help prevent this. Hope this helps a bit [emoji4]


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do you know when her last shed was? Some snakes will refuse to eat as they near shed time.

Did the person that sold her to you tell you when she ate last? Did they tell you if she was Tong fed? Are you presenting the mouse slightly warmer than room temp? If the mouse is steaming hot or too cold she may not take it. (A live mouse will have a body temp similar to ours)

And are the temps right in the cage? If a corn snake is too cool it may not eat. Have you noticed if she is spending more time on her cool side or the hot side?

You could wait a few days, and then try again inside her tank.
 
As my baby just taught me, sometimes they not you choose the location. My baby eats fine in a covered deli cup, but runs from the pinky elsewhere. If your snake lived a tub in a rack, odds are she was fed there. Besides the warm mouse, leave her overnight with it in the dark in an enclosed place, unless she's in shed as was mentioned previously. Best wishes.
 
I emailed her breeder and she was fed in her enclosure, I think by hand. She last ate 14 days ago. Last shed unknown? She doesn't look to be going into shed that my inexperienced eyes can tell, as of last night anyway. No dull colors, no milky eyes, she's a hider anyway so she's hiding as usual. I have found that she uses one specific hide, and will choose it almost no matter where in the tank I put it. I placed it about half on/half off the heat mat and that's where she camps out.

I think in a couple days I'll try again, and present it to her in the enclosure. I'll just set it with her in her favorite hide if she doesn't take it right away?

So here's what I did, specifically:
I thawed the mouse in a paper towel at room temperature for about an hour, maybe 90 minutes. I used the paper towel to put the mouse in a ziploc, and let it sit in comfortably warm (not hot) water for about 15-20 minutes to heat it up a bit. Used the tongs to grab the mouse out of the ziploc and place it into the feeding tub. Picked her up out of the enclosure, and held her for 3-4 minutes until she settled a bit, and then let her head into the feeding tub under her own power. I tried jiggling with the tongs after a couple minutes of no interest. She did look interested, but also scared. She sniffed and rubbed the mouse a bunch after the wiggling, but no eating. I shut off the lights, and locked her in for quite awhile thinking to give her privacy, but by then I think it was too late.

The tub is clear, and I felt like she felt insecure. I realized this somewhat in retrospect.
 
Temperature on the warm side in the hide under mostly under substrate is 86. Cooler area is ~70
 
My snake usually takes the mouse the moment I dangle it over his head. I'm not kidding, it's usually less than 5 seconds.

On the other hand, I have a friend with a female Corn snake that is about 3 years old, and she has to dangle the mouse and jiggle it and jiggle it and the snake sort of ignores it and even goes the other way. So my friend has started bumping the snake's head with the mouse, actually touching it to the snake and she just persists and eventually the snake does take the mouse.

She told me the last time she did a feeding, she had to fuss with the snake about 15 minutes before it finally took the mouse, but it eventually did.

Maybe your snake is sort of like her's. Maybe next time don't give up too fast.
 
I'd try not handling her next time. That may be upsetting her. Most of us, even when feeding out of viv, keep handling to a minimum the entire day before feeding.

Try waiting for evening after dark and try to catch her out and about. If she's already hunting there's a better chance she'll eat.

If she's hiding all the time she may very well be in shed. They don't always look dull. In fact much of the time they are in shed it is little to not visible. The increased hiding is actually the way many of us tell our snakes are in shed. Some of them hide so much during that time that you never actually see the relatively few hours they are in blue.
 
Thank you for the words of wisdom guys :) I'll give her a couple days and see how we do next time! No handling the day prior or day of feeding, try to see if she's shed or about to, and offer in the enclosure. Check!
 
ZELDA ATE!!!!!! :D

Around 10 last night, she and I had a very one-sided discussion about 5 minutes long about how I really needed her to eat because I was a worry-wart and I just wanted to know she was happy and comfortable in her new home, so if she wanted to eat tonight, to give me a sign. About 10 min later, I glanced into her enclosure as I walked by and she was head and neck out of her favorite hide, staring right at me, like "Hey. Get that mouse ready."

I thawed out her mouse, and it did have a bit of bloody drainage from the nose and mouth so maybe that smelled extra tasty to her. I offered it to her in her enclosure with tongs. She struck, missed, tried again and missed, and at this point I accidentally dropped the mouse right on her head basically. And then she scooted away :(

I thought for sure I had ruined it, and I was so sad. I put everything back in her house, shut off the lights, and left the mouse in her hide. This morning, the mouse is gone and there is a suspicious mouse-sized lump in her middle!!! YAAAAY!
 
It's great when they eat! Yeah, when they're older it's no big deal, but every time my 3 month old eats it's cause for celebration. Glad yours was hungry!
 
yeah I like approach it sort of like I do "Fishing."

The first few times I fed Rufus I dangled the mouse with the tongs, and when he'd strike I'd let go of the thing. I dropped the mouse a time or two myself.

But now I hold the mouse in the tongs until I feel the snake tugging back. He will usually strike and hang on so once he has a grip on the mouse I just gently lay them both down.

I always fed my Boas Live rats, so I never really did the Frozen Thawed stuff until about 5 or 6 months ago when I got Rufus. He and I have both learned a lot through trial and error.
 
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