Separate feeding bin?

[Dirkthejerk41]

I have a very stubborn BP that I got form an expo about a month ago and he has still not eaten. I'm thinking about trying again today, and wanted to know, should I just try to feed in his enclosure (f/t) so he will be less stressed with me having to get him out, etc? I feed my other in a separate bin with no problems at all, but I feel it may be a myth that it is necessary to do so. I have actually heard a few people say feeding in a separate container could cause more harm than good. What do you think?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

As long as you work with them other than feeding time, a seperate bin is not necessary.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

alright, thank you!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

I have always fed my snakes in a separate tank and I have never had issues.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

nor have i was just wondering if in the enclosure was okay.

 

[Tannaros]

nor have i was just wondering if in the enclosure was okay.

In the enclosure is fine. The main issue would be possibility of impaction from ingestion of substrate. Other than that the associative pattern of cage open must be food can be countered by simply doing as Bubblz said, work with your snake even when you are not offering food.

 

[BatGirl1]

I think feeding bins are a good idea just because I have had a couple of issues with the snakes 'remembering ' the in tank feeding and then always relating open tank to 'time to strike ' even if it is just for cleaning or petting time. If possible i would stick to bins. I know others have no issues but this is just my personal experience. Also cleanup and substrate issues are avoided. We do have a ball who we 'had to ' start off tank feeding because from expo as well and refused to eat. Eventually we found she'd eat if it was live. So fed in tank live a few times. Now have moved to tub feeding live but *trying* to get her to eat f/t... so far she can't be tricked... :/

 

[Dubya]

D, try warming the f/t mouse to a little warmer than body temp and tying a thread loosely around the tail and dragging it in a slightly erratic manner around the cage. When the snake strikes it, pull on the thread to release the mouse. The snake will think the tugging is the struggling of the mouse and will constrict tighter.

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Not that I am any sort of snake expert though.

 

[laurarfl]

I used to feed in a separate enclosure. But when my little 'zoo' grew, it became more efficient to feed in the enclosure. And some large snakes are a bear to move around when they are feeding mode, not to mention dangerous. My bp's ever wanted to feed in a separate bin, so I feed them in enclosure. It is very easy to make a feeding routine to differentiate between handling time and feeding time through use of a hook, knock on the cage lid to signal feeding, etc.

 

[Dubya]

What Laura said. ^