I've seen some people on this forum say lifting a hide off of your snake can be detrimental to the trust and feeling of safety the snake has in its enclosure. I've done this when I know Freya is awake shortly after sun down and see her poking her head out, because I simply do not know any other way to coax her the rest of the way out so I can handle her. I've also lifted her hide when I need to clean, because I have a feeling she has pooped (usually three days after eating), by I always try to speak to announce my presence and see that she has shifted inside her hide.
I've also seen a post before where a user wrote about how they have been successfully training their ball python to slowly come out of their hide on their own for handling sessions, but this seems difficult and mostly unheard of.
Anyway, the question I'm trying to ask is, is it okay to lift a hide away from a snake when it is inside of it and does doing this affect their stress levels? Are there alternatives?
As I said earlier, Freya might have just her head outside of her hide, or even about half her body out (possibly waiting for food) but she is only fully out for maybe an hour or so a day (not exactly sure because I usually only spot glimpses of her being out before I go to sleep).