# Feeding



## icuucme2 (Sep 26, 2016)

Hi all
Same old question! feeding in enclosure or tub ok my boy has only been with me for 2 weeks and he has taken a rat each week but he wont eat if I put him in a tub will refuse it but if I feed him in his log in his cage he takes it but if u make a movement he stops I have put this down to he is still getting used to me and his surroundings also I think the other guy fed him only in his cage how can I transfer this has I don't like to feed in his cage he isn't snappy when I put my hand in to get him as he wont take food from me I have to leave it in his cage and when I go he will than take it.

Thanks in advance


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## kittycat17 (Sep 26, 2016)

I feed all my snakes in there tanks, I always feed at night so they know when I'm around them at night it usually indicate feeding time 
During the day I can grab them out of the tanks with no issues or defensiveness.

It is a personal opinion to feed in seperate tubs as people feel it stops aggression, no chance of swallowing substrate by accident etc 
If it's feeding fine in the tank I would continue to do so


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Buggster (Sep 26, 2016)

Both my snakes have always (Stimsons and Woma) been fed inside their cage and have NEVER struck at me.
Snakes aren't stupid- they know they can't eat youamd that they may injure themselves trying.
what you are seeing is your snake being CAGE DEFENSIVE, which has nothing to do with where you feed them.

Just chuck the rat in with him and leave him alone to eat- my Stimsons will refuse to take any food if I wriggle it around, he's more comfortable taking it once it's been thrown in and left alone to eat.


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## Iguana (Sep 27, 2016)

Snakes can sometimes be put off a meal if they are moved from one surrounding to another or disturbed. I tried to tub feed my Jungle, but he's a finicky eater and wouldn't even go near the rat, he was much too busy trying to get out of the tub and away from it. Shadows and movement can also put him off. If your boy eats fine in the cage, I would just continue to feed him in it, maybe put down some paper towels to stop substrate ingestion. 
Pythons, are really only going to associate you going into their cage=food, if that is all you open the cage for. Every time you open the door and throw in a rat, it conditions the snake to associate those two things. But, if you open the cage to clean, change water, handle ect much more frequently than opening it to feed, I find there to be no issue. 
It just sounds like he's a shy eater, but as long as he eats eventually there's no reason to worry. 
hope this helps!


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## icuucme2 (Sep 27, 2016)

ok cool I handle him threw the day but not at night. I will continue to feed him in his cage than thanks everyone


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## Banjo (Sep 27, 2016)

I always feed in the enclosure, personal preference. It is all well and good to feed smaller python outside the enclosure but as others will testify when they become larger it posses its own unique problems, like what do you do with a 8 kilo plus python that has mistaken your arm as a food source. 
In my time of keeping snakes I have found it has made no difference being feed in the enclosure verses temperament when being handled.


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## Norm (Sep 28, 2016)

I see more posts from people being bitten while transferring a snake to or from a tub for feeding than those who keep interactions with their snakes during feeding to a minimum by feeding in the enclosure. I feed in enclosure and have never had a good response bite.


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## icuucme2 (Oct 4, 2016)

my boy was fed on Saturday at the time I could only get weaner rats but couple of weeks ago I brought some live ones kept a couple for breeding as these 3 frozen rats were $18 to buy I think was way too expensive but nowhere else to get them so anyways I forgot about these young ones and this arvo I gased a couple as they were getting big so I put one in (dead not live) and he ate it so was very happy as these were 3 times the size he has had so will go through the rest tomorrow and check there weights there is only 2 left to check so I guess in 2 weeks I will have to buy some frozen ones as there is only 1 other person in this town who breeds rats for her snakes I can get them cheaper and she has none available for a while.


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## Buggster (Oct 5, 2016)

Just going to warn you that in Australia it is illegal to feed live (from what I have been told from various sources). The best at-home method of euthanasing small rodents is CO2 gassing them.


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## pythoninfinite (Oct 6, 2016)

icuucme2 said:


> my boy was fed on Saturday at the time I could only get weaner rats but couple of weeks ago I brought some live ones kept a couple for breeding as these 3 frozen rats were $18 to buy I think was way too expensive but nowhere else to get them so anyways I forgot about these young ones and this arvo I gased a couple as they were getting big so I put one in (dead not live) and he ate it so was very happy as these were 3 times the size he has had so will go through the rest tomorrow and check there weights there is only 2 left to check so I guess in 2 weeks I will have to buy some frozen ones as there is only 1 other person in this town who breeds rats for her snakes I can get them cheaper and she has none available for a while.



If you want advice without confusion and you write huge paragraphs try using punctuation. It's often important...


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## Stompsy (Oct 6, 2016)

Buggster said:


> Just going to warn you that in Australia it is illegal to feed live (from what I have been told from various sources). The best at-home method of euthanasing small rodents is CO2 gassing them.



He said he gassed them prior to feeding....


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## icuucme2 (Oct 6, 2016)

ok pythoninfinite, I will heed what you said, but I mentioned twice I gassed some and than I than said I put one in (dead not live). so b4 u get on a band wagon, read it a couple of times, I do know you cant feed live by the way.


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## pythoninfinite (Oct 7, 2016)

icuucme2 said:


> ok pythoninfinite, I will heed what you said, but I mentioned twice I gassed some and than I than said I put one in (dead not live). so b4 u get on a band wagon, read it a couple of times, I do know you cant feed live by the way.



The only bandwagon I was on is the clear grammar bandwagon. I actually did understand what you were saying in your posts, but I'm aware that if the use of reasonable punctuation is seen as optional by members, and becomes the norm, it frequently leads to confusion. Call me old-fashioned if you will...

Jamie


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## icuucme2 (Oct 7, 2016)

ok but I did fail my English grammer test lol. my apologies for my remark thought u were having a go at me. will do my best


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## pythoninfinite (Oct 7, 2016)

icuucme2 said:


> ok but I did fail my English grammer test lol. my apologies for my remark thought u were having a go at me. will do my best[/QUOTE
> 
> No need for apologies - I'm just a prickly old man sometimes ! Your grammAr seems OK, but your spelling could use a bit of brushing up ! Just kidding - it's all good...


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## icuucme2 (Oct 7, 2016)

I bet you are or were in the educational system, and yes my spelling sucks lol


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## pythoninfinite (Oct 8, 2016)

Nah, I hated school, but I've always loved reading, hence my obsession with clarity of meaning... You've just been one of my many victims over the years icuucme ! I'm far from perfect myself - when I was editing a couple of reptile magazines in years gone by, I often had to call on the superior knowledge of my wife - an English teacher in her pre-psychologist days. I can be a pain in the butt about these things sometimes, but (mostly) I mean well...

Jamie


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## icuucme2 (Oct 8, 2016)

all is good. i'm only a victim if I just sat back and stewed on it and did nothing lol


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## icuucme2 (Oct 17, 2016)

my fella surprised me, he ate and that nite he shedded, didn't look like he was going to shed when I handled him yesterday, and I fed him last nite woke up this morning with skin in his cage.


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## icuucme2 (Oct 21, 2016)

out of curiosity, my snake is 1.5 meters long and im giving him about 96 gram rats twice a week. how big of a rat do u think he could cope with? his weight when I got him was 1.2kg, but since than he has doubled in size. just wondering if he could cope with bigger rats, or just leave it the way it is.


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## Buggster (Oct 21, 2016)

icuucme2 said:


> out of curiosity, my snake is 1.5 meters long and im giving him about 96 gram rats twice a week. how big of a rat do u think he could cope with? his weight when I got him was 1.2kg, but since than he has doubled in size. just wondering if he could cope with bigger rats, or just leave it the way it is.



The general rule is 1.5x the thickest part of his body.

Most pet snakes are overfed however- it wouldn't hurt to give him a slightly smaller prey item (as long as he does not start to loose weight or he starts to appear weak/sickly) than what he needs.


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## icuucme2 (Oct 22, 2016)

thanks buggster, he is pretty thick around his middle so I will stick with the size I'm using now.


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## SKYWLKR (Oct 22, 2016)

Twice a week? That's like you eating 10 times a day. Remember, a hungry snake is a happy snake dude. Have you ever researched the feast and famine theory?


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## icuucme2 (Oct 22, 2016)

no I haven't, I can cut it back to once a week than.


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