Should i feed my snake/lizard/gecko in a separate container?

[Red-Tailed_mustang]

I feed Angus in his cage Red in a bin The reason for red is mostly he takes so long to strike and eat his food and I was worried he would stop eating I guess since he is becoming a lil' fatty anyway I could try feeding in the cage as I do realize how it could put a strain on him.(Not a good grammatical sentence!!) As far as striking goes sometime bothe of them are a bit grumpy in the cage but Red has only bite someone out of the cage but I don't think it was because he was feed in a bin.However it might have contributed but who knows?? The person had been handling her hamsters before coming over and holding him!!!!???? She knew the snake ate rats what difference is a hamster from a rat I think it would smell similar but not everyone knows these things. But hey I don't have but 2 years experience having boas so Don't quote me boy I ain't said ....

[razeraze]

"The other common strike is due to the fact that you SMELL LIKE FOOD. Don't wear "rat cologne" and don't feed by hand. Use a hemostat for goodness sakes! Again, this is not the fault of the animal, this is due to the ignorance of the keeper, and it is easily remedied."

That is just silly, I would invite people from pro exotics over to come feed Precious. She could care less if you smelled like diesel fuel; if you move and are warm, you are food.

I do not agree or disagree with how a reptile is fed as long as it's as safe as possible for the reptile and the keeper.

How ever with the large reptiles I keep it is just not practical or safe.

[pythonguy21]

with large reptiles burms, retics, condas, larger rtbs, afrocks, i think feeding outside of cage isnt safe. (learned from experience). the only problem i have with feeding in cage is substrate issue. for my rainbow boa i use sphagnum moss due to her high humidty needs, holds water well, keeps the high tropical humidity's, she loves burrowing in it, it is also asthetically pleasing. i dont want her ingesting it however. with my bps, and rtb i use eco earth which makes a great bedding because it can be moisten or left dry however when you feed f/t the bedding sticks to the item leaving them with a mouthful of bedding thats not to tasty so that doesn't work, i originally had my burm on it but switched her to aspen after the eco earth feeding incident when she had a mouthful of bedding and i had to take a ticked off snake to the bathtub to rinse her mouth out not fun.
so for my burm i use aspen and newspaper underneath when its feeding day lift up the newspaper and bedding wipe cage down and put down new layer of newspaper down, feed her, wait 4 days( usually she has peed and pooped by then) and then put in her aspen bedding and new newspaper until next feeding.

really in cage feeding for any animal would be best on a newspaper only bedding, but after reading the artical on newspaper bedding how it caused the snakes to become lethargic overweight and in general unhappy, i cant remember if it was on rtb or here, i wont just use plain newspaper.

with that being said it doesnt leave much choice unless you want a snake with a mouthful of substrate. so for the smaller guys, bps, rtbs, and brbs, its easier to feed in separate container, that can be washed and cleaned after every feeding.

if thier is a easier way than this by all means tell me as it would after all be easier but right now i worry about substrate ingestion and them getting a mouthful of it. as i said it wasn't fun having to wash my burms mouth out after feeding cause of substrate, surprisingly she didnt try to strike at me when i washed her mouth out and at that time in nov-dec her feeding modes were nuts even now she is different in feeding mode but that one time she was pretty patient maybe she new i was trying to help.

anyways i would love to hear thoughts and solutions.

	Red Tail Boa

[JuliusSqueezer]

I feed some in cages and some in bins. Tiny little babies I tend to put in bins mostly so I can make sure they ate it. Pink mice and rats tend to blend in well with the cypress.

Feeding anything arboreal outside the cage is just insane. Good luck with that one.

Feeding giants outside the cage is a good way to get dead. Same with some hots.

Now and then over the years when I've had snakes sharing a cage for whatever reason...usually breeding but sometimes I just like to be a rebel and break a rule ok? gotta separate to feed them. It's a good idea to keep them separated for a day or two after they eat...lots of babies get cannibalized shortly after being reunited with cage mate/litter mates right after a meal. It's a better idea of course to separate them entirely but what we preach and what we do or follow varies sometimes if even just temporarily so I think a mention of this scenario is important.

oops edited to add something I forgot...

Ever dissect a snake or lizard? I have. They don't have a twisty intestine like we do. It's a straight shot from mouth to butt and the stomach is basically just a slight wide spot on the way down. It's really hard for them not to be able to pass anything they take down. Watching the teeth and gums to make sure no wood chips get stuck is way more important. Wood particles kept damp with saliva rot. Rotten wood makes mucho bacteria. This is a major cause of mouthrot (stomatitis)

[brooksie2]

Originally Posted by owen

i dont even have a real reason to feed in bins, I accepted this along time ago. I just do...I dont really know why, but they are all eating good so i dont worry

SAME! I feed guinness out of his enclosure. I know why I was taught that way...Not sure I agree with it. But I still do it. He eats. And we dont have problems. So I'm happy.

[South]

Was feeding my recently purchased 3 year old Red Tailed Boa (Kate) in a separate container, but didn’t like handling her after to get her back in the vararium. Twice now she has even tried to strike after being place back in her home – she actually hit the glass as I walked by.

The last two times I fed her, I tried something different. I took her out and played with her for a while and had my girlfriend place a thawed rat on a large Tupperware lid in her cage. The hope was that the lid would act as a barrier to help prevent any of the substrate from being ingested and this way I wouldn’t have to handle her after she ate.

Jason

[Cristina]

I feed in the cages..I have never had a problem..
1st..my suri will guard her rat until I leave, then eat
and you shouldnt handle them for 2 days after to digest..then all feeding responses should be gone.
I use hemostats and dont have a problem

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor

[burmeselover15]

interesting