This is a big topic on other reptile sites. Id like to see what people here think about this. I personally feed outside the cage. I have a 10ft green burm, a 12ft normal burm, and a 7ft red tail boa. I feed outside the cage because I do lots of in cage interaction with my snakes. At any time I wouldnt hessitate to reach right in either of there cages. Another reason is my bro has young kids that he wont let hold them, but he will let "pet" them while there in the cage. Supervised of cousrse!!! My larger snakes go into seperate rooms when they feed. After they are all done I leave them alone for atleast 4 hours befor returning them to there cage. Well thats me, lets see what everyone else has to say.
The only argument I've heard about leaving them in their cage is that the larger they get, the more difficult and more dangerous it is to move them while they are possibly still in the "feeding mode"... most people hook train so the snakes know the difference of when they are being fed and when they are being handled... I do a mixture of both in cage feeding and outside in tub feeding. Depends on the snake for me and it also depends on time because generally when I'm feeding, I try to feed a lot at once... And my experience from doing it this way is my mean/snappy ones stay mean and snappy, and my nice ones stay nice... but I don't ever just reach in and get one out without a hook for some kind of protection (except for the balls)... even my nice retics have bad days and I don't want to be on the recieving end of that...
I personally think a lot of it depends on the situation and the snake. I have a 6 1/2 ft. red-tail that won't eat outside of her cage, although I would rather feed her in a tub. I have 5 corns that will eat anywhere, anytime. I have 4 balls....2 must be in a close tight space (like a tub) or they won't eat, one of them will eat anytime, anywhere and the other (he is a baby) will eat in a tub but MUST have a hidey. So again, I think a lot depends on the snake and the situation, ie...bedding, cage set-up and just personal preference.
I feed my burm in his cage and i've been doing it for about a year(since i got him). He is about 6 feet now(maybe a little more) and he has never once even snapped at me. I also feed my two eastern brown snakes in their enclosure, but i don't handle them much (they are very small and skittish and like to musk). I am feeding my new pair of boas(babies) outside the enclosure. I keep them together for now so i have to do this anyway, but with them i am using aspen shavings as substrate so i have to feed them outside anyway. I put some paper towel down on the floor and i feed them on there. I give them a couple minutes after swallowing to make sure it's down and then i put them back in their enclosure. It has worked fine so far and i may switch them to paper towels as substrate when they are older so i can feed them in the cage. Also on the whole "feeding mode" topic: I feel that as long as you don't smell like the food and you have given the animal an appropriately sized meal that you should have no problem with them trying to "eat you" even if they are large. In my experience the snakes are very sluggish after their meal and look like they would much rather bask and digest then try to find more so...that's my 2 cents.
I like to feed in a seperate cage(tupperware) not for any reason like they may get dangerous ect. BUT while they are eating in the seperate tub I can go through the main tanke and clean really well, fill water bowls with out the snake gettin gin the way.
Cool cool. I like to see that people actually respond to this rather than say its wrong to feed in cage or not. I just purchased a 12ft tiger retic that im going to start in the cage, see how he handles it, then try to feed him out of the cage. lll get pics soon.
