About handling..

[Duskie]

Hi! I'm still pretty new to bp's, and am still learning lots (thanks to this wonderful forum).. forgive me if the answer to this is right under my nose, but..

When little Romeo is all happily curled up, just being lazy.. should I not take him out to hold him? Since I got him his new hide spot yesterday, he hasn't left it! I'm dying to hold him again, but I don't want him to get irked and nip at me, haha..
So should I wait til he decides to roam around to grab him, or is it safe to "wake" him?

I've had him for a little over a week, btw!

Thaaaank you..

[Shelby]

BPs spend 90% of their time being lazy.. you'd never get to handle him if you waited for him to be not lazy.

Only times I wouldn't handle is for the 48 hours post-feeding, and when he's about to shed.

Since you just got him you may want to wait until he's fed successfully before you start handling. You want to make sure he's settled in well.. handling can be stressful, especially for a snake in a new environment.

[Mindibun]

I second the waiting until he's fed statement.

Otherwise, I try to wait until mine are out and roaming. I have two fairly active BPs. But on days when they're being lazy I wait until it's decent hour (BP time - remember they're nocturnal) and then gently stroke their back a few times to A- Wake them up if they're sleeping, B- Let them know I'm there, and C- Let them know they're going to be picked up. It's just the signal I use. Once I have their attention then I just scoop 'em up.

But the last poster was right. BPs are lazy snakes and will sleep 90% of the time so if yours are the typical sort of lazy, then you'll never get to hold them while waiting for them to come out.

[Duskie]

Thank you both for your help! That little tip with the back stroking works well :]

[NickP]

They are right about the feeding. Once the initial week is up (without handling) you should feed and leave the snake alone for 48 hours. After that, remove the hide and slowly show him your hand so that he knows you're there. The at the lowest possible angle approach him with your hand and kinda scoop him up. If you can't use your fingers to lift his body and scoop him up. Make sure you approach from behind his head so that he's not directly staring at your hand when you're picking him up. If he hisses, don't worry just try to pick him up. He will calm down once in your hand.

One sign of possible nippage(lol) is when you try to pick him up he raises the part of the body where you touched him quickly and hisses. This was a sign for me to actually leave him alone for the time being. The next thing my BP usually did after this is turn his head towards my fingers and snap into the S(striking) position. But if he didn't raise his body and hissed, that was just his whiny way of saying "pfft leave me alone." (This is just what my snake did and I thought it might help you. BTW after 2 weeks or so he stopped doing that and hissing all together)

[TanyaL]

One sign of possible nippage(lol) is when you try to pick him up he raises the part of the body where you touched him quickly and hisses. This was a sign for me to actually leave him alone for the time being.

So this is acutally a sign that they are not happy? Foster will arch her back when my son gently stroking her back, just like a cat would. She does not assume the striking position, does not hiss or seem upset, doesn't even turn to face him. When he stops, she stops, when he starts rubbing again, she starts arching again. Or, are we talking about two different behaviors?

[FatBoy]

2 different behaviors. Remember one thing, snakes look the same when asleep and awake, they do not have eyelids to shut. A snake can also sense heat when asleep and wake up striking. Always come in from behind the snake and rub its back firmly. Every ball I have will "ripple" when I rub their backs, almost like it tickles them,lol. When I know they don't want to be messed with is when they raise up and stay that way, very stiff. Most of the time I goahead and pick them up, unless they are close to shed, and they do pretty good.

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