BP behavior question

[jotay]

I have a question concerning my bp's behavior.
I have had him since Dec 03 not sure of his age but he was about 18-20" when I got him. He was purchased at Petco and tho they say he isn't WC I do think he is.
Anyway, he is still a very skittish and scared bp. If he is out cruising in his cage and the light comes on in the room he hauls butt back into his hide.
When I go to handle him he will still ball up and it takes a few mins once he is out to unwind and start looking around.Then when out he is always looking for a dark place to run into. If I handle him he will wrap and run thru my fingers and his grips are good and tight. He can after out a while start becoming a little nosey, which I guess is a good thing,
Then when I am done handling he runs right for the hide as in a panic.

Is this normal? I handle him about 3-5 nights a week for about 15-20 mins at a time. I am always very very gentle with him and move slow and easy.
Any input is appreciated.
Thanks.

[Brandon.O]

when i first bought my ball home he was kinda skittish.After i gave him a week to settle in i handled him everyday and now he is super friendly and not head shy at all .Maybe your ball just isnt the touchy type.

[jotay]

Thanks for moving this.
I was a dork and posted in the wrong forum.

[gozetec02]

Well Jojo likes to be out. All ball pythons are skittish especialy when they are small because they feel like everything is out to get them. I see this as being completely normal. Just as long as your temps and other stats are correct you should be ok.

[kontron]

i had that same problem. i think they may be captive born, but i doubt captive bred. my snake rosewell is still a little scared everytime i play with him. roswell would hide under the log in his cage and look around, if i turned on the light he would slowly retreat back into his hide. if i pulled him out he would curl into a ball, and grip my hand very tightly too. at first when i got him it took him over an hour before he would relax and move around. now it only takes 2 or 3 minutes. roswell would always look for a dark place to hide, but most artificial lights bother my eyes, so i can understand. i am no expert, but i think it also has to do with conditioning. at petco i think they fed them by dropping mice in the cage and letting them have a free for all. roswell has the scars to prove it, although slowly going away with every shed. roswell had 3 good sized scars throuhout his body. i couldnt leave hime there. so far roswell has been very well tempered. although he does get scared at this alien world that's my house, he generaly gets used to our surroundings. i think it may take a few months to a year before it is ingrained on his brain that theres nothing that is going to hurt him here. time, patience, and gentle handling is all i can think of doing. roswell used to freak if you touched his head, but sometimes he lets me rub the balls where his head meets the neck, he seems to like massages when he is sure everything is okay.

[JubJub]

I thought my snake was skittish, but reading about some of these posts I guess I am an exception. I have had jub jub for almost 3 weeks now. He is wonderful to handle, as when I take him out he has a light grip on me, then starts moving around my fingers almost before I can bring him over to the couch to sit down. He also goes from hand to hand, and likes to crawl to me on when I put him on the carpet. When I put him back he goes to his hide just like the other posts, but he comes out fairly quickly to search around his cage a bit. When I turn on a light he seems fine with it. Even when I check him when I wake up late and use a flashligh (covered mostly with my hand so I only let enough light to check the temps) and if he is crawling around he continues to do so, and I watch (have a red light over cage that lets me do this).

[jotay]

i guess my bp isn't that odd after all.
He has started to let me rub and touch up his neck and sometimes in his head.
I guess each one has there own likes and dislikes.
Thanks for the feedback.

[Brandon.O]

mine is also a captive hatched the guy at the pet store told me but i think he was used to people touching him becuase people who come in the store just cant keep thier hands off those cute little guys.