Handling time

[Tricon7]

How often do all of you handle your BP? I want to get mine out daily if I can, but I fail at times. It's still fairly young (about 1.5 ft. long - less than two years old), and I want to get it accustomed to being handled.

[bcr229]

Depends on the snake. Nippier youngsters we try to handle just a few minutes each day, just long enough to spot-clean and change water, so they learn that "godzilla" won't hurt them. Adults and more tolerant youngsters maybe 1-2 times a week.

They don't get messed with at all the day after feeding without a good reason, such as changing water b/c the snake defecated in it, and even then the most we would do is shift them to another part of the enclosure.

[Marrissa]

I've had Allure for three months now. At this point I take him out whenever I feel like it and have time to. Sometimes it's for 5-10 minutes. Other times he's out with me for half an hour to an hour. Some weeks I only take him out a few times that week other times it's almost every day (except after feeding, but I'll hold him right up until I feed him sometimes since he doesn't get stressed). He's become a lot more comfortable with me and doesn't get as head shy or jumpy as when he first came. I'll have him out while I'm watching tv, digital drawing, or on the computer and he's crawling all over the laptop and I'm typing around him. He doesn't care.

I started out with 5 minutes then moved up to 10/15 a week later. I'd take him out a few times a day for those small periods. Eventually I just stopped counting the time and would just have him out for whatever he was comfortable with and for how long I wanted to babysit him to make sure he wasn't going to where he shouldn't be.

[satomi325]

Once a week or less. I've never really had any issues with negative behaviors. All of mine handle well.

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[BeccaBurrr]

I handle mine whenever I see her crawling around her enclosure. If she's climbing up on her plants and looking at the top of the tank like she wants out, I'll slide it open and she'll climb on over to my arm. After feeding, she usually stays in her hide 2-3 days, so I don't bother her. When she's out, I'll usually keep her out until she starts squirming around and getting antsy or if her body has gotten a bit chilled. Soooo, I guess anywhere from 10-30ish minutes is the typical handling time I give her..and that's about 3-4 times a week...unless she's shedding or has just eaten of course.

[Gerardo]

Depends on the snake. Except for 1 snake i handle my BPs wenever and for however long.

[Naomijoy]

I don't have a BP but I handle my Sand Boa daily. Sometimes it's for 20 minutes and sometimes it's for an hour or more.

[Luciferskeeper]

Its all in how often you want to of course other than first 48 hours aftrr feeding also I don't bother them much the day before feeding unless I need to. So that'd leave 4 days and I don't handle any one snake more than every other day so for me its 2 days a week for short periods. Just remember whether you think so or not the snake doesn't "enjoy" handling like you do. So if you want to handle everyday then id be sure to have a few snakes to choose from. Too much handling can become stressful for the snake.

[Ginevive]

I always gave mine a day after feeding, to rest. Other times, handling them is fair game. I never kept one out for many, many hours at a time, for personal time-constraint reasons. I would probably not have one out for more than an hour or so at a time to avoid stress if it were a youngster that I wanted to put on weight, or skittish. My old girl was so tame and actually seemed to enjoy handling and being across a person's shoulder/around someone's arm; her, I would have out for hours at times.

[Daybreaker]

I only handle when they need to be cleaned out or when I feel like getting some pics of them. I try to handle my SSTP more often than my others since she can be a nervous snake and I want to get her more relaxed but none of the others show any problems from not being handles often (I'm sure they prefer to be left alone as much as possible, though there's a few who do seem to enjoy being out and exploring).