First handling...

[satanicnugz]

I got my first BP Dec. 15 of last year. Today was the first day I have handled him since he has been at my place.

I gave him a nice long adjustment period and made sure I got him on a regular feeding schedule (he has been fed 3 times here) before I took him out of his aquarium.

I had been letting the little dude get used to his home. Today I took him out and let him roam a bit on my hands and on the coffee table. He was out of his aquarium for about 25 minutes. At first he was very shy and balled up. After about 10 minutes he started moving all over my hands and roamed on the table. I moved to another spot in my place with him and when I stood up and moved a bit he balled up. Overall I think this was an excellent first handling as he wasn't scarred the whole session. He is back to regular behavior in his little home.

My question is...

As far as handling is concerned: Should I handle him sparcly at first? So he gets used to being out of his cage? Or will he be able to be handled regularly now (daily, a couple times a day)? Is their a handling break in period?

Just looking for some advice.

[JLC]

Hi and welcome to BP.net! :


Sounds to me like you're off to a great start!

As a general rule, BPs are shy snakes that stress fairly easily. There are individual exceptions, of course, but for the most part, they are not "every day" snakes. Start slowly and gradually with the handling sessions and watch to see if he's still eating predictably. If he refuses a meal, then you'll have to cut back or lay off entirely for awhile and start again.

But even building up over time, I wouldn't handle most BP's for more than 30 minutes or more than a couple times a week at most.

[frankykeno]

Yep Judy's got it right. BPs just aren't big on being messed with a lot. A bit of quiet handling a couple of times a week usually is fine with most of them. We try to keep it around 20 minutes max and just sit with a snake while we watch tv. We're lucky enough to have 14 snakes so we can sort of rotate through them (12 are BPs, 1 is a BCI, 1 is a Milksnake). Remember to not handle the snake for 48 hours after a meal though.

[samila18]

I disagree, My BP lets me hold him every day a couple times a day he loves being out. He eats regular and sometimes he trys not to get into is tank by putting his head over it. No 2 snakes are the same so i guess work your way up to a longer holding time. Do you hook train your snake do you feed him in another tank when hes being fed?

[satanicnugz]

I disagree, My BP lets me hold him every day a couple times a day he loves being out. He eats regular and sometimes he trys not to get into is tank by putting his head over it. No 2 snakes are the same so i guess work your way up to a longer holding time. Do you hook train your snake do you feed him in another tank when hes being fed?

I feed him in his tank. I didn't hook nothing. I just wore gloves when I reached in to grab him for the first time. Just in case he got nippy about me reachin in his home (he just squirmed a bit, but no biting). After I got him out of his tank thought I took the glove off and handled him with bare hands.

[samila18]

I reached in to get chaos from his tank this morning and i couldnt see him at all!! i was so worried untill i saw his head poke out of the nest her dug under for the night. I said he was silly and to use his hide, he scared me but hes a cute guy. I picked him up and he was just fine with it no problems at al he was good and hasnt even noticed that i was here.

[Amy05]

my RTB does that. the first time scare the bagesus out of me. My boyfriend had opened his tub to get him and went, "uhm. amy...hes not here" well i freaked out, looked formyself, and found that he wasn't! I looked under his hides, and moved a little bit of bedding on one side of the tub, and all of a sudden his little head popped up out of the other side of the tub. The look was priceless though (uhm. excuse me. im right here. but dont touch me. im sleeping. no go away.)

[satanicnugz]

So last night I handled Snakey for the second time. It was the day before feeding day so he was restless, slithering all over. He was shy for 10 mins again when I pulled him out. I let him roam around my legs and table again. I had him out about 45 minutes, the snake didn't seem to mind.

Then my roomate wanted to hold Snakey. So my roomate picked him up and the snake made a quick movement to climb up his tail to get up on my roomies arm. My roomate was frightened and dropped Snakey from about 10-14 inches. The snake instantly balled when he hit the ground. He was tight for like 15 minutes after. I was hoping he would relax, he did not. I put him in his tank and hoped the snake would eat today.

Today (feeding day) rolls around and my snake had his head at the hide door. I got 2 mice from the store, held my breath. Thank goodness, Snakey ate like usual. I though my roomate had messed my stuff up. Man did I chew him out after that. I'm like look at the size of his head, he can't hurt ya that bad.

Sooooo, good first handling week!

[digcolnagos]

Sounds like you have a real cool snake.


As these posts show, every snake seems different. I've had mine for six months and handle him nearly every day (with the exception of two days after a feed), with no ill effects. He only balled up once, when I first brought him home. The previous owner said he also handled him extensively, although I have no way to confirm that. Others have different experiences with their snakes. Just depends.

[Rakshasi]

I am a bit late, but I haven't been online much, so I've got a lot of catching up to do. I just wanted to add my here...

I have had my Nagash (ball python) since March '06. After the initial "settle" period of only 7 days, I fed him, left him alone for another 7 days, and ever since I only take him out once a week, on feeding day. I mess around in his cage every 2 days or so to do regular maintenance, but otherwise, I let him be. It's not that he's shy...quite the opposite. He seems to enjoy being held. I take him out about 1 hour before feeding time, and we kick back on my bed together and watch television for a bit. He likes to stretch his body out down my legs, with his head by my feet. He will stay there until I MAKE him move.

I'm sure there are other snakes that need more handling to become tame, but Naga is just as sweet as pie.