Is my ball python unique? (long story)

[Valyndris]

I put a lot of work into my ball python and throughout the years he has become more like a little person than a snake. So, I'll start from the start, my ball python was born July 15th 2013, and I adopted him when he was just a few weeks old, I named him Crowley. I kept him in a 10 gallon tank at first but after he got used to me and his new home I switched him to a 50 gallon tank, it didn't seem to stress him out at all as he loved exploring every inch of that tank. I used to take him out every day for 15 to 45 minutes, he enjoyed his time out with me and his time to explore. I used to have him out on the couch or the chair, he would always try to get into the couch and sometimes he has been successful which had me learn to always but a blanket over top the chair or couch.

After a few years I moved to a basement apartment with my boyfriend. Crowley has already started to become more humanized as he always wanted to come out when his light shut off, he would always be what I called "smushing" on the glass to come out for some "missions", these are the terms I now use when he wants to come out and play. So I started taking him out for his missions for 1 to 2 hours a day, he had a 2'x2' table to do his missions on with some perches and a cave, of course he never really stayed on the table so he also had our bed to do missions on. Giving him 2 hours of time out with us didn't stress him out at all, in fact he loved it. One day my boyfriend fell asleep on a chair right next to Crowleys tank and he actually came out during the day while he was shedding just to be as close to my boyfriend as possible, it was so adorable and to me that was a definite sign of affection.

In may of 2015 our apartment flooded and I had to bring Crowley to my moms place till we were able to find a new place. I'd come visit him about every second day at my parents place but I could only take him out for about 30 minutes at a time as he came out late and my parents went to bed early so I couldn't handle him as much as I used to. I would cry nearly every time I had to leave him alone at my parents place and go back to my crappy flood damaged apartment. I missed being with my snake all the time and I could feel that he missed us too.

We finally found a new place and moved in bringing Crowley in last, this was the first time I saw true affection from Crowley. He proved to me that snake really can be affectionate. You might have had to be there to believe it but to me he truly did show love and affection for me. He was so happy that the family was back together. That night when I took him out he came up to my nose and rested his head on it like he was giving a hug, he stayed in the position for minutes at a time. He did this for about a week after moving in. I believe he was just as happy to be back together with us as we were happy to be with him. At this new place we had a bed setup in the living room (instead of a couch) and we got him new stuff to play on. We got him a nice big java perch (made for birds but perfect for snakes too) he got a few more caves and of course had his old perches from the last place. So he now had a whole bed to play on and he now got an average of 2 hours of missions a day.

September last year we bought a house and also got Crowley a new tank which is about 52"x20"x22" which is much harder to maintain humidity and heat but I have the proper tools to do so, so it worked out great. Crowley also got his own room to do his missions in. A whole room just for Crowley, the first time i put him in there he looked so guilty roaming the floor but now he just absolutely loves it. He got a new stand (made for birds but works fine for snakes). Now I give him about 3 hours a day of missions, I try to limit to 3 hours as the heat and humidity isn't the same as inside his enclosure. I live in Cananda so it does get cold at times. None of that seems to bother him as he loves having his 3 hours out and when I put him back in his tank he just smushes for more missions. He does not stress out at all after being out that long and eats just fine other than when he takes a strike off food for the winter months. He has a heated tent in his room if he wishes to warm up and also a cave in his old tank in the room for when he's done his missions. Once he goes in that cave I know he's done doing his missions in the room so I give him a bit of cave time then put him back. If he's only been out for an hour or less I usually bring his cave to the couch in the living room and watch a show with him. He seems to love hanging out in his outside cave with me watching tv as when I put him back even though he looks missioned out he still smushes for more.

So the question I had was, does anyone else have a snake like this that just loves to come out and acts more like a little human than a shy timid snake? I put a lot of work into the 5 years I've had Crowley and was wondering if anyone else has a snake like mine, that just loves to come out and be with his humans and even after being out for over 3 hours, still wants more missions. This took years of work put into the snake to get him like this but he is now my little person and I love having him out every night with me. I know a lot of sites say over handling can stress a snake out but not this guy, he loves every second of being out and exploring.