Royal Python Or California Kingsnake

[Nivek]

I would recommend that you still feed in a seperate enclosure. If you feed the snake in its home enclosure every time, it will begin to recognize "If it comes into my tank, I can eat it." Which is how a lot of people get bitten, their hand is mistaken for dinner. This becomes very unlikely if fed in a seperate enclosure.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Plenty of hides won't be a problem. The room is dark and quiet most of the day anyway. Do I still need to feed in a sepearte container if it's only getting pre-killed?

Even if the room is dark and quiet, they still like the feel of a nice snug space around 'em.

And yeah, you should feed in a seperate container. What the other guy said, plus if you are using aspen shavings or carefresh or newspaper (anything but reptile carpet), you risk the snake accidentally swallowing substrate along with the mouse. And then can cause impactions, internal injuries, choking, all sorts of bad.

I dunno about bite risks, though. If you feed with tongs in the tank, I could see that happening, as the snake would associate "thing coming down from above" with food. I've given my ball his last half dozen or so meals on a wide flat tupperware lid in his tank (he outgrew his feeding box and I didn't have anything bigger on hand), which is actually working out pretty well. He always finds it right quick, doesn't associate "reaching into the tank" with feeding because the mouse just magically appears on the ground, and the tupperware lid prevents substrate-eating.